centennial_symposium

Led by Dean Kelch, Senior Plant Taxonomist, California Department of Food and Agriculture, this field trip will begin at Muir Woods, an old growth redwood forest and the first National Monument donated by an individual, and proceed up the mountain to serpentine and non-serpentine chaparral, mixed evergreen forest, and grassland.

Mount Tamalpais is a botanically rich mountain located 30 kms. north of San Francisco. Situated in the central Outer Coast Range, it has served as an area of mixing during climate changes, as well as a haven for northern plants. Meet at the UC Berkeley semicircle at the top of University Avenue near Oxford Street, Berkeley.

Barbara Ertter, Researcher at the University and Jepson Herbaria and co-author of The Flowering Plants and Ferns of Mount Diablo, will lead this field trip to the tallest mountain in the Diablo range. Centrally located in the Inner Coast Range,

Mount Diablo is also the site of some of the earliest botanical collections in California, the northern locality of several southern plant species, and the home of several notable plant endemics. Meet at the UC Berkeley semicircle at the top of University Avenue near Oxford Street, Berkeley.

5:30 PM to 8:30 PM

Senior Hall

University of California, Berkeley

Free with limited space.

Join us as at the historic Senior Hall for the opening mixer of our 2013 Centennial Celebrations on the UC Berkeley campus.

Senior Hall is located in the center of the UC Berkeley campus between the Men’s and Women’s Faculty Clubs. Constructed in 1905, it is the only remaining log cabin of its type in the United States and is on the National Register of Historic Places. (see the map here)

Bruce Baldwin, Curator of the Jepson Herbarium and Professor in the Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley. Baldwin’s research encompasses vascular-plant systematics, floristics and conservation, with an emphasis on biosystematic and phylogenetic studies. He is particularly interested in systematic questions that address evolutionary processes, historical biogeography and relationships of California plants.

Ragan Callaway, Ecologist and Professor of Biology, Division of Biological Sciences, University of Montana, Missoula, and a 2011 Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Callaway’s primary research focus is on how organisms interact with each other, including direct interactions, such as competition for resources, allelopathy and facilitation, indirect interactions mediated by herbivores, soil microbes and other competitors, and facilitative interactions among plants, mostly alpine habitats. More recently, Callaway is exploring how exotic invaders dominate habitats despite limited opportunities for local adaption, and suppress native species that have had ample opportunities to locally adapt.

Carla D’Antonio, Professor and Schuyler Chair of Environmental Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara. D’Antoinio’s research focus is to understand processes that control invasions by non-indigenous species into ecological communities, and how and when the addition of some individual species affect ecosystem structure and functioning. She seeks a mechanistic understanding of ecological patterns and process, and although she works primarily at the community and ecosystem levels, she also examines individual plant and populations processes. D’Antonio believes that such an integrated approach is the best way to answer questions about the importance of individual species and how communities and ecosystems will change with increasing human population pressure, increasing movement of plant species, nitrogen deposition and climatic fluctuations. Other areas of D’Antonio research include plant effects on soil resources, and restoration of California grasslands invaded by non-native species.

Richard Hobbs, Ecologist, Professor and Australian Laureate Fellow, School of Plant Biology, University of Western Australia, Perth, 2010 Ecological Society of Australia Gold Medal Recipient, 2011 West Australia Scientist of the Year. Hobbs’ particular interests are in vegetation dynamics and management, fragmentation, invasive species, ecosystem restoration, conservation biology and landscape ecology. His current research focuses on setting and achieving realistic restoration goals in a rapidly changing world.

Anna Jacobsen, Assistant Professor, Plant Ecology and Evolutionary
Biology, Plant Structure-Function, and Brandon Pratt, Associate Professor of Biology, California State University, Bakersfield. Jacobson and Pratt collaborate on research in plant physiological ecology to understand how plants are adapted to the environment. The chief focus of their current work is understanding traits that contribute to resprouting success of California chaparral and South African fynbos shrubs after fire. In addition, they are studying xylem physiology of evergreen and deciduous California shrubs.

Todd Keeler-Wolf, Senior Vegetation Ecologist, California Department of Fish and Game. Keeler-Wolf leads the Vegetation Classification and Mapping Program for the California Department of Fish and Game. He is also program director of the California Native Plant Society’s Vegetation Program.

Aaron Liston, Director of the Oregon State University Herbarium, Professor of Botany and Plant Pathology at Oregon State University. Liston’s research focuses on the application of genomics to plant phylogeny and speciation. Major topics of current investigation include phylogenomics of milkweeds (Asclepias) including the sequencing of the A. syriaca genome; comparative genomics of the strawberry genus (Fragaria); and phylogenomic studies of pines (Pinus) and the pine family (Pinaceae).

David Peterson, Research Scientist with the U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service, and U.S. Geological Survey, Team Leader of the Fire and Environmental Research Applications team, principal investigator for the Western Mountain Initiative, Affiliate Professor in the School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, University of Washington. Peterson studies the effects of environmental stress on forest ecosystems, with emphasis on fire ecology and climatic change. Most of his research focuses on understanding and managing ecosystems at large spatial and temporal scales, a huge challenge for natural resource management. Peterson also develops integrated databases and software that characterize fuels and fire activity, including fuelbed properties, combustion, emissions, air quality, and ecological effects.

5:15 PM to 6:00 PM

Crystal Ballroom

The Hotel Shattuck Plaza

2086 Allston Way, Berkeley

Join us for the centennial cocktail mixer at the Crystal Ballroom of The Hotel Shattuck Plaza. Located in downtown Berkeley two blocks from UC Berkeley and around the corner from BART, this newly renovated historic hotel is one of Berkeley’s newest boutique hotels (see map here).

6:00 PM to 10:00 PM

Crystal Ballroom

The Hotel Shattuck Plaza

2086 Allston Way, Berkeley

$55 Regular, $30 Student

Our centennial banquet will follow the mixer, and will be a dinner served by acclaimed restaurant FIVE under Executive Chef Banks White. His team brings a farm-to-table approach, using local, organic and sustainable ingredients in a Modern American style.

Guest speaker:

Kent Holsinger, Professor, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut.

Holsinger's research encompasses three broad areas: the evolution of plant reproductive systems, the genetics of geographically structured populations, and the application of basic biological principles to conservation problems.

24th Graduate Student Meeting

Sunday, April 14, 2013

University of California, Berkeley

7:30 AM to 5:30 PM

Valley Life Sciences Building

University of California, Berkeley

$40 for the meeting ticket

For travel arrangements and directions to campus:

UC Berkeley Visitors Services

UC Berkeley Campus Access Guide

The Marin Municipal Water District and the California Academy of Sciences are looking for botanists to join teams of citizen scientists and local experts around the "Lakes Region" of the Mt. Tamalpais watershed in documenting the plant life of the area using new (geotagged photographs) and old (voucher specimens) methods on Friday April 12, 2013. Riparian areas, grasslands, rock outcrops, and oak woodlands are the major observation areas this year. Our specimens join the collection at the CalAcademy--your California poppy could share a folder with Alice Eastwood's from the same mountain! Check out observations from our March 9 blitz here.

For more information, please visit this website.

“Botanical Frontiers: Past and Future”

2050 Valley Life Science Building

University of California, Berkeley

8:00 AM - 5:00 PM

$85 Regular $60 for student
The price includes the ticket for the graduate student meeting.