Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is the best place in Michigan to study sand dune ecology. Participants will be led on one of the best hikes (2 miles) in Michigan. We will also meet a park ranger at the visitor center and drive through the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive. People all over the world come to see our dunes.Instructor: Emeritus Professor Ray "Gator" Gates Is a retired biology professor from Cornerstone University. Prior to his 41 years teaching biology, botany, zoology, and ornithology at Cornerstone, Gator was a Park Ranger Naturalist for Gallatin National Forest West Yellowstone, Nature Director at Lake Ann Camp and Camp Brookwoods, adjunct professor at Kuyper College and Spring Arbor College, and taught in the Master Naturalist Program with the Kent/Michigan State University Extension. Ray believes that the best instructors are those that love their subject matter and enjoy sharing with others.

Participants will learn how to identify the common evergreen trees of Michigan, along with interesting facts differentiating the various species.Instructor: Emeritus Professor Ray "Gator" Gates Is a retired biology professor from Cornerstone University. Prior to his 41 years teaching biology, botany, zoology, and ornithology at Cornerstone, Gator was a Park Ranger Naturalist for Gallatin National Forest West Yellowstone, Nature Director at Lake Ann Camp and Camp Brookwoods, adjunct professor at Kuyper College and Spring Arbor College, and taught in the Master Naturalist Program with the Kent/Michigan State University Extension. Ray believes that the best instructors are those that love their subject matter and enjoy sharing with others.