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Applied Tree Identification

NRTG’s MicroCourses offer flexible, practical training to build real-world skills. Our Applied Tree Identification course provides targeted, hands-on learning for anyone looking to identify trees beyond textbook conditions and idealized field guides. 

Forests are dynamic systems, and this course teaches you how to identify trees in the real world, where variability is the norm. You’ll learn to use buds, bark, branching patterns, form, and other persistent features to confidently identify trees throughout the year, including outside the typical growing season. 

The course emphasizes interpreting tree features in context: how biology, environmental conditions, and site factors influence how trees grow and what they look like. You’ll move beyond relying on single traits and instead learn to evaluate multiple lines of evidence, using ecological clues such as species associations, site conditions, and habitat indicators. 

Basic stand-level concepts are introduced to help you understand the forest as a whole and linking tree ID to broader forest dynamics, including structure and site influences. By connecting biological processes with environmental variability, this course lays the foundation for more advanced study in forest composition, health, and structure. 

This MicroCourse is ideal for natural resource professionals, technicians, biologists, land managers, woodlot owners, and outdoor enthusiasts seeking a practical and applied approach to tree identification. 

Key Learning Outcomes: 

  • Identify trees year-round using buds, bark, branching patterns, and form 
  • Understand biological concepts behind species differences and growth responses 
  • Use site, stand, and habitat-level clues to support identification 
  • Recognize how environmental factors influence tree appearance 
  • Apply foundational knowledge of forest groups and regions 
  • Build transferable skills for more advanced forestry training 

Course will be 4 hours long.

Instructor Profile 

Cara Gillis

Cara Gillis is a Registered Professional Forester in Nova Scotia with experience working in forestry across Nova Scotia and British Columbia. She has worked in silviculture, ecological forest management, and private land management, including roles with several forestry consulting firms in BC. She has also worked in wildfire prevention in Alberta and previously served as Forest Conservation Coordinator for the Atlantic Region with the Canadian Wildlife Service. 

Cara has taught natural resource and forestry courses at the Nova Scotia Community College and focuses on practical, real-world approaches to forest management and education. 

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