Instructor: Dr. Paul Manos (Duke University) The course is designed for students of all sorts, professional biologists, and amateur enthusiasts. The goals are to introduce plant diversity with a community-based approach through field observations of the flora of the Blue Ridge: to emphasize basic distinguishing features among lycophytes, ferns and seed plants; to focus on field characteristics of common and rare species and their habitats; to use keys to identify species; and to better understand the ecology of the major plant communities of the region and the biogeography of the species. Prerequisites: One course in Introductory biology or ecology, training in natural history or permission of instructor Cost: $1000 course fee + $600 housing fee (if staying on-site) Click here for the syllabus.