People wanting to learn more about Crater Lake National Park's biology, Lava Beds National Monument's bats and the Klamath River's Karuk people will have their chance this summer.

Courses at the parks and on the river are among the diverse offerings planned in coming months through the Siskiyou Field Institute.

The Institute, which is based in the Illinois Valley community of Cave Junction, offers field-based natural history courses in and about the Klamath-Siskiyou region of far Northern California and Southern Oregon. Some classes are technical and offer college credits while others are more casual and family-friendly. Local offerings:

n "Bat Watch" will be held at Lava Beds July 15-16 with instructors Steve Cross and Tony Kerwin. A three-hour hike is part of the class schedule.

n "Klamath River Traditional Ecological Knowledge Rafting Trip" will be Sept. 1-4 beginning at Happy Camp. Participants will float class 2 and 3 rapids in a section of the river central to the lives of Karuk people.