Northern Hardwoods & Mixedwoods
Dendrology and Silvics Intensive

A rigorous, ten-module online course built to make tree identification dependable in the field—not merely familiar in a photograph.

Enrollment uses a passwordless email link. There is no course fee, and optional reminder emails stay off unless you enable them.

Course overview

Field competence across the evidence a tree actually gives you

Identification practice rotates among unfamiliar specimens, imperfect views, seasonal material, realistic confusers, and ecological context.

Identify trees from foliage, bark, twigs and buds, reproductive structures, and whole-tree form.
Separate plausible look-alikes and state which visible character supports the decision.
Know accepted scientific names and the silvics a working forester should carry into the woods.
Recognize when the available evidence supports only a genus, species group, or “insufficient evidence.”

Learn at a leisurely pace or follow an intensive ten-week schedule.
Complete short teaching sessions, retrieval drills, multi-organ laboratories, and graded practicals.
Resume from any device with saved grades, mastery records, and a personal error ledger.
Choose whether to receive pacing prompts and useful email encouragement.

Complete learning system

01
Course system
Ten cumulative weeks, an 80-taxon roster, field competency standards, and explicit mastery rules.
02
Teaching and image library
More than a thousand documented teaching and practice photographs plus an isolated private examination bank.
03
Learner experience
Passwordless email access, cross-device progress, a persistent gradebook, and learner-controlled reminders.
04
Assessment and certification
Shuffled unfamiliar specimens, cumulative practicals, nomenclature and silvics testing, and final certification work.

The standard

The course rewards defensible field decisions, durable retrieval, and honest calibration—not confident guessing.