By Kelly Sleight, graduate student in the institute’s 14th cohort. Lichen and People Lichen and people have interacted since time immemorial. Humans have used lichen as food, medicine, …
Read More of Lichen Love: A Natural History of Lichen (Part Two)
By Kelly Sleight, graduate student in the institute’s 14th cohort. There is a low mist in the woods- It is a good day to study lichens. -Henry David …
Read More of Lichen Love: A Natural History of Lichen (Part One)
By Liz Blackman, graduate student in the institute’s 14th cohort. As I slide over the edge of the raceway and landed knee-deep in water I can barely see …
Read More of Giving a "Dam": A Natural History of Beavers
Written as an essay for the Conservation Psychology class at Western Washington University. “In wildness lies the hope of the world.” John Muir Today, our world faces …
Read More of Hope Within Wildness
The shift was abrupt. It came with little warning. As smoke billowed up the Newhalem Gorge and filled the tiny mountain town of Diablo, I had 20 …
Read More of A Call to Education toward Resilience
For the past 25 years, the North Cascades Institute has been teaching students about their wild nearby through the Mountain School program. The program started back in …
Read More of Mountain School: Celebrating 25 Years and the end of the Fall Season
I clearly remember my introduction to the mystery and power of stinging nettle. On a late summer day, I found myself, alongside my graduate cohort, at the …
Read More of Two Burning Houses: A Natural History of Stinging Nettle
Only the hardiest of souls venture to North Cascades Institute’s Environmental Learning Center on Diablo Lake, 2 hours east of Bellingham, in the winter. Highway 20 might …
Read More of Mountain School: Local students learn in the North Cascades
By Kevin Sutton There were some things I knew about bees when starting this project; what I didn’t know was exactly how much I didn’t know. When …
Read More of Mason Bees and Honey Bees: What's the Difference?
By Chelsea Elizabeth Ernst, Candidate for Master’s of Environmental Education The North Cascades are a rugged and dramatic landscape that offers habitat to thousands of plant and …
Read More of Amphibians of North Cascades National Park: Their Importance, Sensitivity, Habitats, Threats and Management Implications