The Morris Arboretum in Philadelphia will host A Consulting Botanist’s Toolkit Workshop developed by the PA Botany Symposium Planning Committee on April 18 starting at 8:30 a.m.
The workshop will instruct participants in the skills needed to correctly conduct plant surveys, document findings for the Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program, prepare reports to submit to the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and prepare museum quality plant voucher specimens. The day will include a mix of classroom instruction, discussion and hands-on activities including a tour of the Morris Arboretum herbarium.
The agenda features a presentation by Kelly Sitch, M.S.,a botanist for the DCNR Bureau of Forestry, working primarily with Species of Special Concern management on state lands as well as vegetation monitoring in and around Marcellus Shale gas development on State Forest land. He previously worked as an PNDI Environmental Review Specialist for 3 years. Kelly received his Masters of Science in Forestry from Penn State University.
As featured is Dr. Timothy A. Block who was appointed the John J. Willaman Chair of Botany at the University of Pennsylvania’s Morris Arboretum in 2009 after having served as Director of Botany since 2001. He has been affiliated with the Morris Arboretum for more than 16 years and holds appointments as Adjunct Professor in the Biology Department at Penn, Research Associate at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, and Expert in Botany for the Poison Control Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
He is co-author of The Plants of Pennsylvania: An Illustrated Manual published in 2000 with the second edition published in 2007, Trees of Pennsylvania: A Complete Reference Guide published in 2005, and Aquatic Plants of Pennsylvania: A Complete Reference Guide published by Penn Press in 2011.
The deadline to register is April 11 and the cost of the workshop is $135.
For more information and to register, visit the A Consulting Botanist’s Toolkit Workshop webpage.
