Photo Credit: Rachael Olliff Yang
Past Annual Banquet Speakers
The Society annually hosts a banquet and a day or two of field trips to interesting botanical localities in a different place in California each year. This event is a great time for reconnecting with our friends and colleagues, and for meeting new botanical friends during the pre-dinner reception. Each year a noted botanist gives an after-dinner talk on a topic of interest.
April 1, 2023, CalPoly Humboldt: Dr Lucy Kerhoulas, Associate Professor, Forest Ecophysiology, Department of Forestry, Fire, and Rangeland Management, California State Polytechnic University – Humboldt
April 30, 2022, UC Santa Cruz Arboretum & Botanic Garden: Dr. Kathleen Kay, Associate Professor and Jean H. Langenheim Chair in Plant Ecology and Evolution, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, UC Santa Cruz: The evolution of serpentine specialists and generalists in the California flora
2021 skipped due to COVID-19 pandemic
April 4, 2020, UC Santa Cruz Arboretum & Botanic Garden, cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
March 29, 2019, PAC Pavilion, Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo: Dr. David Lowry, Assistant Professor of Plant Biology, Michigan State University: Mechanisms of local adaptations to California’s coastal and inland habitats in the yellow monkey flower
April 14, 2018, UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden: Dr. Maureen Stanton, Distinguished Professor Emerita of Evolution and Ecology, University of California, Davis: How (and why) to cultivate our next crop of botanists
April 8, 2017, Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, Santa Barbara, CA: Steve Junak, Former Herbarium Curator, Santa Barbara Botanic Garden: A Short History of Botanical Exploration on the California Islands: Some of the Amazing People Who Were Involved and Their Exciting Discoveries
April 9, 2016, Padre Hotel, Bakersfield, CA: Dr. Phil Rundel, Distinguished Professor, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology: Mediterranean Biomes: Evolution of their Vegetation, Floras, and Climate
April 11, 2015, Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, Claremont, CA: Dr. Jon Rebman, Mary and Dallas Clark Endowed Chair/Curator of Botany, San Diego Natural History Museum: Botanical Adventures in Baja California
April 26, 2014, Romberg Tiburon Center for Environmental Studies, San Francisco State University, Tiburon, CA: Dr. Susan Harrison, Department of Environmental Science and Policy, University of California, Davis: Ecological Contingency in the Effects of Climate on Serpentine Plant Communities
April 13, 2013 Centennial Banquet: Crystal Ballroom, The Hotel Shattuck Plaza, Berkeley, CA: Kent Holsinger, Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Adjunct Professor of Statistics, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT: Looking forward: The next century of botany in California
January 13, 2012, San Diego, CA in conjunction with the California Native Plant Society, CNPS 2012 Conservation Conference: Conserving and restoring the roots of California’s richness: Dr. Peter Raven, Emeritus Director, Missouri Botanical Garden (conference keynote address)
February 12, 2011, California State University, Monterey Bay: Dr. Joshua Tewksbury, University of Washington, Seattle: Why Chilies are Hot: The Evolutionary Ecology of a Major Spice
February 13, 2010, San Jose State University: Dr. Doug Schemske: Studies of Adaptation and Speciation in California’s Deserts, Mountains, and Grasslands
January 18, 2009, Ballroom, Sheraton Grand Hotel, Sacramento, CA: Joint Annual Banquet with the California Native Plant Society at its inaugural Conservation Conference: Strategies and Solutions: John (Jack) Muir Laws, Fierce Green Fire: Renewing commitment to stewardship in nature
February 23, 2008, John N. Thompson, Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz: An Ecologist’s View of How to Build a Plant
February 17, 2007, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA: Constance I. Miller, Sierra Nevada Research Center, USDA Forest Service, Albany: Out of the past and into the future: Response of high-elevation Sierra Nevada forests to climate change
February 11, 2006, Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, Claremont, CA: Jon Keeley, Sequoia and Kings Canyon Field Station, USGS, Western Ecological Research Station, Three Rivers, CA: Ecology and Evolution of Fire Prone Ecosystems in California
February 19, 2005, San Francisco State University, Romberg Tiburon Center, Tiburon, CA: Arturo Gomez-Pompa, Department of Plant Sciences, University of California, Riverside: Center for Tropical Research (CITRO): A New Initiative in a Time of Crisis
February 19, 2004, PresidioTrust Log Cabin, San Francisco: Harold Mooney, Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, Stanford University: A personal view of California plant ecology – past present and future
February 15, 2003, Faculty/Staff Dining Room, Hahn University Center, University of San Diego: Dr. Jon Rebman, Curator of Botany, San Diego Natural History Museum: Discoveries on a floristic frontier: Baja California
February 16, 2002, University of California, Berkeley: Dr. Chris Field, Department of Plant Biology, Carnegies Institution of Washington, Stanford: Global change and California ecosystems
February 17, 2001, Sylvester’s Café, Cal State Chico Campus: Dr. Arthur Kruckesberg, University of Washington: The Influence of Geology on Plant Life of the Pacific States
February 19, 2000, Alumni House, University of California, Berkeley: Dr. James A. Doyle, Professor, Department of Evolution and Ecology, University of California, Davis: What Do We Know About the Origin of Angiosperms?
