Past Events

VIDEO PLAYLIST OF PAST EVENTS
Recorded videos of past events are accessible on the NHI Youtube Channel so that you can watch them at your convenience.
Past Events 2022
The Language of Nature: Online Writing Workshop
Natural History Institute 126 N Marina St, Prescott, AZWednesdays, February 9th – March 9th 5:30 – 7:30pm (MST/Arizona) via Zoom 7:30 – 9:30pm (EST) Join Program Director Jessie Rack in a series of five weekly online, small group sessions […]
A Spring Walk in the Sonoran Desert with Liz Makings
Natural History Institute 126 N Marina St, Prescott, AZJoin Liz Makings, collections manager of the Arizona State University Vascular Plant Herbarium, for a field workshop focused on the annual plants of the Sonoran Desert. Liz will explain the […]
Natural History and the Respectful Roots of Ecological Theory Webinar
Online WebinarNature and Culture Webinar Series Presents Natural History and the Respectful Roots of Ecological Theory a conversation with Mary Power. Join us for a lively conversation between Mary Power, a leading ecological researcher, […]
#Findthatlizard: Ecology, Science Outreach, and Social Justice in STEM
Natural History Institute 126 N Marina St, Prescott, AZPlease join the Natural History Institute in welcoming Dr. Earyn McGee, whose vast knowledge of herpetology is complemented by her passion for science outreach! Earyn’s PhD research focused on how […]
Science and Poetry of the Sierra Nevada
Online WebinarIn their new book, The Paradise Notebooks, Richard J. Nevle and Steven Nightingale take us across the spectacular Sierra Nevada mountain range on a journey illuminated by incandescent poetry and fascinating […]
Bearing Witness- Artist Talk featuring Randy L. Waln
Natural History Institute 126 N Marina St, Prescott, AZBearing witness, to the artist, is not a passive process. It is not simply a matter of being there. Bearing witness is a process of active engagement. For both the […]
The Brothers Boutelou and the Grass they Barely Knew
Natural History Institute 126 N Marina St, Prescott, AZThe Brothers Boutelou and the Grass they Barely Knew: A Journey into Botany, History, Exploration, and Two Remarkable Men a talk by Debbie DeWolf Allen Botanical names can be challenging […]
Diatremes and Anticlines, Cottonwoods and Songbirds: The Geology and Natural History of the San Juan River
Natural History Institute 126 N Marina St, Prescott, AZThis is a river trip of legendary proportions! Few people get to float this iconic stretch of river with guides like Lon Abbott and Tom Fleischner. Upwarps, anticlines, diatremes, big […]
Drawing from the Center
Natural History Institute 126 N Marina St, Prescott, AZNHI Art Convergence Presents, Drawing from the Center, an artist field workshop with Bonny Stauffer. Do you ever go out into nature to draw and wonder where to begin? This […]
The Natural History of the San Francisco Peaks, a Sky Island of the American Southwest
Natural History Institute 126 N Marina St, Prescott, AZNHI Speaker Series Presents: The Natural History of the San Francisco Peaks, a Sky Island of the American Southwest with Gwendolyn Waring. The San Francisco Peaks is an iconic mountain in […]
Painting on the Spot- Plein Air for Beginners
Natural History Institute 126 N Marina St, Prescott, AZNHI Art Convergence Presents: Painting on the Spot- Plein Air for Beginners an artist field workshop with Cathy Krieger. Plein air painting embraces the experience of painting out in the landscape, […]
The Art of the Fold: Origami Book Arts Workshop
Natural History Institute 126 N Marina St, Prescott, AZThe Art of the Fold: Origami Book Arts Workshop Workshop Instructor: Daniel Mayer Description: Fold, cut, sew and print in this introductory origami book arts workshop! Participants will learn how to fold and […]
Bearing Witness with the Moon: Full Moon Stroll
Natural History Institute 126 N Marina St, Prescott, AZJoin the Natural History Institute and featured artist Randy Waln for a nighttime nature experience under June’s full supermoon. Learn about night blooming flowers and their pollinators, listen for owls, […]
From Predatory Shrikes to Acrobatic Mice: Case Studies in Conservation
