Chapter
of the
Year
- 2002 -
- 2006 -
|
NPSOT Chapter of the Year - 2002 - - 2006 - |
| January
4 |
Florence M. Oxley Director of Conservation and Education, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center Florence M. Oxley has a Bachelor of Science degree with an emphasis in botany and a Master of Science degree with an emphasis in mycology both from Southwest Texas State University. Flo has been a staff member of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center for fourteen years, beginning her career with the Wildflower Center as a research intern in her last year of graduate school. She was hired as the Clearinghouse Coordinator upon graduation and has held many positions at the Center including Publications Manager, Public Programs Manager, Acting Director of Education, and Senior Botanist. Flo is the Wildflower Center’s director of conservation and education. She manages the Center’s adult and children and families education programs, onsite interpretation and exhibits, and docent training. She also oversees the seed bank and herbarium programs as well as writing for the Center’s and other publications, and presenting numerous talks and workshops. Flo is currently working on her PhD in Aquatic Resources at Texas State University-San Marcos. Topic: Endangered Means There's Still Time |
| February
1 |
Dixie Watkins Landscape Architect After graduating from Texas Tech with a B.A. in Architecture, Dixie Watkins began his career as a city planner for San Antonio. In 1982, he completed a Masters from UTSA in Natural and Cultural Resource Management. He has worked on strategic downtown redevelopment projects and began his career-long commitment toward the conservation of landscapes and greenways, while also serving as the Conservation Chair of the South Texas Sierra Club. In 1988, he established his own firm, Dixie Watkins III and Associates, which has been involved in numerous projects specializing in the planning, design and management of natural and cultural resources. In his work, Dixie strives for an optimal balance between conservation and development. A registered Landscape Architect, Dixie has been involved in the planning and design for Brackenridge Park, the Witte Museum, Sunken Gardens, San Antonio Botanical Gardens, San Pedro Park, Cibolo Nature Center, The Nature Conservancy of Texas’ Love Creek Preserve and others. Topic: Context is Everythings -- Site-sensitivity and regionalism in sustainable landscape design. |
| March
1 |
Ted Bolzle District Conservationist, Boerne Field Office Natural Resources Conservation Service After receiving a B.S. in Range and Wildlife Management from Texas A&I University in 1975, Ted Bolzle started working with the Natural Resources Conservation Service as Range Conservationist in Balmorhea, TX. After a year, he became the Assistant Manager at the Plant Materials Center in Knox City, TX. From late 1981 to early 1983, he was a Range Conservationist in Memphis, TX, after which he started his current position as the District Conservationist in Boerne, TX. In his spare time, he enjoys hunting and fishing. Topic: Susceptibility of Plants to Fire |
| April
5 |
Rufus Stephens, Wildlife Biologist Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Topic: Conserving the Valuable Native Plant Community During Construction -- Techniques for conserving native plants during construction can save thousands of dollars in landscaping costs. By planning to conserve this valuable resource before construction begins, homeowners and developers alike can reap the economic, wildlife, and the attractive benefits of native plants. Rufus Stephens with Texas Parks & Wildlife Department will discuss the techniques, tools, and benefits of maintaining native plants during construction. |
| May
3 |
Bill Lindemann Born in Gonzales County, Texas and currently residing in Frederickberg, Bill Lindemann is a former president of the Native Plant Society of Texas, a columnist for Kerrville and Fredericksburg newspapers, a world traveled geologist, and a very popular speaker in the Hill Country on natural history subjects. Topic: Big Bend National Park: Its Flora and Habitats |
| June
7 |
NPSOT-Boerne Chapter members Topic: Show and Tell (photos of outstanding plants presented by our members) |
| July/August |
No meetings scheduled. |
| September
6 |
