SABER Annual Meeting Place-Based Pre-Conference Workshops

2026 SABER Annual Meeting
   Place-Based
Pre-Conference Workshops

Thursday, July 9, 2026

SABER and the Place-Based Subcommittee are proud to host two place-based workshops at Michigan State University. Participants must also register for the in-person conference. These pre-conference experiences are concurrent with the biology education research pre-conference workshops. 

Learning from Place: Nokomis Cultural Heritage Center
8:30 am - 2:00 pm | Fee: $25-100 (suggested) to cover transportation and appreciation of our partners. 
Join us for a placed-based experience in partnership with the Nokomis Cultural Heritage Center and the Native American Institute at Michigan State University. Participants will learn directly from the place and people on whose land we visit for our conference convening. The day will include a guided tour of the Nokomis Center, presentations from Indigenous scholars, experiential learning through crafting, a tour of the Three Sisters and Medicine Garden, and a shared meal with community members. Participants will be encouraged to reflect on how their own teaching and research can support Indigenous futurity and interrupt the erasure and devaluation of Indigenous Science Knowledge. Workshop will be limited to approximately 30 participants. The Nokomis Center is about 10min drive from campus, and we are in the process of arranging transportation options—stay tuned for details! If the suggested fee is prohibitive, please put down $0. If you have the means, please consider donating more so that we can thank our generous hosts who are providing their time and a lunch without charge.

Bizarre Botany
9:00 -10:30 am | Free to Attend
Join Maeve Bassett, Ethnobotanist and Education Director at Beal Botanical Garden, for a hands-on tour and workshop exploring how the dark, funny, weird, gross, and fascinating history of plants can be used in education and to facilitate connections between people and the natural world. Tours consist of walking on unpaved turf grass. Please let us know if there are any accessibility or mobility issues, and we will accommodate as best we can. 

Click here to register for a pre-conference workshop in
biology education research

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