February 20, 1999, The Forum on Marsh, San Luis Obispo: Dr. Sherwin Carlquist, Research Associate, Santa Barbara Botanic Garden: Three Discoveries: (1) A wind-pollinated plant with underground flowers, (2) Island fruits that change shape and size, (3) Solving a 300-year-old problem in plant anatomy
February 21, 1998, Alumni House, University of California, Berkeley: Dr. Robert Ornduff, Professor Emeritus, University of California, Berkeley: The Roots of California Botany February 22, 1997, California Academy of Sciences: Dr. Reid Moran, California Academy of Sciences: Guadalupe Island and its Flora, What’s Left of It!
1997
February 24, 1996, Founders Room, McConnell Center, Pitzer College, Claremont, CA: Ken Berg, National Botanist, Western Region, USDI Bureau of Land Management, Washington, D.C.: Conservation of Native California Plants in the Changing Political Landscape
February 18, 1995, Cocoanut Grove, at the Boardwalk, Santa Cruz, CA: Dr. Mary Barkworth, Biology Department, University of Utah, Logan: What happened to Stipa and all my other old friends
February 19, 1994, Buehler Alumni and Visitor Center, University of California, Davis: Dr. Leslie Gottlieb: How Do Clarkias Make Different Flowers?
February 20, 1993, Faculty Club, University of California, Santa Barbara: Robert Thorne, Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden: Principles of Plant Biogeography
February 22, 1992, Nob Hill Room, Seven Hills Conference Center, San Francisco State University: Dr. Daniel Crawford, The Ohio State University: Molecules in Service to Organismal Biology (or Taking Advantage of your Local Molecular Biologist): some comments and predictions [This is the first time the Graduate Student Meeting and the Annual Banquet are held on the same day.]
February 16, 1991, University Club, University of California, Davis: Dr. Peter Raven, Missouri Botanic Garden: The Role of Systematics in the Biodiversity Crisis
February 17, 1990, Dr. Michael Soule, Board on Environmental Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz: A Zoologist’s Perspective on Plant Conservation Biology
1989
February 18, 1988
February 21, 1987, Arturo Gomez-Pompa, Director, MEXUS Program, University of California, Riverside: Maya Vegetation Designs: studies from Enthoflora Yucantanense
February 22, 1986, Holiday Inn: Joseph Ewan: What happened beside the Golden Gate – Was it imitation or innovation (On the founding of the California Botanical Society)
1985-1981
February 23, 1980, Veneto Restaurant, San Francisco: Dr. Harold Mooney, Department of Biology, Stanford University: Atacama Trails
February 24, 1979, Marriott Inn, Berkeley Marina: Dr. William A Jensen, Professor of Botany, Department of Botany, University of California, Berkeley: Images, sounds, and plants: alternative modes of teaching botany
February 18, 1978, Claremont Hotel, Berkeley: Dr. Kenneth V. Thimann, Professor of Botany, Emeritus, Division of Natural Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz: Some history of the study of plant growth and plant growth hormones
February 19, 1977, Holiday Inn Bay Bridge, Emeryville, CA: Dr. Reid Moran, Curator of Botany, Sam Diego Museum of Natural History: Plant Life of Baja California
1976
February 22, 1975, Holiday Inn Bay Bridge, Emeryville, CA: Dr. Sherwin Carlquist, Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, Claremont: The Most Colorful Spring: Western Australia – New Photos, Discoveries, Interpretations
February 16, 1974, Spenger’s Fish Grotto, Berkeley: Professor Fritz W. Went, Desert Research Institute, University of Nevada, Reno: Parallel Evolution
February 17, 1973, Spenger’s Restaurant, Berkeley: Dr. Kenneth Stocking, Provost, Environmental Study School, California State College, Sonoma: A Botanist-Environmentalist Looks at the California Coast
February 26, 1972, The California Restaurant, Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley: Professor Robert F. Thorne, Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, Claremont: The California Islands, a Fringing Archipelago (Illustrated)
