Education Sessions & Descriptions

Public education sessions will be held on Friday & Saturday covering a wide range of topics that will benefit landowners. Take a look below to see the lineup and decide if there are any topics of interest to you!

Kids Education Topics

Digital Forestry

The integrated digital forestry group at Purdue University will present new developments in digital tools and technologies in the application of forest inventory and measurement, forest management, and health monitoring. Live demos of the applications of drone, spectral sensors and LiDAR sensors will be available pending weather conditions.

Presented by Songlin Fei

• Location | Educational Seminars Building
• Friday | 11a
• Saturday | 10a

Safe Chainsaw Operation

Description Coming Soon

Presented by Don Carlson

• Location | Outside of Educational Seminar Building
• Friday | 12p
• Saturday | 10a

Cutting Your Logs / Lumber

This session will discuss general considerations of milling hardwood logs into lumber and then drying the lumber for use.

Presented by Rado Gazo

• Location | Educational Seminar Building
• Friday | 1p
• Saturday | 1p

Forest Improvement

We will cover several practices that can improve the health, growth, species composition or diversity, and value of your woodlands. Thinking about your property objectives and doing some management to favor the trees that are best meeting those goals can go a long way towards additional enjoyment and benefits from your woodland.

Presented by Lenny Farlee, Purdue

• Location | Educational Seminar Building
• Friday | 12p
• Saturday | 11a

Woodland Wildlife

Providing wildlife habitat is an important goal for the vast majority of woodland owners. In this session, you’ll learn about different ways woodlands benefit wildlife as well as some simple strategies to increase benefits to a wide variety of wildlife species.

Presented by Brian MacGowan

• Location | Educational Seminar Building
• Friday | 3p

Invasive Species

Invasive plants are among the most serious problems affecting landscapes and communities across the United States. These plants not only threaten the ecological integrity and biological diversity of our forest ecosystems, but can result in significant negative economic impacts. In this session, you’ll learn about methods of controlling invasive plant species, which include: preventing invasions, early detection and rapid response, control techniques, accessing resources and assistance.

Presented by Dawn Slack, SICIM

• Location | Educational Seminar Building
• Friday | 4p

Urban Forestry

Description Coming Soon

Presented by Ben McCallister

• Location | Educational Seminar Building
• Saturday | 2p

Intro to Indiana Trees

We will cover some basic steps in tree ID and explore several species and groups of Indiana trees to help you recognize more on your next walk in the woods. We will also mention some useful references you can use to learn more trees through time.

Presented by Lenny Farlee, Purdue

• Location | Educational Seminar Building
• Saturday | 3p

Woodland Owner Panel

Foresters and landowners will be on hand to share tips and answer all of your questions about your forestland. Learn how to dramatically reduce your property taxes, prepare for a timber harvests, maintain and improve your forest health, and more.

Panel Discussion including Duane McCoy, DNR | Lenny Farlee, Purdue University

• Location | Educational Seminar Building
• Friday | 2p
• Saturday | 4p

Magical Wood

Aimed specifically at elementary school students, Wood Magic is an exciting and innovative program to educate students about the tremendous important of wood and wood products in everyday life. They participate in hands-on experiments such as making plywood and paper, and testing the strength of wood.

Presented by Eva Haviarova, Purdue University

• Location | Woods on Wheels Stage
• Friday | 12p
• Saturday | 11a
• Saturday | 1p

Growing Together with Indiana

Through this interactive activity, participants will learn how animals, insects, plants and trees “grow together” in the environment. They also will be able to craft their own tools to discover how different organisms are growing together in their own backyards.

Presented by Purdue Student Chapter of Environmental Education

• Location | Woods on Wheels Stage
• Friday | 2p
• Saturday | 10a
• Saturday | 2p

Smokey the Bear – Fire Safety

Kids still love Smokey the Bear, who will be on hand to give life and property-saving tips on preventing fires at campsites and around your home.

Presented by Smokey the Bear & Bev Stout, DNR

• Location | Woods on Wheels Stage
• Saturday, August 28th | 3p