Botanical Expedition! - Botanical Research Institute of Texas

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iridos volume 18 no 2 16 BRIT Distinguished Lecturer Series 2006-2007 Our popular “Explorers of the 21st Century” lecture series brought internationally recognized scientists and new audiences together and connected with more students than ever in its 12-year history. Guest lecturers interacting with students and teachers in discussions before the public reception were an added dynamic. If you didn’t make it, here’s what you missed! February: Dr. Thomas Croat, Ph.D., P.A. Schulze Curator of Botany, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, described his 40 year career exploring tropical plants worldwide and the adventures he experienced along the way, including ascents into the top of the canopy of forests, sunken boats, and attacks by peccaries. Though literally risking life and limb, Croat successfully managed to study some of the most remote areas of South America and collect hundreds of new species. March: Bruce Beehler, Ph.D., Vice President, Melanesia Center for Biodiversity Conservation, Conservation International, Washington, D.C., shared his career as an ornithologist and tropical ecologist, including recounting a field survey in the Foja Mountains Previously this season, in September, Stephen j. O’Brien, Ph.D., Chief of the Laboratory of Genomic Diversity at the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health presented Tears of the Cheetah, Roar of the Lion—Mark of the Plague. Dr. O’Brien, an internationally known researcher, revealed clear links between environmental change and its effects on native fauna. (Indonesian New Guinea) that documented over 40 new species of plants and animals, including a honeyeater bird, a “lost” bird of paradise, a tree kangaroo, and what may be the largestflowered rhododendron. April: Bonnie Jacobs, Ph.D., Director, Environmental Science Program and Associate Professor, Department of Geological Sciences, Southern Methodist University, transported the audience to her Ethiopian Plateau study site. Here, she studies fossils and sediments and reconstructs the 28-million-year-old floral and faunal communities, landscapes, and climate. This gave us insight into Africa’s evolutionary and climatic history, and the potential impacts of environmental change today. The final spring lecture, by one of the most influential conservationists of Healthy Planet, Healthy People: A Climate for Understanding How are we humans affecting the health of our own environment? Is our changing environment affecting us? A rising incidence of human diseases has emerged as a direct result of changes in the environmental health of the planet. To help us understand, the Botanical Research Institute of Texas, the University of North Texas Health Science Center, and the Fort Worth Botanic Garden collaborate as institutions dedicated to conservation through research and education. This free public lecure series explores the origins and development of diseases and the direct relationship between environmental quality and human health. Three leading international scientists will share their perspectives from their diverse fields of study. February 7, 2008, 6:30p.m. Leonhardt Lecture Hall Fort Worth Botanic Garden “Tibetan Ethnobotany and Climate Change” jan Salick, Ph.D., Curator of Ethnobotany, Missouri Botanical Garden our time, Eric Dinerstein, Ph.D., Chief Scientist and Vice President for Science, World Wildlife Fund, Washington, D.C., was a look at remote and threatened areas of our earth. We chased an elusive population of tigers in Nepal and shared his inspiring dream of restoring thundering herds of bison to the grasslands of Montana. The Fort Worth Botanic Garden, the Fort Worth Garden Club, and the Fort Worth Botanical Society hosted these lectures and provided receptions for guests in the Deborah Biggs Moncrief Garden Center. Annabelle Thomas graciously provided funding for spring lectures, and American Airlines generously provided travel sponsorship. Next time you book a flight with American Airlines, please enter this code for Business ExtrAA: 786685. You will be supporting BRIT and earning your own AA miles at the same time. March 6, 2008, 6:30p.m. Leonhardt Lecture Hall Fort Worth Botanic Garden “From Water to Dust: Medical Wonders from the Earth” Robert Finkelman, Ph.D., Research Professor, University of Texas at Dallas (The upcoming lecture series will be restructured to include one internationally known scientist in the fall and two leading scientists in the fields of medical geology and ethnobotany in the spring. The University of North Texas Health Science Center and the Fort Worth Botanic Garden are partnering with BRIT. ) STAFF PHOTO
