2011 Symposium
Northern California Plant Life - Wonder, Discovery, Concern
10-12 January 2011
California State University, Chico
Bell Memorial Union Auditorium
Our fourth symposium, Northern California Plant Life – Wonder, Discovery, Concern, was held at California State University in Chico 10-12 January 2011. The theme of the symposium was to celebrate the incredible botanical resources we have in northern California and examine some of the challenges that they face. Approximately 270 people attended, 70 of those were students, including several students that traveled from San Diego. We provided twenty $200 stipends and paid the registration and banquet fees for another twenty five students. A Kleen Kanteen with the NCB logo was given to all participants in an effort to make the symposium a little greener. The event was held in the lovely Bell Memorial Union where the University staff provided a wonderful breakfast buffet, a scrumptious dinner, freshly brewed coffee and tea, afternoon snacks and creative centerpieces cut from melons.
There were 8 sessions including a session of poster presentations. The sessions included: Managing Rare Plants on Public Lands, Pollination Biology of Common Plants in Northern California, Climate Change – Plants on the Edge, Using Fire to Restore Ecosystem Health, Field Implications of Jepson Manual Changes, Four Aspects of California Lichenology, and New Discoveries. In addition to the sessions, there was a plenary presentation on Arctostaphylos franciscana and a tour of the Chico State Herbarium.
A hearty thank you to the organizers, presenters, participants, sponsors, donators, University staff, and the many people that worked to make the 4th Northern California Botanists Symposium a success!
Workshops
There were three workshops held on January 12; Resources for Professional Beginning Botanists; Landforms, Soils, and Vegetation of Bidwell Park; and Exploring for Lichens.
The Resources for Professional Botanists, instructed by NCB Vice President Samantha Hillaire, had twelve earnest attendees. The majority of participants were botany students, but a few private company and government employees also attended. The workshop covered pertinent botanical resources, such as local floras and the government agencies, general laws and the permitting framework. Participants received a booklet and electronic resources references. Workshop attendee Steve Schoenig, DFG, provided insights for students. After class, the students asked questions about what degrees each job requires, and how to go about applying for different kinds of jobs.
Eighteen eager people attended the Landforms, Soils, and Vegetation of Upper Bidwell Park field trip led by Andrew Conlin, NRCS soil scientist stationed at the Chico Cooperative Soil Survey Office and NCB Board Member Joe Silveira, Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge. Participants hiked along Big Chico Creek in Bidwell Park as Andrew and Joe discussed the intricate association between soil, vegetation and wildlife. The Park provided wonderful examples of geologic and pedagogic features associated with Big Chico Creek floodplain terraces. Participants included federal, State biologists, university professors and students, and private consultants, and included several experts in soil-vegetation relationships.
Workshop 3, Exploring for Lichens, had six enthusiastic participants. Tom Carlberg instructed the field course and Tom's knowledge and enthusiasm for lichens was astounding. The participants spent 6 hours looking at lichens along the South Rim Trail of Upper Bidwell Park and learned about the relationship between the fungus and the photo partner, which could be algae or cyanobacteria. Tom talked about the different life forms of lichens, and both sexual and asexual reproductive structures. If you missed this workshop, Tom will be conducting a lichen workshop on March 26 through Friends of the Chico State Herbarium. He will spend time explaining how to identify lichens. The second part of the workshop, the participants will go into the field to collect specimens and return to the lab to identify them.
Keynote Speaker
We were fortunate to have Dr. Bob Patterson, San Francisco State University, as our keynote speaker who spoke after the banquet. The title of Dr. Patterson’s talk was"A Tale of Two Trees: The History (Natural and Otherwise) of the Phlox Family."Dr.Patterson provided an enlightening and entertaining keynote presentation covering his experiences and discoveries with the Polemoneacea. His presentation weaved a colorful history of Phlox taxonomy and ecology with his own research experiences in the context of the work and character of "founding" botanists such as Asa Gray, E. L Greene, Willis Linn Jepson and many others. He discussed the hub of Phlox research in California as it migrated from UC Berkeley to UC SantaBarbara and on to San Francisco State University. Bob's presentation included many wonderful flower, plant, and habitat images of Phlox taxa, including the old lineages with modern histograms, and charts showing the linage of the botanists that studied botany and the phlox, from Linnaeus to his own students. That 15 of the 70 students which attended the symposium were from San Francisco State, speaks to Bob's passion for botany and education! And through the Phlox, Bob gave the audience a true sense of our unique and rich botanical heritage, "natural and otherwise."Poster Session
This year the Poster Session was given a dedicated time slot and linked to the reception in an effort to encourage networking and exchange of botanical information. For those of you that attended, I’m sure that you will agree that the energy level was buzzing! One half of the 49 posters came from academia, primarily from students. Other poster categories included commercial companies, consulting firms, federal agencies, mixed, non-profit and an independent. The topics encompassed ecology, management, taxonomy, conservation, and beautiful botanical photography. Zoya Akulova-Barlow, who attended last year, was back by popular demand. Zoya had CDs available of her extensive photo database which was the basis for her "Rosettes" poster from last year. She also brought CDs of her photos of Asteraceae fruits, a sampling of which were on this year's poster. For those who would like to obtain either of these CDs ($15), Zoya's contact info is: zakulova@yahoo.com
Silent Auction
Once again, the Silent Auction was both a successful and festive event. Every auction item was geared to provide entertainment in some form! We really appreciate the donations because they are used to fund the student stipends for attendance to the symposium. A special thanks to those that participated and those who generously donated. The donors included: Julie Nelson donated a framed Paula Fong print of Gentner’s Fritillary and an autographed copy of her book Selected Rare Plant of Northern California; Dave and Anna Simcox, Art Etc., Chico, donated one of Dave’s lovely framed sunflower prints; Mt. Shasta Ski Park donated 2 Adult Lift tickets; the Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. donated a lovely gift basket; the Carex Working Group donated an autographed copy of their excellent book Field Guide to the Sedges of the Pacific Northwest; Lake Shasta Caverns donated a family pass to the caves; The Pinehurst Inn in Ashland, OR donated a one night’s stay and breakfast; Bistro Danielle in Zephyr Heights, NV donated a five course tasting menu for two; Bear Valley Cross County donated 2 adult trail passes and cross county rental packages; Linnea Hanson, NCB President, donated a KZFR “glow in the dar” poster; and Hedgerow Farms donated a Hedgerow Farms cap and calendar. Incidentally, Silent Auction organizer and NCB Board Member Robin Falscheer reports that there will be “no movement towards including ice skating gift certificates in future Silent Auctions.”
Symposium Sponsors
Last but certainly not least, we would like to gratefully acknowledge our symposium sponsors, which include the Bureau of Land Management, California Department of Fish and Game, California Invasive Plant Council, California Native Plant Society, Danyal Kasapligil of Chestnut Cellar, Chico Soil Survey Office (NRCS), College of Natural Sciences, CSUC, Friends of the Chico State Herbarium, Hedgerow Farms, North States Resources, Inc., Plumas National Forest, Shasta-Trinity National Forest, Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, University and Jepson Herbaria, UC Berkeley, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service – Sacramento Fish and Wildlife Office, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service – Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge Complex. We could not have done it without their help!
See You in 2013!
As many of you know, the California Native Plant Society will be having a conference January 2012 in San Diego. Please stop by our booth and say hello! We will have our 5th NCB symposium in 2013. We hope that we will see you there!