Led by Senior Naturalist, Garth Harwood
Our Natural Science Saturday’s is designed to highlight many facets of the natural world that are most readily observed at particular seasons. Understanding the interplay of seasonality with ecology is key to making connections that will transform a collection of discrete facts (knowledge) into something closer to the true, intricately woven patterns of the living world (understanding). We invite you to take this journey with us, in Hidden Villa’s living laboratory.
Classes take place on Saturdays from 10 am -12 pm. A typical format will be 30-40 minutes of formal presentation/discussion, followed by a field experience. Significant format exceptions will be noted in the class descriptions. All classes will begin at Hidden Villa’s Wolken Education Center unless otherwise noted in the class description.
Registration Information
Please email [email protected] with any questions.
About our Senior Naturalist
Just as impactful as his formal educational experiences, however, Garth has been mentored by Jon Young, a protege of famed tracker Tom Brown, and more than one Native Californian tribal elder along the way.
An accomplished naturalist, birder, and wildlife tracker, Garth participates in numerous community-science projects such as iNaturalist and eBird. He serves as a volunteer organizer for the Bay Area Tracking Club, and holds a Level 3 Tracker Certification from Cybertracker International. He was recognized in 2011 as Northern California’s “Environmental Educator of the Year” by the Association of Environmental and Outdoor Educators.
His inner child is a 4th grader, however, and he remembers how to play. A favorite endorsement from one young, urban, Latinx student read “You are a kid like us.”
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Staying Safe in the Santa Cruz Mountains, (10/05)
Anxiety about “things that might get you” can be a lifelong barrier to outdoors experiences. Misplaced fear can also distract from recognizing real dangers in your midst. This class should serve you well in all of your future explorations, and could put many of your fears to rest.Price: $30.00Duration: 2 hours -
Wildlife Tracking for Beginners: Beach Exploration, (11/02 & 12/07)
This time we will rendezvous at Gazos Creek State Beach for some actual field tracking. Sand is among the most treasured substrates for tracking. It can often tell intricate stories of where an animal went, what it did along the way, and perhaps even why it did all that.Price: $30.00Duration: 2 hours -
Wildlife Tracking for Beginners: The Art of the Track, (10/19 & 11/16)
It’s surprisingly easy to find animal evidence wherever you may be, once you start looking. These basic resources, techniques and principles could launch you into a lifetime of discovery.Price: $30.00Duration: 2 hours