November 1999
“Recovery of Plants and Their Associated Caterpillars from the 1995 Inverness Fire”
by Dr. Jerry Powell
Dr. Powell will share the results of his ongoing survey of certain Inverness Ridge burn sites he has been regularly monitoring for the return of plants and the moth larvae that feed upon them.
He was awarded a Ph.D. at U.C. Berkeley in 1961 from the Department of Entomology (now Department of Environmental Sciences). Later he joined the faculty there and has been conducting research on the reproductive biology of moths and their relationships with larval host plants. His current title is Professor of The Graduate School at U.C. Berkeley.
October 1999
“Saving the Marin – Sonoma Coast”
by Dr. Martin Griffin
The remarkable stories and dramatic battles behind the preservation of most of Marin and Sonoma’s beautiful coastal habitats will be described by the man who worked the hardest to win their protection, Dr. Martin Griffin. In large part we have Dr. Griffin to thank for saving Richardson Bay, and for the creation of the Audubon preserves on Bolinas Lagoon and Tomales Bay, which in turn led to the protection of the Marin Headlands and creation of the Pt. Reyes National Seashore. Marin came ominously close to having a major freeway and attendant development all along its coastline. Dr. Griffin is currently embroiled in efforts to protect the Russian River from gravel mining and other threats.
Dr. Griffin has combined a lifetime committed to wildlife protection with a distinguished statewide career in Public Health. While practicing medicine in Marin County in the late 1940’s and early 1950’s, he saw the destruction of the tidelands, bays, and coastal rivers as a threat to his patients’ health. In 1961 Dr. Griffin helped pioneer coastal protection by creating Audubon Canyon Ranch and later, co-founding the Environmental Forum of Marin and Friends of the Russian River. A graduate of Stanford Medical School and U.C. Berkeley School of Public Health, he holds the Governor’s Award for his Infectious Disease Control programs and the Marin Conservation League’s award for California watershed protection. An avid fly-fisherman and white-water canoeist, Dr. Griffin now resides in Sonoma County where he and his wife Joyce own the landmark Hop Kiln Winery and work to restore the Russian River salmon fisheries. In 1998, Dr. Griffin wrote and published a book “Saving the Marin – Sonoma Coast“, copies of which will be available for purchase and signing at tonight’s meeting.
June 1999
“Up Close and Floral – Microphotography of California Native Wildflowers”
by Margaret Ely
May 1999
“Point Reyes: The Island in Time”
by Wilma Follette
Point Reyes, that fabulous piece of real estate jutting out from the Marin County coast, encompasses dunes and beaches, meadows and forests, swamps and marshes, and an amazing variety of plant life, including many rare species. As taxpayers, you, the owners of this fantastic property, want to keep in touch with it.
Those who have heard Wilma Follette speak know how delightful, substantive, and thoughtful her presentations are. Wilma is a third-generation northern Californian (41 years in Marin County) with a lifelong interest in the outdoors. She was a founder of the CNPS Marin Chapter in 1973. For 22 years she has led field trips locally and around the state, including weekly spring trips in Marin identifying wildflowers, making plant lists, and monitoring rare-listed species for public agencies. For 11 years she taught a plant identification class at College of Marin. Since 1979 she has enjoyed working with California artists, producing and distributing six CNPS wildflower posters.
Wilma’s husband Bill, who has pursued photography as an avocation since boyhood, devotes tremendous energy to flower photography. The result is a collection of more than 15,000 exquisite slides of interesting plants in beautiful locations, some of which will enhance this program.
April 1999
“Wildflower Walks and Roads of the Sierra Gold Country”
by Toni Fauver
Bay Area resident Toni Fauver has just published her second California wildflower guide book, Wildflower Walks and Roads of the Sierra Gold Country, and will share with us her extensive knowledge of the diverse flora and special places of the Sierra foothills’ Mother Lode region. Toni’s book features elegant pencil drawings by botanical illustrator Martha Kemp and includes historical notes by Helen Breck. Both of these contributors plan to be present for this slide presentation and book signing.
Toni Fauver has an extensive and varied background in California native plants. She graduated from U.C. Berkeley with a major in Conservation of Natural Resources with an emphasis on native plants. She has gathered specimens for the Oakland Museum’s annual Spring Wildflower Show for 20 years. She has done volunteer work for the CNPS and the U.C., Tilden, and Strybing botanical gardens, and has conducted wildflower classes and hikes here and abroad for many years. Her first wildflower guide, Wildflower Walking in the Lakes Basin of the Northern Sierra was published in 1992.
March 1999
“Who’s Who in the Phlox Family:
The way they were versus the way they are (or will be)”
by Dr. Robert Patterson
“The Polemoniaceae is truly a California family, with over one-half of its 300-plus species native to California. Many species of Polemoniaceae contribute to the showy spring and summer wildflower displays, making it one of the more readily recognized families in our flora. Even after a few field trips newly introduced botanists begin to recognize and master the names of many of our native polemons. But is our current taxonomic knowledge of the family accurate? Does it portray true relationships among species and genera? Ongoing research by workers at several institutions is causing us to reevaluate what might define a genus in this family, and what features best resolve evolutionary relationships.
This talk will provide an introduction to the ideas held by the “new polemoniologists”, and to the approaches that support these ideas. Using the genus Linanthus as a model we will examine the old and the new. We will look at how traditionally used characters may, or may not, be taxonomically useful. We will then extend the discussion to the other genera of the family. In closing we will address the importance of evolutionary inference to classification of the Phlox family in California.”
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