9AM-12PM (please arrive 10-15 minutes ahead of the session)

Suitable for all ages.  Participants should expect to hike no more than 2 miles over uneven terrain.

Au Sable Institute of Environmental Studies

7526 Sunset Trail Rd NE

Mancelona, MI 49659

Please park in the main (student) parking lot.

About the Instructor

Nina Grauley is a Science Illustrator, artist, and enthusiastic amateur naturalist. A 2019 Au Sable Alumni, Nina earned a BA in Art from Covenant College, a Certificate in Natural Science Illustration from California State University, Monterey Bay and has served as an artist and residence for the National Park Service.  Read the following from Nina:

“I have always been curious about the world around me. I first learned about it through art, but science introduced me to the processes and l structures that lay beneath the surface. Being a science illustrator allows me to bring both of these disciplines together to grow our understanding of the places we are a part of.
              Paying attention to the particularities of a community- whether it is made up of plants or people- is an act of love. I very much have a researcher’s heart- I love looking at the world and asking questions. I get incredibly excited about big academic ideas and tiny clumps of moss on the sidewalk. This world is so big and so beautiful and the closer you look at anything the more exciting it gets- but also the more obvious it becomes that our relationships with ourselves, each other, and with nature are broken. I believe that looking closely at nature can teach us more about what it means to be human, and how we can begin the process of healing together.”