View Past Events

Melanie is working on a new book and will schedule events again in the fall of 2025.

The Man on the Island (Documentary Film — Michael Cullinane)

Online

The Man on the Island tells the story of this unique place and its changing relevance for Americans over the past century. The story is told by Michael Patrick Cullinane and distinguished guests including Melanie Choukas-Bradley.

Free

Connecting with Nature ( Online Talk — Bradley Hills Village)

Online

Melanie will demonstrate ways that you can connect with nature despite limited mobility due to Covid restrictions and/or health issues. And she will introduce the popular practice of “forest bathing,” based on the Japanese practice of shinrin-yoku. 

Free

Bluebells and Budbreak at Boundary Bridge (Guided Walk — Audubon Naturalist Society)

Boundary Bridge at Rock Creek Park

We’re delighted that the author of the award-winning book, A Year in Rock Creek Park and the critically acclaimed, City of Trees, will offer her 15th year of ANS nature walks in the country’s oldest urban national park. Under her expert guidance, you will witness the annual floral miracle of Virginia bluebells, spring beauties, and trout lilies in the floodplain forest, while the leaves of tulip tree and American beech begin to spill from their buds.

$30 – $42

Budbreak and Spring Wildflowers on Theodore Roosevelt Island (Guided Walk — Audubon Naturalist Society)

Theodore Roosevelt Island

We’ll witness the miracle of budbreak among the island’s remarkable trees and see the floodplain forest come alive with Virginia bluebells, spring beauties, trout lilies, cut-leafed toothwort and wild ginger. Of course, we’ll keep our eyes open for wood ducks, great blue herons, belted kingfishers, ospreys and bald eagles.

$30 – $42

A Spring Walk on Theodore Roosevelt Island (Guided Walk — Smithsonian Associates)

Theodore Roosevelt Island

Enjoy a socially distanced morning walk on a natural oasis in the Potomac with Melanie Choukas-Bradley, the author of the new book Finding Solace at Theodore Roosevelt Island. The nearly 2-mile path follows the island’s shore and moves deep into the swamp and tidal inlet along the boardwalk where willows, bald cypresses, and cattails frame views of Washington, D.C.

$55 – $75

A Spring Walk on Theodore Roosevelt Island (Guided Walk — Smithsonian Associates)

Theodore Roosevelt Island

Melanie shares an overview of landscape’s fascinating mix of trees, wildflowers, birds, and other wildlife and highlights the island’s history and the legacy of the naturalist and conservationist president it memorializes. The morning also includes pauses for moments of guided forest bathing to quietly soak up the beauty of this wild island set against the capital city.

$55 – $75

A Spring Walk on Theodore Roosevelt Island (Guided Walk — Smithsonian Associates)

Theodore Roosevelt Island

The nearly 2-mile path follows the island’s shore and moves deep into the swamp and tidal inlet along the boardwalk where willows, bald cypresses, and cattails frame views of Washington, D.C. She shares an overview of landscape’s fascinating mix of trees, wildflowers, birds, and other wildlife and highlights the island’s history and the legacy of the naturalist and conservationist president it memorializes.

$55 – $75

City of Trees: Washington, D.C. (Online Talk — Smithsonian Associates)

Online

On the eve of Arbor Day, naturalist and tree expert Melanie Choukas-Bradley presents an overview of the trees in our nation’s capital through stunning photographs of the Tidal Basin, U.S. Capitol, White House, National Arboretum, Rock Creek Park, and many other notable locations.

$25 – $30