HOT SPRINGS VILLAGE -- The Hot Springs Village Audubon Society will welcome guest speaker Theo Witsell for the presentation "Native Plants and Habitats of the Ouachita Mountains" during a meeting set for 10 a.m. June 9 in the Coronado Community Center, 150 Ponderosa Lane.
Witsell works as senior botanist and ecologist for the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission and is a research associate at the Botanical Research Institute of Texas.
His recent work on a number of research projects includes an inventory of the plants in remnant grasslands across Arkansas, and the description of several undescribed plant species. He has authored or co-authored more than 30 scientific publications and book chapters. He also serves as a regional reviewer for the Flora of North America Project.
Witsell has worked as a contract botanist for federal agencies and private organizations including the USDA Forest Service, National Park Service, United States Department of Defense, The Nature Conservancy, NatureServe, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at the University of Texas at Austin, and the Gates Rogers Foundation.
He is co-editor of the recently published "Atlas of the Vascular Plants of Arkansas," and is co-author of an upcoming book on the trees, shrubs and woody vines of Arkansas.
The native Arkansan holds a Master of Science in Botany from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. His research interests include the ecology and conservation of rare plants and their habitats, restoration of degraded ecosystems, and anything to do with the shale barrens of the Ouachita Mountains. He has expertise in the flora of North America east of the Rocky Mountains, and is also an avid native plant gardener.
HSV Audubon welcomes visitors to its monthly educational programs, and there is no charge to attend.
Call Norma Wall at 214-212-6770 with any questions.
Local on 05/30/2017