Biology and Environmental Studies Professor, Laura Boggess studying lichen with a friend and fellow lichen-enthusiast, Amanda Strawderman at Bluff Mountain outside of Hot Springs. Photo credit: Hannah Furgiuele
Lichenologist, Natassja Noell plein air painting in the Appalachian mountains
Come out and make a weekend of it with Bailey Bigger & Pat Byrne playing Friday night May 17th and Minor Gold playing Saturday afternoon!
11ish: Welcome Circle: Laura Boggess and Natalie Noell will give introductions, tell us about the amazing capacities of lichens, Naming (taxonomy: what's the name of the lichen that am I holding in my hand?) and Contemplative lichenology (art/imaginative: how does this organism make me feel? What can I learn?).
12ish: Walk/wander: as a group (humans and lichens: dye, medicine, food, bioindicators, etc.)
1ish: Sharing in dyads or small groups with at least one person who identifies with the naming folks and one who is more contemplative-oriented (like the fungus and the algae!) This is also a good time to snack.
1:30ish: Closing Circle: Wrap up together: what do you need to move forward in your love of lichens?
2pm: Minor Gold Concert
WHAT TO Bring:
picnic lunch
refillable water bottle
HAND-LENSES If Possible
warm layers
notebook.
Optional: art materials (colored pencils, pastels, etc.)
Laura Boggess, a Biology and Environmental Studies professor at Mars Hill University, is a naturalist and advocate with a range of talents and interests, including exploring the intersection of arts and ecology. Laura's deep passion lies in the world of lichens and the valuable lessons they offer. Join her for an enlightening (en-lichen-ing?) discovery walk, where she will introduce you to the basics of lichen identification, as well as their roles in natural systems and as medicine and natural dyes. This introductory session will pave the way for a more extensive fall workshop where Laura and her lichenologist colleague Nastassja Noelle will delve deeper into the profound insights that symbiotic being like lichens offer as we face what Joanna Macy as "the great unraveling." This fall workshop will explore how cooperation and nature-connection can help us hold space for the transformations that the polycrises of biodiversity loss, economic instability, and climate change are catalyzing.
Nastassja Noell (she/they) is a lichenologist who struggles to stay within the fenced pastures of science. As a biologist, painter, and writer, her work grapples with the collapse of ecosystems and the reality of living on stolen indigenous lands, and seeks to co-create futures that reconnect and heal. Her creative writing and artwork have been published by the Dark Mountain Project, the Journal for Medicinal Plant Conservation, and Firefly Gathering's Blog; she's been nominated for the Pushcart Prize; and she is a recipient of the United Plant Savers’ Deep Ecology Artists Fellowship. Nastassja has led lichen biodiversity research projects throughout the Americas, co-authored the book Delmarva Lichens (Torrey Botanical Press), and her science writing has appeared in scientific journals as well as Radical Mycology, Patagon Journal, and NW Travel. Nastassja lives in the Southern Appalachians on the ancestral lands of the An-igiduwagi (Cherokee) People. You can find her each summer working at the Firefly Gathering, outside of Asheville.