The Socrates Project: Poisonous Plants in Virginia
Date/Time
Wednesday, February 8, 2023
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Location
Ivy Creek Natural Area
Categories
The February VNPS Speaker Series and the monthly meeting will be on February 8, 2023, at Ivy Creek Natural Area. The meeting will start at 7:00 PM.
The topic is The Socrates Project: Poisonous Plants in Virginia.
Our speakers will be:
Alfred E. Goossens
Alfred grew up in The Netherlands where he earned a BSc in Tropical and Subtropical Agriculture.
He became a flavor chemist (Flavorist) and came to the US in 1968. He worked and lived with his family in the US and in a number of countries all over the world, on assignment for a US flavor and fragrance company. After retirement, he settled in Virginia and became a Certified Virginia Master Naturalist.
He became the project leader of The Socrates Project – Poisonous Plants in Virginia, and subsequently of The Cleopatra Project – Poisonous and Venomous Animals in Virginia.
Christopher P. Holstege, M.D.
Dr. Holstege is a Professor of Emergency Medicine and Pediatrics and Chief of the Division of Medical Toxicology at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. He also directs the Blue Ridge Poison Center and is a Fellow of the Academy of Wilderness Medicine. The partnership with The Socrates Project started in 2013 and grew into the publication of The Socrates Project – Poisonous Plants in Virginia and then The Cleopatra Project – Poisonous and Venomous Animals in Virginia.
William J. Birkhofer
Following a career of over forty years in the global engineering and construction sector, Bill retired to central Virginia and became a certified Virginia Master Naturalist, in the Old Rag Chapter. As a citizen scientist, he specialized in grassland surveys of plants, birds, and pollinators, in conjunction with the Virginia Working Landscapes program of the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, Virginia.
He surveyed numerous central Virginia properties and participated in developing reports for private landowners desirous of transitioning their properties to native grasses and plants.
Bill became a member of The Socrates Team that developed the 2nd edition of The Socrates Project – Poisonous Plants in Virginia. Bill Currently resides in Keswick and is a member of the Rivanna Chapter of the Virginia Master Naturalists.
More information can be found at:
https://med.virginia.edu/brpc/the-learning-center/the-socrates-project/.
The PDF can be downloaded at:
https://med.virginia.edu/brpc/wp-content/uploads/sites/274/2021/01/SOCRATES-PROJECT-Jan2021.pdf.