Natural History Institute 126 N Marina St, Prescott, AZWhat do San Clemente Loggerhead Shrikes and Salt Marsh Harvest Mice have in common? Both species are endangered, and both provide prime ground for the field of ecomorphology to intersect […]
You Are Here: Mixed-media Map Collage
Natural History Institute 126 N Marina St, Prescott, AZYou Are Here: Mixed-media Map Collage Workshop Instructor: Shelly White Description: Explore the art of collage using maps, found papers, fabric, and stitching. In this workshop, students will choose between several design options […]
A Zig-Zaggy Pathway Through Art
Natural History Institute 126 N Marina St, Prescott, AZJoin the Natural History Institute for a special presentation by artist Carolyn Schmitz, who will share the inspiration behind her most well-known artwork— portraits of animals wearing hats made from […]
It’s Complicated: Native Bees and Their Flowers
Natural History Institute 126 N Marina St, Prescott, AZIt's complicated: The long-standing partnership of native bees and their flowers. There are over 1,000 native bee species in the state of Arizona. Ranging from the size of an eyelash […]
Native bee field workshop: Getting to Know Our Native Bees
Natural History Institute 126 N Marina St, Prescott, AZDid you know there are over 1,000 native bee species in the state of Arizona? In a special field experience follow-up to her talk at the Natural History Institute, Dr. Olivia […]
The Earth as Sacred Garden: Art, Nature and Spirit
Natural History Institute 126 N Marina St, Prescott, AZAdele Seronde, as a painter and gardener, viewed the whole Earth as a "Sacred Garden.” Join the Natural History Institute for a special artist talk on the late Adele Seronde’s […]
Speaker Series Presents: Lisa Floyd-Hanna “Piñon-Juniper Woodland Health: Reflections on 40 Years of Close Observation”
Natural History Institute 126 N Marina St, Prescott, AZDr. Lisa Floyd-Hanna will speak about her extensive research on Piñon-Juniper woodlands, including old growth characteristics and challenges. Piñon-juniper woodlands are extensive across the southwest, highly variable in species, structure, […]
Native Grasses Walk with Debbie DeWolf Allen
Natural History Institute 126 N Marina St, Prescott, AZJoin NHI and local grasses expert Debbie DeWolf Allen, author of the book Common Grasses of the Central Arizona Highlands, for a morning walk to learn to identify our native […]
NHI Speaker Series Presents: Citizen Artist™: An Alternative Path to Studying Environmental Issues with Dr. Lee Ann Woolery.
Natural History Institute 126 N Marina St, Prescott, AZWhat if you could engage in other ways of knowing, use all your senses, and employ your creativity to understand the natural world at a deeper level? In this talk, […]
Become a Citizen Artist – Field Workshop with Lee Ann Woolery
Natural History Institute 126 N Marina St, Prescott, AZIn a field experience follow-up to her talk at the Natural History Institute, Dr. Lee Ann Woolery will lead a small group in the exploration of local habitats using alternative […]
Plein Air Painting on a Mountain Prairie: Hart Prairie on the San Francisco Peaks Field Workshop with Dr. Gwendolyn Waring.
Natural History Institute 126 N Marina St, Prescott, AZThis day-long painting class for all levels will take place on Hart Prairie, at the base of the San Francisco Peaks. There are prairies and aspen stands, which should be […]
Wood & Stone, Substance & Spirit: Rebecca Davis & Roger Asay Book Release
Natural History Institute 126 N Marina St, Prescott, AZIn this special event hosted by the Natural History Institute, local artists Rebecca Davis and Roger Asay will premiere their new book with a talk about their work accompanied by […]
Get to Know Your Slimy Neighbors: Desert Snails in Arizona
Natural History Institute 126 N Marina St, Prescott, AZMost folks wouldn’t know it, but Arizona has about 200 native species of mollusks! From tiny springsnails to quarter-sized talussnails, our diverse mollusk species are found from low deserts and […]
Geology and Fall Colors: Field Experience to Tonto Natural Bridge State Park.
