This is a residential, field course in landscape interpretation by Michael Gaige at the Oak Spring Garden Foundation in Upperville, Virginia.
Overview: This field course will be an opportunity for professionals and advanced students from a wide range of backgrounds to gain experience in interpreting landscape history and exposure in the methods of historical ecology. The goal of the program is to provide participants the skills and context to be able to apply a landscape history perspective to their work, research, or studies. By the end of the course, participants should be able to perform basic original research in landscape interpretation and historical ecology. Our classroom will be the forests and fields of Virginia's Piedmont region; however, the skills and information will be applicable to a wide variety of landscapes, especially the temperate forest regions of eastern North America. Topics will include: natural communities and site conditions, interpretation of abandoned home sites, stone walls, agricultural history, interpreting pastures, interpreting tree shape, and aging trees by external characteristics, historical archives, aerial photograph and historic map interpretation, and building a holistic narrative of landscape change over time, among others.
Eligibility: This field course is suited to professionals from a range of backgrounds including biologists and ecologists, gardeners and land managers, landscape architects, historians, educators, and students in the above disciplines. We hope that participants will find application for the material, and ways to share what they gain from the program. This course will be limited to 12 participants.
About OSGF: The Oak Spring Garden Foundation (OSGF) is a philanthropic foundation based at the former primary estate of the late Paul and Rachel Mellon, who were major philanthropists in the U.S. of the arts, humanities, and sciences in the second half of the twentieth century. OSGF is located in the northern Virginia Piedmont and Blue Ridge Mountains region (ca. one-hour drive from Washington, D.C.). Led by Sir Peter Crane, the Foundation’s inaugural President, OSGF supports residencies for artists and scholars. It is becoming a new center of excellence and stimulation of all things botanical, from fundamental research in plant evolution and conservation, to horticultural and plant conservation practice, to the history and art of plants gardens and landscapes.
Instructor: Michael Gaige is an independent consulting ecologist based in upstate New York. His work explores the intersection of nature, culture, and history at the landscape level. Michael works with organizations, private landowners, and design teams on park and landscape projects, historical ecology inventories, and conservation planning for natural areas. He wrote detailed historical and landscape inventories for the Oak Spring Garden Foundation main site and its adjacent Rokeby farm. Michael teaches field studies programs for several colleges and universities.
Accommodation and Travel Information: Participants will be accommodated with all meals and private lodging on site at Oak Spring.
Participants are responsible for arranging their own travel to the Washington, D.C. area. If flying, please book flights to Dulles International Airport. International applicants are welcome, but fluency in English is necessary. Closer to the start date, our Programs team will assist with coordinating travel arrangements to the Oak Spring Garden Foundation site, as necessary.
Dates and Duration: The course runs for three and a half (3.5) days with participants arriving on Monday, May 6, 2024 and leaving on Friday, May 10, 2024. Participants should plan to arrive between 1:00 pm and 4:00 pm on Monday, May 6, 2024.
Course Fee: $950 is all-inclusive and covers full tuition, lodging on-site for four nights in our comfortable suites, and all meals on-site (from dinner on Monday through breakfast on Friday). A limited number of full or partial Fee Waivers are available for this course.
Selection Process: Applications will be reviewed by Michael Gaige and OSGF staff.