Nature U Series
Upcoming Workshops
Basics of Organic Gardening
Date: Febuary 17 - March 24, 2026
Instructors: Adam Bigelow
Starting an organic garden is easy, and fun. Keeping your garden going throughout the years while harvesting abundant, healthy produce can be a little more challenging. This course will help you to have a successful garden experience, from the ground up. We will cover soil ecology, composting and fertility; garden preparation and seed starting; weeds, pests and disease prevention and control; companion planting, the role of flowers and native plants in attracting beneficial insect allies, and much more. Through a combination of classroom instruction and field trips to local Gardens, students will gain knowledge and experience in gardening, and be able to use that information to grow a successful organic garden at home.
Basics of Botany
Date: April 7 - May 12, 2026
Instructors: Adam Bigelow
This classroom-based course will provide a foundational study of Plants, including the different types, their parts and the terminology used to describe them, their life cycles, and how to identify them using field guides, botanical keys, and apps. Students will have a foundational understanding of Plants and how to identify them to help prepare them for the return of Spring and Plant growth in Southern Appalachia and beyond.
Bio of Instructors: Adam Bigelow is a horticulturist and amateur botanist who lives in Cullowhee, NC, and has been studying the plants and wildflowers of Southern Appalachia for over 20 years. Adam is the owner/operator of Bigelow鈥檚 Botanical Excursions, an eco-tour business leading guided plant walks in WNC. He is an avid organic gardener and founded and managed the Cullowhee Community Garden for ten years. Adam is a long-time attendee, field trip leader, and steering committee member of the Cullowhee Native Plant Conference, the largest and oldest annual conference focusing on Native Plants on the East Coast. Adam has lived in WNC for 30 years.
The Art of Nature Journaling
Location: 蘑菇短视频Picnic Area
Instructor: Debby Singleton
Cost: $60
Nature Journaling helps to deepen your observational and drawing skills of the natural world around us. The practice of keeping a nature journal is an extremely effective and engaging way to observe, spark curiosity, and think creatively. When we use words, pictures, and numbers to journal it helps us to think differently and make a more complete record of what we see. Starting (or maintaining) a nature journal is a way to rediscover the thrill of science. It helps us to slow down, look, ask questions, and piece together answers.
Join Debby Singleton for this supportive, engaging, and nature-based workshop for journaling and creating art. Debby will provide all materials needed for this workshop. At the end, each participant will take home a completed nature journal of their observations and a resource list to further their practice. Debby is a firm believer that everyone can 鈥渃reate鈥� and uses this mantra to help others find the joy in the 鈥減rocess鈥�.
Forest Bathing at Pinnacle Park
Location: Pinnacle Park, Sylva
Instructor: Debby Singleton
Cost: $40
Certified guide, Debby Singleton, will offer invitations for safely engaging with
nature through our sense of sight, smell, touch, hearing, and taste. This is an opportunity
to slow down, unplug, de-stress, and practice presence in the moment. Inspired by
the Japanese practice of Shinrin-Yoku, which translates to 鈥渂athing in the forest鈥�,
this immersion is an opportunity to experience the restorative benefits of the forest
around us. At the end of this immersion, participants will share their experiences
with a peaceful tea ceremony.
About the Instructor: Debby Singleton is a retired professor of Parks & Recreation Management from 蘑菇短视频 and a certified Nature & Forest Therapy Guide. Debby is also an educator, experiential facilitator, and a multimedia artist who uses observation, creating, and journaling to connect with nature. She specializes in pen and watercolor mediums, but also dabbles in just about every source of creating. Primarily a landscape and wildlife artist, Debby captures the natural world on paper while adventuring and from her basement studio overlooking her hollow near Cullowhee, NC. She is a firm believer that everyone is an 鈥渁rtist鈥� and uses this mantra to help others find the JOY and the WELLNESS benefits of connecting art with nature. She currently guides Forest Bathing walks, nature immersion hikes, and creative explorations in Western North Carolina and beyond. Debby is excited to share her love of nature journaling, writing, sketching, and exploration with everyone in this workshop.
Supports, Modifications, and/or Accommodations for Participants
All participants are welcome. For questions regarding access and accommodations, please contact 蘑菇短视频Educational Outreach at learn@wcu.edu or by phone at 828.227.7397.