Sunrise Senior College Online Course Registration

Location: Reversing Falls Park, Mahar Point (DIRECTIONS link)

In today’s session, we will meet with Dr. Robin Hadlock Seeley at Pembroke’s Reversing Falls Town Park, where we will walk on the shore at low tide and walk through the low tide rockweed “forest”, learning about the species that live within its branches and canopy, its growth and growth forms, and ways the forest is affected by different harvest methods in Maine. This session will further explain why and how the Rockweed is so important to the ecological well-being of Maine’s marine commercial fisheries and wildlife. It starts in the western parking area near the historic Mahar cemetery.  You will see some of the different species covered in the lecture session, as well as seals playing in the Falls just off the shore. This session involves a very short walk from a nearby parking lot 100 feet from the shore. The walking surface is a gentle slope to the water, and we will take our time, but rockweed is slippery, and the intertidal area is not considered accessible to those with mobility concerns. After the session ends, participants will have the option to have a morning snack or breakfast on picnic tables and explore for themselves the adjacent shoreline trails (moderate hiking difficulty: trails are not level or smooth) of the Downeast Coastal Conservancy’s Reversing Falls Preserve, where Dr. Seeley serves as a volunteer steward. This field trip is limited to 15 people. Water appropriate, sturdy foot wear and all participants must sign a liability wavier that day. 

It is not necessary for you to have taken Dr. Seeley’s Sept. 9th lecture class on Rockweed to participate in this walk; however, places are limited and those who signed up for the lecture class will have first priority for the field trip.  For those students who are taking the Sept. 9 class, please answer “Yes” at checkout when you are asked if you are taking the class and this field trip will be reduced by $5.00.

Trailhead Directions: Take Route 1 to West Pembroke. Turn south onto the extension of Route 214 next to the Pembroke Post Office. Turn right at the next stop sign and then an immediate left up a very small hill onto the Leighton Point Road (also called Leighton Neck Road). Continue 3.3 miles; then turn right onto Clarkside or Cemetery Road for 1.2 miles. At the end of Clarkside Road (you will see the Bay!), turn left onto Reversing Falls Road (not marked by a street sign). Go 1.5 miles to the Town of Pembroke Reversing Falls Park, and when you arrive, bear right and go down the hill towards the water and a parking area. Or use this link to create your own directions: DIRECTIONS VIA GOOGLE MAP. https://www.google.com/maps/dir//44.8820789,-67.1322421/@44.8820715,-67.1406114,659m/data=!3m1!1e3?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDQyOC4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

Instructor: Dr. Robin Hadlock Seeley Ph.D., is the Executive Director of the Maine Rockweed Coalition and a Certified Senior Ecologist (certified by the Ecological Society of America). She is a retired Senior Research Associate, Dept. of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Cornell University, and an 8th generation Mainer and Bowdoin College graduate. She lives in Pembroke, Maine.

Class Information: This is an in-person only class - held at Pembroke’s Reversing Falls Town Park with the instructor in person.

All facilities at the University of Maine at Machias (UM@M) are fully handicap compliant.  The facilities used by Sunrise Senior College (SSC) at the college have ramps, elevators and handicap accessible bathrooms.  Our offsite functions and activities have various limitations and restrictions and may not be fully handicap accessible.  SSC will endeavor to identify limitations at these to you in advance.

                                                   IMPORTANT:  See Below

“Sunrise Senior College does not endorse any appeal or representation made by a presenter, non-profit organization or business during an SSC presentation.  SSC members attending the presentations may wish to pursue additional involvement with the organization or presenter based on the material that was presented and in doing so, they are acting on their own and not as part of SSC.”

This class is available to all current Maine Senior College (MSCN) Members. The general public not wishing to join Sunrise Senior College at this time may attend this class for a $15.00 fee.

Important: If at this time you are not a current member of Sunrise Senior College (SSC) but are planning to join as a member today, make sure you answer that “Your SSC membership is current” when checking out so that we can properly bill you for this class.

Sunrise Senior College (SSC) is a membership-based organization. Our SSC members receive special benefits as current members when they register for this course. Any member of another MSCN college is also able to enjoy this course, but may incur some additional charges. If you are a member of the general public, you can take this course but will have to pay additional fees associated with being a non-member. For any attendee that is not a current member of Sunrise Senior College, any materials required for the course are your responsibility. When checking out, please carefully read and answer the questions asked associated with this specific course so that you are charged appropriately for this class. Failure to do this may result in your being cancelled from the course. We hope you enjoy this offering.