Natural History Institute 126 N Marina St, Prescott, AZJoin NHI in this seasonal collaboration with Arizona State Parks to learn and experience Tonto Natural Bridge State Park, just below the Mogollon Rim. The bridge itself is the largest […]
Cheap, Easy, and Old School Techniques to Reestablish Plant Communities
Natural History Institute 126 N Marina St, Prescott, AZEcological restoration – the process of assisting in the recovery of damaged habitats – is hard, and many researchers are trying to find technologies that enhance restoration outcomes. While these […]
Portraits of Gaia: A Veterinary Artist Perspective
Natural History Institute 126 N Marina St, Prescott, AZKen Gorczyca is a nature-based artist, veterinarian, and social activist. In this lecture, he invites you into his world of capturing portraits of the Earth, or Gaia, whom he believes is […]
Images from the Source: A Shared Experience
Natural History Institute 126 N Marina St, Prescott, AZIn a field experience follow-up to his talk at the Natural History Institute, Ken Gorczyca and NHI Program Director Jessie Rack will lead a small group in an exploration of the […]
Loving Nature and Fighting for It: A Natural History of Acid Rain
Online WebinarLoving Nature and Fighting for It: A Natural History of Acid Rain an online conversation with Dr. Gene Likens Acid rain was the major environmental crisis of the 1970s and […]
Science in Conversation
Online WebinarScience in Conversation Join the Natural History Institute for a webinar series that asks scientists to uncover the natural history in their science. Program Director Jessie Rack engages scientists across […]
The Biocultural Riches of the Gulf of California, Mexico
Natural History Institute 126 N Marina St, Prescott, AZThe Gulf of California is a place of incredible beauty and striking contrasts. It is where extreme biodiversity overlaps with rich cultural diversity, resulting in a place that is deeply […]
Secrets of Sunflowers – More Than Meets the Eye A Natural History of Sunflowers
Online WebinarScience in Conversation Webinar Series Presents Secrets of Sunflowers - More Than Meets the Eye: A Natural History of Sunflowers From meadows to gardens and spanning thousands of years of human […]
Venom, Scales, and Sticky Toes: Adaptations of Amphibians & Reptiles in AZ
Natural History Institute 126 N Marina St, Prescott, AZSure, you know about rattlesnakes, but do you know about hallucinogenic toads, all-female populations of lizards, absorbing tails, cannibalistic tadpoles, or salamanders that breed as juveniles? Amphibians and reptiles in […]
What Goes “EEP!” in the Peaks? A Natural History of Pikas
Online WebinarVisitors to the alpine regions may have experienced sights or sounds of pikas - small, furry, potato-sized mammals that are related to rabbits. Join NHI for a webinar conversation with […]
The Language of Nature: Online Writing Workshop
Online WorkshopWinter means a time to reflect, to follow the inward-turning curiosity, to match language to the constant change and cycling of the natural world. Join the Natural History Institute in […]
After the Whirlwind: Yavapai-Apache Scouts and the Worlds They Made
Natural History Institute 126 N Marina St, Prescott, AZDuring the 1870s, Yavapai and Dilzhe'e Apache peoples were violently forced out of their homes in the Verde Valley, Bradshaw Mountains, Mogollon Rim Country, and around the confluence of the […]
Teaching Care For The World: A Natural History of Environmental Education
Online WebinarAt the Natural History Institute, we know that one of the best ways to get people to care about nature is to teach them about nature. In this webinar, learn […]
Collecting Cacti and Other Stubborn Plants for Scientific Documentation
Natural History Institute 126 N Marina St, Prescott, AZSpikes and spines and herbarium sheets! In this indoor, hands-on workshop, botanist and plant collection guru Dr. Marc Baker will demonstrate proper techniques for collecting and processing cacti and agaves. […]
ARCHIVE OF PREVIOUS YEARS’ EVENTS
For Current Events, Visit Our Events Calendar
2021
- The Fascinating Life of Javelinas and Other Peccaries: Ecology, Natural History, Behavior, and Conservation, talk with Mariana Altrichter. Video
- Ways of Seeing: The Practice of Observation in Natural History and Art, a conversation with photographer Lynn Alleva Lilley and Tom Fleischner. Video
- The Forgotten Botanist: Sara Plummer Lemmon’s Life of Science and Art, talk with Tucson author Wynne Brown Video
- Drawing Under the Pines, field workshop with artist Shawn Skabelund and Prescott National Forest’s ecologist, Francisco Anaya
- Collaborating with Place, artist talk with Shawn Skabelund Video
- Walnut Creek Wander: Ruins, Restoration and Research, field excursion led by Bob Ellis and Jessie Rack
- Natural History Storytelling and Video Creation, an AAEE outdoor workshop with Bob Ellis and Jessie Rack
- Breaking Through: Passage to the Verde River Canyon, field excursion led by Bob Ellis and Jessie Rack
- Beauty Passing Through Us: Natural History and Art as Intervention, online art exhibit Video
- Earth’s Wild Music: Celebrating Life in a Time of Extinction, a conversation with Kathleen Dean Moore Video
- Verde River Ramble, an in-person excursion led by Bob Ellis
- Naturalists’ Practice Circle, with Tom Fleischner
- Feral Watercolor: From Pigments to Paint, an Art + Science online workshop with Roseann Hanson
- Special Earth Day Event with Dara Saville (Co-sponsored by Peregrine Book Co.)
