Latest News and Updates
Adventure Borealis Mycology Weekend
Adventure Borealis finished the 2024 season with a Mycology Weekend in Homer, partnering with the Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies (CACS). Northern Center’s Christin Swearingen led the class of 20 students of all ages through the biology, ecology, traditional uses, and identification of fungi. Starting in a circle at the Wynn Nature Center, CACS co-coordinator Sarahlily Stein gave a land acknowledgement and passed around a map showing the unique position of Kachemak Bay at the overlap of Dena’ina and Sugpiaq homelands. Students learned Sugpiaq, Dena’ina, and Yup’ik words for mushrooms.
Mushrooms are the fruiting bodies of the mycelium, a network of threadlike cells that grows underground. Walking through the forest of Lutz spruce (a natural hybrid between white spruce and Sitka spruce that occurs where their ranges overlap), the class found representatives of four ecological roles of fungi––decomposers, parasites, mycorrhizal fungi, and lichens.
The second day was rainy and frosty in the morning, perfect for looking at spore prints from the day before and getting hands-on practice with dichotomous keys. A final slideshow wrapped up the various topics and the workshop ended with the call to conservation of rare mushrooms and their habitats.
We had a great time working with the group, which included a local seventh grade teacher, and two babies, who stared with wide eyes at the various colors and textures and patted the woody ridges of a Fomitopsis shelf mushroom. The group positively identified 25 species over the course of the two-day workshop, and posted many on iNaturalist, a social network for sharing biodiversity information. Through iNaturalist, scientists and conservationists can learn what seasons certain species of mushrooms fruit, and what their geographic ranges are.
“Her enthusiasm for mycology is contagious and oh-so inspiring,” said one participant about lead instructor Christin. “This course was one of the best I’ve taken!”
Adventure Borealis x Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies
Adventure Borealis is teaming up with Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies to explore the biodiversity of Kachemak Bay and the Kenai Peninsula! Registration is open.
In this special weekend workshop, you’ll join mushroom enthusiast and biologist Christin Swearingen for a deep dive into the different fungi that inhabit this corner of Southcentral Alaska!
This is a two-part workshop happening September 15th-17th, 2023. On Saturday and Sunday, participants will attend a two-day field mycology workshop out of the Wynn Nature Center that dives into our local mushrooms, their identification, and more!
This workshop is geared toward adult participants, however mature kids and teens are welcome if accompanied by an adult. The cost for this workshop is $60/person.
This event is brought to you by a partnership between the Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies and Adventure Borealis. If you have any questions about this event or the booking process, please contact the Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies’ main office at 907-235-6667, or the Carl E. Wynn Visitor Center at 907-756-3877.
Summer 2024 Newsletter
We are a year into our journey! The 2024 season began with several free local outings, and we continue to experienced an outpouring of support from companies and individuals. To those that have provided sponsorships, donations, and your time — THANK YOU! This has shaped up to be a busy summer for us and we are getting ready to host our first student leadership retreat at the Macomb Plateau. Check out our Summer 2024 Newsletter for more information and a list of upcoming outings.
Reflecting on our time at Camp Denali
Last month, Adventure Borealis had the opportunity to support a group of leaders and advocates within the diversity-in-the-outdoors space in Alaska to get together in Denali National Park at Camp Denali for a retreat. This was all made possible by the generosity of Camp Denali and their owners, in inviting our group to spend an entire Monday to Friday session with them.
The week started off with intention setting as we pondered together how best to use our time together on the land and learn from each other and build community. Every day, the 11 of us had opportunities to go on guided outings with Camp Denali‘s incredible naturalist guides. They also created space for individual activities which included resting and recovering, reading, biking along the Park Road and foraging for overwintered berries and other summer foods provided by the tundra.
I was constantly inspired by the group. Many have previously worked together on a project to better understand ways of being on the land, including learning about barriers to the outdoors that BIPOC communities face in Alaska. Others in the group have worked on creating safe and inclusive spaces for LGBTQ+ Alaskans to learn winter sports — including creating opportunities for first generation and low-income college students to explore and learn about Alaskan cultural and natural history through field courses and supporting their diverse communities in myriad ways. For me, this ended up being a week of deep listening; listening to myself as I grapple with personal challenges, listening to the land as I walked through it at a contemplative pace, and listening to this incredible community with their deep and varied experiences and insights.
Alex Wong, a physics professor and one of the participants, put it wonderfully when he reflected: “The diversity of ways in which participants in the retreat interact with and think about the natural world — as a source of food and meaning, and an object of fascination — had me wondering how I, as a person, can broaden my perspectives, and also how I, as an educator, can broaden my students’ perspectives.”
A somewhat stormy week culminated with a celebratory Pride canoe on Wonder Lake. As we paddled and swam in the frigid waters, the clouds slowly parted to give way to views of Denali, illuminated under rainbow light. Later, we were all treated to the spectacle of a fully visible Alaska Range, glowing pink with the midnight alpenglow of our subarctic July nights.
I left that week filled with laughter, love, and deep reflections, as well as immense gratitude for Simon and Jenna Hamm, and Camp Denali and their staff for providing such a meaningful opportunity.
– Ryan Arash Marsh, Director and Head Guide for Adventure Borealis
Winter 2023 Newsletter
Thank you for a successful first season for Adventure Borealis! From guiding at a shorebird festival in Utqiagvik, to sharing natural history explorations on multi-day trips in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and local forays right here in our backyard, Adventure Borealis helped connect numerous people more deeply to our public lands and the incredible webs of life that they support. Click here to read our full Winter 2023 Newsletter.
Inaugural Seasonal Newsletter!
The inaugural seasonal newsletter for Adventure Borealis is out!
Every few months we will send an update of upcoming trips, seasonal natural history tidbits, uplifting stories of inclusion in the outdoors, and highlights from partners around Interior Alaska. Do please let us know what you’d like to see in these updates!