Somes-Meynell Wildlife Sanctuary offers a variety of public programs, field trips, and trainings focused on local science projects, wildlife & natural history, and local/regional cultural history topics. The Sanctuary’s programs are intended to inform fellow citizens and connect them when possible to further opportunities to learn, become conservation stewards, and engage in meaningful projects.
To learn more about local nature walks visit our Facebook page. Sign up for our email updates to learn more about our public programs.
Sign up for our email updates
Lichen Identification Workshop, Saturday, June 27th from 10am – 12pm at Sanctuary Headquarters; 2nd Session by popular demand on Saturday, August 15th from 10am-12:30
Maine Master Naturalist and lichen expert Grace Bartlett will guide us through some of the diversity of lichen types found in our area. We will have a classroom ID session and then head into the nearby forest to look for various lichen examples. The rain date for this program will be the following day, Sunday, June 28th. Please email somesmeynell@gmail.com to sign up. Attendance will be limited to ensure the best experience for participants.
Fern Identification Workshop, Thursday, August 6th, 10:00-12:00, at Sanctuary Headquarters
Join Maine Master Naturalist and Sanctuary board member Roberta Sharp for some classroom and field time to learn about some of our local ferns in the forest and along the shoreline of Somes Pond. Please email somesmeynell@gmail.com to sign up. Attendance will be limited to ensure the best experience for participants.
Acadia Amphibian Project Update and Training, Tuesday, August 11th from 4:00pm – 5:30pm at Sanctuary Headquarters
The Acadia Amphibian Project supports research by PhD student Marisa Monroe at the University of Maine, in collaboration with Acadia National Park and Schoodic Institute. The Sanctuary has recruited project volunteers for Marisa in the past couple of years and this training is for an extension of surveys to the fall season. Project volunteers monitor 300m transects around Mount Desert Island and on the Schoodic Peninsula, for the presence of amphibians on roads. The data collected will be used to help the park understand when and where amphibians are moving across roads. The goal is to find ways to protect amphibians year round, not just on the big nights of movement in the early spring. As we head into late summer and early fall the metamorphs and juveniles of our spring breeding species will start making their way across the roads to their terrestrial habitat.
There will be an amphibian identification section of the program and then details about how to help with surveys and become a volunteer. Sheridan Todd, the Biological Science and Volunteer Engagement Technician at Schoodic Institute, will lead us through the training.
Goldenrod Identification Workshop, Wednesday, September 9th from 1pm – 3pm meeting at Sanctuary Headquarters, then visiting some field sites
Join Maine Master Naturalist Karen Johnson for a combination of indoor and outdoor classroom sessions to learn about some of our local goldenrod species. Goldenrods support many species of butterflies and moths and are an important part of several of our habitats.
2025 Programs and special field trips
2024 Evening Programs and special field trips
2023 Evening Programs and special field trips
2019 Spring & Summer Public Programs (Pre-pandemic era!)
2018 Late Summer & Fall Public Programs