Cryptogamic Microscopy Weekend Workshop with Kerri McCabe

This is a unique opportunity to dive deeply into the microscopic world of fungi and cryptogams. Join us for 3 days with  expert Kerri McCabe. Through guided hikes and lessons, Kerri will teach you techniques for identifying mushrooms. Meals are included, with optional lodging in one of our lodges or campsites.

Description:

Cryptogam means “hidden seed” and these organisms span the Protista, Plantae, and Fungi kingdoms. In this workshop, we’ll discover different types of cryptogams by using stereoscopes and compound scopes. Cryptogams are most vibrant during cool, wet winter months, and this is a great opportunity to look for them and learn more about them. These delightful organisms include slime molds, algae, lichens, mosses, liverworts, ferns, and fungi. We’ll learn the basic shapes (morphology) and structures of each group, and we’ll try to find these various shapes and structures using the stereoscopes. After we have looked at the groups on a macro-level, we’ll dive into some of the microscopic features of these organisms using the compound scopes with a focus on fungi.

Ticket Options:

• To attend the workshop, purchase a Workshop Ticket (below) - includes all meals from Friday dinner through Sunday lunch.
• To add lodging, choose a room in a lodge, glampsite, or campsite. When you purchase a room with multiple beds, you are welcome to add other workshop guests to your room at no extra cost.

Workshop schedule: 

Friday, February 23, 2024

• 4-5PM - Arrive, settle in, check in
• 5-5:30PM - Meet and mingle
• 5:30-6:30PM - Dinner
• 6:30PM - Presentation: Using Stereoscopes and an Introduction to Cryptogams
• Night Hike: Lichens Under UV

Saturday, February 24, 2024

• 8-9AM - Breakfast
• 9AM - Collection Tips and Tricks; Safety Talk (slips, trips, and falls); Collection on Campus Grounds and Surrounding Areas
• 12-1PM - Lunch
• 1-1:30PM - Break
• 1:30PM View Specimens with the Naked Eye; Setting Up the Stereoscopes; View Specimens with the Stereoscopes; Drawing Project and Scavenger Hunt (PRIZES)
• 5:30-6:30PM - Mycocentric Dinner
• 6:30PM - Presentation: Using Compound Scopes and Mycology Microscopy
• Night Hike: Mosses, Ferns, and Fungi Under UV

Sunday, February 25, 2024

• 8-9AM - Breakfast
• 9AM-11PM - Microscope Safety (glass, razorblades, etc.); Prepping Material for Slides; Mounting a Slide; View Material with the Compound Scope; Measuring Objects; Drawing Project and Scavenger Hunt (PRIZES)
• 12-1PM - Lunch
• 1:30PM - Wrap up, Clean up, and Departure

What to Bring:

Microscopes, if available

Appropriate footwear and clothes for hiking: closed-toed shoes, multiple weather-proof layers, warm layers

Imagination!

Provided:

Access to scopes and associated materials

Lab Manual; presentation handouts

Notebook and pen

Art supplies

Magnifying loupe

Collection materials

About the Instructor:

Kerri McCabe started her fascination of plants and cryptogams while attending the University of Central Arkansas (UCA) as an undergraduate. She received a BS in Biology with a focus in Plant Science. She spent some time on a forklift before deciding to go back to school for a MS in Biology. Her focus this time involved reptiles, specifically, pit vipers and how cold temperatures affect their venom and digestion.

After graduate school, she worked as a research assistant at the University of Arkansas (U of A) – Fayetteville. She helped research native and nuisance crawfish in the Spring River watershed. This experience led her to the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) in the Water Division. She spent 13 years inspecting Arkansas’ wastewater treatment systems and sampling Arkansas’ water resources. She recently accepted a federal position with the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Her love of fungi stems from a connection with the outdoors and hiking. She is a member of several mycological groups, which includes Arkansas Mycological Society (AMS), Missouri Mycological Society (MOMS), and the North American Mycological Association (NAMA). She recent started the Ozark Highlands Mycological Association (OHMA) to bring mycophiles in NWA together to learn, love, and support mycology in the state.