31st Annual ABLE Conference

Departure time TBD
Return time TBD

The Wharton State Forest in central New Jersey is a coastal pineland permeated with lovely meandering streams and bogs. At one time, there were thriving iron and glass making industries. This excursion will sample all three of these features. Rental kayaks or canoes (participant choice) will traverse one of the streams for something like three hours. The stream level is usually high in June, so negotiating hazards such as sand bars and sunken logs is fairly easy. A person familiar with the area will guide us in viewing forest and bog, and we will visit the former glass making industry at Batsto Village. Finally, we will have dinner at one of the area restaurants before an evening return to campus. Fee covers transportation, rental, and admission, but not food.

www.nj.gov/pinelands/

 

Departure time TBD
Return time TBD

Get outside! Get your feet wet - or muddy (optional)! Delaware Bay's extensive salt and freshwater marshes, tidal creeks, and beaches are critical nursery areas for all sorts of aquatic creatures. One of the famous ones is the Atlantic horseshoe crab. These animals come out of the water to lay their eggs in the bay's beaches during high tides in spring. Hundreds of thousands of migrating shorebirds stop along the Delaware Bay to replenish their fat reserves on the bounty of horseshoe crab eggs.
In the morning, we will visit the St. Jones Center for Estuarine Studies, just southeast of Dover Air Force Base. Personnel from the Delaware Department of Natural Resources will be our hosts. We will get outside to do some sampling and we'll learn about the efforts of wildlife biologists to build a scientific basis for the management of the horseshoe crab population. We will also learn about their program monitoring global-warming induced sea level rise.
In the afternoon, we will move a short way north along the bay to Pickering Beach, to catch high tide. By mid-June, the migrating shorebirds will have moved on to their Arctic breeding grounds, but there will still be some horseshoe crabs coming ashore. Several horseshoe crab experts will join us and we will have a chance to tag some animals.
On the way home, we will stop at Sambo's Tavern in Little Creek, a unique spot for blue crabs and beer. Fee covers transportation, but not meals.

 

Departure time TBD
Return time TBD

Do you teach Anatomy and Physiology? Are your classrooms filled with pre-meds? Wait until you see the Mutter Museum! It is a place of fascination to pre-meds and you will go home with stories to tell.
The Mutter Museum belongs to the Philadelphia College of Physicians and it houses "unique anatomic and pathological materials." From the Web site:

Our collection now boasts over 20,000 unforgettable objects. These include fluid-preserved anatomical and pathological specimens; skeletal and dried specimens, medical instruments and apparati; anatomical and pathological models in plaster, wax, papier-mache, and plastic; memorabilia of famous scientists and physicians; medical illustrations, photographs, prints, and portraits.

For some, the Mutter is an all-day affair. Others may choose to branch out for the afternoon. Both the Franklin Institute and the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences are close by, as is the Philadelphia Museum of Art and many other attractions of downtown Philly.
A bus will take us to the Mutter Museum in the morning and return to campus after dinner. Transportation and dining in Philadelphia are to be decided. Walking distance from the Mutter Museum to Independence Square is a little over one mile. The fee covers transportation and admission to the Mutter Museum, but not other museums or meals. A list of suggested eateries will be provided.