Iridos Wins top honors in 2006 Inspire Awards Each year the League of American Communication Professionals (LACP) holds a competition for print based newsletter and magazine publications. For 2006, Iridos received top honors in its class. Christine Kennedy, managing director of the LACP called the Iridos entry “remarkable in light of tremendous competition.” More than 425 entries from seven countries were received for the 2006 Inspire Awards. Most of the credit goes to Jennifer Henderson of JODesign (layout design and print management), Paige Hendricks of Paige Hendricks Public Relations Inc. (editorial management), and Southwestern Colorgraphics (the printer). Next year we’re going for the gold! Go to: www.lacp.com for the main webpage. Go to: www.lacp.com/2006inspire/C17.htm for Iridos results. UTA Herbarium Donated to BRIT The herbarium at the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) is a physical monument to the teaching and research activities of botanists and their students at UTA. A random specimen pulled from this collection is likely to have Drs. Louis Bragg, Robert Neill, john Bacon, or Archibald Hopkins on the label as the collector. These UTA professors added specimens to the collections from Texas, surrounding states, and Mexico. Their many students added collections as well, primarily from Tarrant County. The bulk of the growth in this 7,000-specimen herbarium took place over the last 40 years, though a small collection existed at UTA before. Some of the early specimens were gifts or exchanges from the SMU Herbarium, and include Central Texas specimens collected by Ferdinand Lindheimer over 150 years ago. The herbarium moving crew: Front row l to r: Amanda Neill, Frances Ockels, Keri McNew, Tiana Franklin Back row l to r: Andrew Reina, Asha McElfish, Justin Alison, and Marissa Oppel. In 2006, the Department of Biology at UTA offered BRIT the generous gift of the entire UTA Herbarium, including 35 metal herbarium cabinets. The laboratory space occupied by the herbarium was needed for other biological research at UTA, and student demand for botany classes had unfortunately diminished. It was agreed the specimens would be of more use by joining the BRIT-SMU collections. The specimens were packed by BRIT herbarium staff and volunteers and transported in November 2006. These specimens are now being added to the BRIT-SMU Herbarium. This example illustrates our mission to take in orphaned collections, which adds to the herbarium’s value, especially when many of the specimens are local in origin and are unique (unduplicated) student collections. The gifts of the UTA Herbarium plus the Albert Ruth Collection from the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History (detailed in Iridos 18:1) in 2006 contributed over 15,000 specimens to the 32,933 total new accessions in the BRIT Herbarium last year. STAFF PHOTO awards corner Outstanding Educators Honored with Wendy Owsley Garrett Science Teacher Award Pat Dorraj, Donnette Durham, Nancy Burleson, and Amber Keller At an evening of celebration on May 14, BRIT honored two area teachers for their commitment to excellence in science teaching. The annual tradition, begun by former trustee Wendy Owsley Garrett, recognizes achievement and celebrates student success through the work of teachers who have participated in BRIT professional development. The 2007 Wendy Owsley Garrett Science Teacher Award was presented to two outstanding educators in local school districts, Donnette Durham and Nancy Burleson. Donnette Durham is the Science Lead Teacher and 5th grade science teacher at Fort Worth ISD’s Alice Carlson Applied Learning Center. In addition to attending BRIT workshops and REAL Schools Initiative events, Donnette participated in BRIT’s Environmental Science youth Mentoring Program last summer and in several Botany 101 classes. Donnette received a $1,000 honorarium and will be honored at the International Award of Excellence in Conservation gala in the spring of 2008. “Until this past summer when I participated in the Environmental Science youth Mentoring Program, I didn’t have as great a passion for science and teaching science as I now possess. This program ignited me. My involvement with the summer mentoring program allowed me to grow immensely—as a scientist and as a science teacher.” Nancy Burleson is a 1st grade teacher at Watauga Elementary in Birdville ISD. Nancy has been teaching science for 20 years. She came to BRIT looking for new approaches to teaching and learning science. Nancy received a $500 honorarium and will be honored at the 2008 spring International Award of Excellence in Conservation gala. Nancy reports that her excitement and “thinking like a scientist” after BRIT workshops spread to her students, who then shared their learning at home with their parents. The entire BRIT staff and Board of Trustees appreciate and respect educators like Donnette and Nancy for their outstanding contribution to science education and their dedication to children. STAFF PHOTO iridos volume 18 no 2 17
Page 1 and 2: a publication of the botanical rese
Page 3 and 4: table of contents 5 Green from the
Page 5 and 6: y Cleve lanCaster, direCtor of deve
Page 7 and 8: COURTESy CNRC facility should addre
Page 9 and 10: 13th Annual International Award of
Page 11 and 12: of defense against malaria. China i
Page 13 and 14: STAFF PHOTO NDD: Nature Deficit Dis
Page 15: TIANA FRANKLIN Here’s Judy! The e
Page 19 and 20: BRIT’s Brown Bag Botany Needs a B
Page 21 and 22: A Juicy Event (you won’t want to
Page 23 and 24: Botany 101 Beginning this fall, BRI
Page 25 and 26: NSF Awards Grant to BRIT REINALDO A
Page 27 and 28: PARTNER LEVEL Ms. Florence L. Adams

Botanical Expedition! - Botanical Research Institute of Texas

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