Dave Sutherland Signature Programs:

Rocks, Stars & Local Ecosystems

“If we could get in a time machine, and travel back one year every second, it would still take us two years in the machine to get back to the age of dinosaurs. Better bring a book.”

— Dave Sutherland

  • Stegosaurus, courtesy Denver Museum of Nature and Science

    Stories in the Rocks 


    April - October
    If you think geology is fascinating but just too hard, this is the program for you. Boulder’s rocks tell incredible stories that include dinosaurs, glaciers, vast swamps, oceans and ancient mountain ranges now vanished into the dust of time.

  • Naturalist Dave Sutherland leads a public astronomy nature program with a telescope

    Astronomy / Telescope Viewing

    Telescope programs with Dave can be requested through the City of Boulder’s Open Space and Mountain Parks department. Best on clear moonless nights, targets can include the planets (Saturn’s rings, Jupiter’s moons), cloudy nebulae and distant galaxies, double stars and star clusters, and special objects like passing comets.

  • Gunbarrel Hill: A Prairie Treasure 

    End of May through end of June
    
The grasslands at Gunbarrel tell an amazing story of farmland restored to prairie. After thirty years of replanting with native grasses, the land is now home to a vibrant plant and animal community, including uncommon ground-nesting songbirds like grasshopper sparrows, whose populations are declining across North America.

  • East Meets West

    Boulder straddles the junction where two worlds collide: a thousand miles of prairie run smack up against the mountains. From our vantage point in the foothills, we'll gaze east across the Great Plains and west into the foothills of the Rocky Mountains to explore what happens when two great ecosystems crash together.

  • Full Moon

    Full Moon Hikes

    Full moon nights during any month
    Experience nature by night while walking under the silvery light of the moon, while we share legends, stories, fun facts and hard science about our nearest celestial neighbor. Come prepared to practice howling.

  • Signs of Spring 

    March and April
    Join Dave to look for the green hope of spring. We’ll spot the color of new grass and bright early flowers.  Wear footwear that can get muddy and bring a camera for pictures to add to a nature scrapbook.

  • Fire on the Mountain!

    The Front Range in Boulder, Colorado is prone to destructive wildfires. But fire also plays a crucial and rejuvenating role in healthy forest and grassland ecosystems.

    Learn how fire can be both foe and friend while visiting a recently-burned forest.

  • Flatirons in Winter

    Winter is Coming!

    November and December
    Just how do our local plants and animals survive the changing of the seasons and life in the cold? Winter can be a tough time but our resourceful species have a whole tool box of strategies for survival.