February 20, 1971, Claremont Hotel, Berkeley: Annetta Carter, Herbarium, Department of Botany, University of California, Berkeley: Mules, Spines & Mountain Peaks – A Botanist in the Sierra de la Giganta of Baja California
February 21, 1970, Claremont Hotel, Berkeley: Dr. Ira Wiggins, Division of Systematic Biology, Stanford University: The Galapagos Islands and Their Biota
1969
February 17, 1968, Claremont Hotel, Berkeley: Dr. Robert J. Rodin, Department of Biological Sciences, California State Polytechnic College: A Botanist in India
February 25, 1967, Claremont Hotel, Berkeley: Dr. Sherwin Carlquist, Professor of Botany, Claremont Graduate School, Research Associate Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden: The Undiscovered Hawaiian Flora
February 12, 1966, College Women’s Club, Berkeley: Dr. Mildred E. Mathias, Department of Botany, University of California at Los Angeles: Green Magic
February 20, 1965, College Women’s Club, Berkeley: Dr. Jens Clausen, Department of Plant Biology, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Stanford: Botanical Explorations in the Harvey Monroe Hall Natural Area
March 14, 1964, College Women’s Club, Berkeley: Dr. Ralph Emerson, Professor of Botany, University of California, Berkeley: Uneasy Relations between Fungi and Lower Animals
February 16, 1963, College Women’s Club, Berkeley: Dr. Edward C. Stone: Associate Professor of Forestry, University of California and Associate Silviculturist, University of California Agricultural Experiment Station: A Forester Looks at Monterey Pine in New Zealand (Illustrated with color slides)
February 24, 1962, College Women’s Club, Berkeley: Dr. N.T. Mirov, Research Fellow in Forest Botany, Cabot Foundation, Harvard University and Lecturer in Geography, University of California: A Trip to Southeastern Asia (Illustrated with FEW color slides)
February 11, 1961, College Women’s Club, Berkeley: Dr. Herbert L. Mason, Professor of Botany, University of California: Californians in New Zealand and New Zealanders in California
February 20, 1960, College Women’s Club, Berkeley: Dr. Emilio G. Segre, Professor of Physics, University of California: Wild Orchids of Central Italy (Illustrated with color slides)
1959
1958
1957
February 25, 1956, College Women’s Club, Berkeley: Dr. Ralph W. Chaney, Professor of Paleontology, University of California, Berkeley: Forests of Japan – Present and Past (Illustrated with color slides)
1955-1934
February 25, 1933, International House, Berkeley: Dr. D.T. MacDougal, Coastal Laboratory, Carnegie Institution of Washington: Features of Growth in Monterey Pine
February 27, 1932, International House, Berkeley: Mr. Lloyd Austin, Director of the Institute of Forest Genetics, Placerville, CA: Hereditary Variation in the Western Yellow Pine
1931
1930
1929
February 18, 1928, Pig’n Whistle, Berkeley CA: Dr. C.O. Sauer, Professor of Geography, University of California: Relation of the plant cover of a country to its geographic problems
February 12, 1927, Student Union, University of California, Berkeley: Dr. R.W. Chaney, Carnegie Institution: Third Mongolia Expedition
1926
1925
March 15, 1924, Student Union, University of California, Berkeley: Mr. E.D. Merrill, Dean of the College of Agriculture, University of California: The Fundamental Causes of the Difference Between the Australian and Asiatic Faunas and Floras
1923
January 28, 1922
1921
March 20, 1920, Faculty Club, University of California, Berkeley: Mr. McMinn, Department of Botany, Mills College: Opportunities for Botanical Progress in California as Carried on through the Department of Botany at Mills College; Flora, the Goddess of Flowers, a Ballade and Dame Nature, Prodigal, a sonnet (read by Cal. O’Chortus – Walter Carruth)
1919
1918
December 15, 1917, Oakland Museum, Oakland, CA:
“Owed to Beans,” written and composed for and sung on the occasion of the Annual Dinner of the California Botanical Society (Verbiaged by A. Le Gume, Camouflaged by Wm. W. Carruth, Vocalized by E.S. Heath)
