Quick Info
Dates: May 13-15, 2021
Location: Due to Covid-19, Gathering Partners sessions are going virtual, but North Shore area field trips are available.
Cost: $60 for virtual conference. Optional field trips are available for an additional $35 each.
Register here.
All registrants for the 2021 Gathering Partners virtual conference will receive full access to our online conference platform, including three days filled with concurrent sessions for every interest. See our schedule below to see what we have planned for you!
We hope you can join us for this year’s Gathering Partners conference! This annual event is a favorite for friends of Minnesota’s natural resources, including volunteers, landowners, citizen scientists and advocates.
From phenology to climate change, wildlife watching to invasive species management, you will spend your days learning about Minnesota’s ecology in your choice of virtual conference sessions. Stick around after the sessions for a virtual happy hour, game show night, and other fun activities!
This year we’re honored to welcome keynote speaker Parker McMullen Bushman. Parker is the Colorado State University Director of Extension for the City and County of Denver, as well as a passionate voice for equity and inclusion in conservation and the outdoors. She works with environmental organizations to aid them in building culturally diverse and culturally competent organizations that are representative of the populations that they hope to reach and serve.
Online conference registration is $60 per person, with the option to purchase in-person field trips.
Optional field trips are available!
In addition to full access to all our virtual sessions and activities, we are offering the option to purchase up to three in-person field trips. Choose from 18 expert-guided excursions at various locations along the North Shore, including the Cloquet Forestry Center, Sugarloaf Cove, Flood Bay, Sax-Zim Bog and Wolf Ridge.
Due to Covid-19 safety protocols, participants will need to arrange their own transportation, food and lodging if choosing to attend field trips this year.
We recommend you take a moment to look over the available field trips prior to starting the registration process. Field trips are being held during three different time blocks, with multiple field trips held simultaneously—please make sure you don’t double-book yourself during registration!
Thursday, May 13, 2021
10:30 - 11:30 a.m.
Hawk Ridge: Counting for Conservation
Presenter: Margie Menzies
Offal Wildlife Watching
Presenter: Ellen Candler
Learning about Minnesota's terrestrial gastropods
Presenter: Katherine Marchetto
1:00 - 2:00 p.m.
Moths: Nighttime Neighbors
Presenter: Clinton Dexter-Nienhaus
TBD
Presenter: Christopher Janelle
Sustainable Aquaculture
Presenter: Amy Schrank
2:30 - 3:30 p.m.
Be a Turtle Hero!
Presenter: Misi Stine
Invasive Plants of the North Shore
Presenter: Mari Hardel
Friday, May 14, 2021
9:00 - 10:00 a.m.
Silent Invasion of the Great Lakes
Presenter: Doug Jensen
Tracking Jumping Worms in Minnesota...Volunteers Needed!
Presenter: Ryan Huffmeier
Mushrooms: Edibles and Lookalikes
Presenter: Gene Kremer
10:30 - 11:30 a.m.
Accessing information on Minnesota plants and animals through the Minnesota Biodiversity Atlas
Presenter: Britt Forsberg
Dragonflies of Minnesota
Presenter: Kurt Mead
Leave No Trace
Presenter: Teri Fick
Saturday, May 15, 2021
9:00 - 10:00 a.m.
Soak Up Minnesota's Unknown with the Quest for the Freshwater Sponge
Presenter: Tony Schroeder
Wolf Reintroduction on Isle Royale
Presenter: Misi Stine
AgroPhenology adapting to Climate Change
Presenter: David Abazs
10:30 - 11:30 a.m.
Our lake, our state, our backyard: Engaging students by observing plant phenology
Presenter: Jessica Savage
A deadly case of mistaken identity: Nuisance plants and their look-a-likes
Presenter: Gary Wyatt
Hands-on Bluebirding: Everything You Want to Know to Get Started and More
Presenter: David Schmidt