NHFS
Natural History Field Studies
A unique continuing education program for adults providing a comprehensive and stimulating view of our region’s natural history and conservation issues.
Open to learners 18 years or older, environmental professionals or beginners alike.
Course offerings for Fall 2026
Explore how plants and animals interact in natural communities
During this 10-week course, you’ll explore the fascinating and often intimate interactions between plants and animals through the lens of evolution, and probe the benefits and costs to each.
You’ll come to appreciate how plants use (and often manipulate!) animals to overcome the limitations of being rooted in place. Your class experience will include three field trips.
A world of astounding variety and compelling organisms
Fungi have shaped the terrestrial biota in ways we are only beginning to understand.
You’ll gain a new perspective and appreciation of their place in the ecosystems around us and our daily lives as we explore basic fungi biology, including anatomy and physiology, life cycles, ecology, and evolution. Class lectures will be delivered via Zoom, and you’ll get hands-on experiences during four field trips.
Explore how plants and animals interact in natural communities
You’ve probably heard the term “invasive” before, but have you thought about what it really means? And why it is so important that you care?
This course will bring you up to speed on the historical and ongoing arrival of invasives, and we’ll explore their medical, ecological, environmental, and economic consequences here in the mid-Atlantic.
What students say about Natural History Field Studies
I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to take classes in the NHFS program. Most environmental education is aimed at children and youth. Because nature programming wasn’t a part of my suburban childhood (and I might not have cared about it or retained it in any case) I am thrilled to be able to learn about natural history as an adult – ‘when the student is ready, the teacher appears.’ Thanks to the Nature Forward, natural history is becoming a passion.
R. Gray, NHFS Student
All admission, enrollment, and program fees support Nature Forward’s non-profit mission work to inspire residents of the greater Washington, DC region to appreciate, understand, and protect their natural environment through outdoor experiences, education, and advocacy.