- Wolves, Wildfire, and Climate Change: A Conversation with Jon Trapp Video
- Poetry & The Wild: A Reading and Conversation with Jane Hirshfield Video
- A New Vision for Environmental Learning – A Conversation with Mitch Thomashow Video
- Snakes of Arizona, with Andy Holycross Video
2020
- Fire and the Future of Piñon-Juniper Woodlands, with Lisa Floyd-Hanna Video
- Slithery Subjects: Drawing Desert Reptiles
- Reciprocal Healing Roundtable Video
- Conversation on the Edge: Wildness, Reconciliation, and Love of the World Video
- Story and the Ecological Imagination Video
- Nature Journaling: The Art of Seeing and Recording the World Around You
- Sand Talk: How Indigenous Thinking Can Save The World Video
- Not Just Birds, Not Just Science, Not Just Politics Video
- The Mindfulness of Natural History, The Natural History of Mindfulness
- From Eye to Paper: Artists’ Insights
- Passion, Devotion, Intimacy: Art and Natural History Video
- Ecuador: Bright Islands, Deep Forest
- Seeing the Unseen
2019
- Woody Plants of the Mogollon Highlands Video
- Cuatro Ciénegas: An Oasis of Biodiversity in the Chihuahuan Desert Video
- Reciprocal Healing: Nature, Health, and Wild Vitality
- Ancient Arizona Video
- Gallery Exhibit Opening Reception/Artist Talk- Deborah Springstead Ford Video
- Alpenglow: The Practice of Art & Natural History in the Range Of Light Video
- Elizabeth Bernays: Six Legs Walking
- Natural History of Fire, Food, and Shelter in the Mogollon Highlands
- Fire History and Historical Stand Reconstruction of the Mogollon Highlands Ponderosa Pine
- Gwendolyn Waring: The Natural History of the San Francisco Peaks
- Love Runs Through It: In the Field with an Artist-Naturalist
- The Intersection of Art and Conservation Video
- 8th Annual High Sierra Natural History Celebration
- Gallery Exhibit Opening Reception – Walt Anderson
- Biomimicry: Observing and Learning from Nature’s Genius
- Diatremes and Anticlines, Cottonwoods and Songbirds: The Geology and Natural History of the San Juan River
- Where Have All the Turtles Gone, and Why Does It Matter? Video
- Mogollon Highlands Naturalist Certification Program
- Three Decades of Science on Polar Ice: A Personal Perspective Video
- Gulf of California, México: Wild Islands, Rich Desert
- A Tale of Two Pikas: From the Rockies to the Roof of the World Video
- Saving Seeds, Saving Ourselves, Saving the Earth Video
- Scalawags, Gloryhounds, Visionaries and Conservationists: Stories from the Arader Collection Video
- Frog Stories: Natural History as an Amphibian Decline Research Tool Video
- The Biocultural Riches of the Gulf of California Video
- Slave Raiding Ants of Prescott Natural History of the Ants, Their Slaves, and the Parasites That Attack Them Both Video
- Ecuador: Deep Forest, Bright Islands
- Honey Bee Natural History and Conservation Video
2018
- One Building, 90 Years, Many Stories The Natural History Institute of Prescott
- Acker Night featuring Candace Devine & Dylan Ludwig
- The Mindfulness of Natural History and the Natural History of Mindfulness
- Awe-some – A Buddhist look at Awe, Conservation, and the Natural World
- Within this Moment Experiencing Place
- Heartwood to Bedrock Artistic Intimacy with the Mogollon Highlands
- Gallery Exhibit Opening Reception – Roger Asay and Rebecca Davis
- Natural History, Healing and Reciprocity
- A Thinking Person’s Guide to America’s National Parks
- Food from the Radical Center Healing Our Land and Communities
- Tracking Wildlife in the Verde River Using Environmental DNA, A New Tool for Biodiversity Assessment
- Mogollon Highlands Exploration The Upper Verde River – A Verdant Secret (Hike #2)
- High Sierra Natural History Celebration
- Art and Science Open House
- Mogollon Highlands Exploration The Upper Verde River – A Verdant Secret (Hike #1)
- Gulf of California, México Wild Islands, Rich Desert
- Grand Canyon A Geologic Puzzle Extraordinaire
- Feathers and Beaks: Bars and Streaks Form and Pattern in Birds
- Your Public Lands Natural History of Sedona and the Edge of the Colorado Plateau
- The Mogollon Highlands A Frontier of Field Ornithology
- Panel Discussion Artistic Practice and Attentiveness to Nature: Creating Intimacy with Disappearance
- Restoration Ecology Goal Setting, Climate Change, and the Significance of History
- Drawing from the Collections The Art of Natural History Illustration
- Lighting the Fire A Natural History of Story
- The Gulf of California A Natural History Treasure
- Panel Discussion Healing with Nature
- Ladybugs and Big Data Tracking Harmonia axyridis in Space and Time
- Ecuador Bright Islands, Deep Forest
2017




































































