Identification of Native Grasses in the Mid-Atlantic Region
Date/Time
Thursday, November 15, 2012
12:00 am
Location
Yorktown Public Library
Categories
Guest speaker Dr. Douglas DeBerry, a Professor of Biology and Environmental Science at the College of William and Mary, will give a presentation about native grass identification for the Mid-Atlantic Region. Dr. DeBerry’s presentation will focus on the characteristics of grasses that help identify grasses to species (characteristics like grass flowers, leaf structure, root composition, etc.). Many native grass species will be covered, as well as some introduced species (which are relevant to conservation and restoration, since many of our invasive species are grasses). Attendees will hopefully come away with a decent understanding of the “language” of grass identification (which is often the major barrier for most people who try to key out grasses in published manuals).
The meeting is open to the public. Refreshments will be served.
| SPEAKER: Dr. Douglas DeBerry, formerly a Research Assistant Professor of Environmental Science and Policy, is now serving as Visiting Assistant Professor of Biology for the 2012-2013 academic year at the College of William and Mary. Dr. DeBerry’s areas of specialization include restoration ecology, vegetation dynamics, ecological succession, and ecosystem function. His research projects engage topics such as biotic integrity, wetland and stream ecology/restoration, soil biogeochemistry, and conservation of native communities and rare, threatened, and endangered species. Dr. DeBerry also has 20 years of professional environmental consulting experience, and is a certified Professional Wetland Scientist (PWS) and Professional Wetland Delineator (PWD). While his academic and professional research has focused on ecosystems in the Mid-Atlantic Region, he has worked in systems as diverse as the U.S. Virgin Islands, Florida Everglades, Maine highlands, and coastal California. He has published multiple peer-reviewed papers on topics related to wetland ecology, habitat restoration, and ecological succession, and is a contributing species description author on the Flora of Virginia Project. He is currently on the Board of Editors for the scientific journal Northeastern Naturalist. |