David Will Mr. Will is owner of Landscape Details, a company specializing in landscape management and consulting. He has over 35 years experience in landscape management and horticulture. He is also owner of Gottlieb Gardens, a wholesale nursery specializing in native trees and heritage plants. David has a BS in Agriculture Education from Texas A&M University and a MA in Agriculture from Sam Houston State University. He is a Certified Landscape Professional Contractor #2 with the Texas Nursery and Landscape Association. The #2 means that he was the second person so certified within the state. He has worked in various positions in horticulture including Grounds Manager for Fiesta Texas and The Houstonian. He is a member of the Men's Garden Clubs in New Braunfels and Austin and the NPSOT, Lindheimer Chapter. David has written gardening articles for over 15 years in the Austin American Statesman and other publications. He as even hosted two gardening talk shows. In 1990, David was selected member of the year by the Texas Association of Landscape Contractors for his work in the certification process of landscape contractors throughout the state. David has regularly instructed Master Gardeners in four counties since 1995 and is the past chairman of the Horticultural Committee for the Comal County Cooperative Extension Service. David has served on the Tree and Landscape Board for the City of New Braunfels and is a past volunteer coordinator for the Texas Master Naturalist Program Lindheimer Chapter. In his spare time, David teaches continuing education, landscape classes for New Braunfels Independent School District. Topic: Restoration to Native Landscapes |
| October
4 |
Dr. Steve Nelle, NRCS Dr. Nelle is a wildlife biologist with a 30-year career with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and is currently a Range Specialist in San Angelo, Texas. His degree is in Range and Wildlife Management from Texas Tech. His presentation will focus on grasses and their importance for watershed function and other values. He will bring samples of many grasses as an introduction to their identification and recognition. A discussion will follow on short grasses, mid grasses, tall grasses and succession-retrogression. Attendees are encouraged to bring native plants (incl. grasses) to the talk for identification. Steve has written many papers on native plants in the Texas Hill Country and has helped our own Jan Wrede with her new book, Trees, Shrubs, And Vines Of The Texas Hill Country: A Field Guide. Steve is known to be a great speaker, a charming person and incredibly talented. (Note: Dr. Nelle is also leading a workshop on October 5 at the Cibolo Nature Center. This class is open to the public but limited to 30 participants. Call 830-249-4616 to make your reservation.) Topic: The Hill Country Grasses |
| November
1 |
Eric Lautzenheiser Mr. Lautzenheiser is the Superintendent of Nature Preserves for the City of San Antonio Department of Parks and Recreation and is the past Director of the San Antonio Botanical Gardens. He will give a talk on the progress of the City of San Antonio in purchasing lands to preserve the Edwards Aquifer and plans for the future. Topic: Preserving the Edwards Aquifer |
| December
6 |
Winter social event. |
| January
6 |
Dan Hosage Mr. Hosage holds a BS in natural sciences with graduate work in phytochemistry. He is owner of Madrone Nursery in San Marcos where he operates a tissue culture laboratory and grows over 300 species of native Texas plants. He specializes in species from the Edwards Plateau and Trans Pecos. He received a patent in 1994 for “Traveler Redbud,” a weeping form of the Texas Redbud, for which he was honored with the Lynn Lowrey Memorial Award. He has also been awarded with a Certificate of Achievement for Outstanding Promotion of Texas History. Mr. Hosage plans to introduce a variety of variegated native plants in 2004 and is working on terrestrial orchids in his tissue culture lab in cooperation with Joe Liggio. In addition, he raises Blue Lacys, the State Dog of Texas. His motto is “Keep Texas Looking Like Texas.” Topic: Native Plants: A Historical Look |
| February
3 |
Bill Neiman A noted colorful speaker, Mr. Neiman owns and manages Native American Seed - a premier producer of seed for native wildflowers and grasses. His company is one of the only bulk suppliers of seed gathered strictly from native plants of the Texas-Oklahoma-Louisiana bioregion. In Mr. Neiman's words: "In today's economic realities, the only sensible approach to effective land management is with the use of native species for vegetation." Topic: Native Grasses |
| March
2 |
Pat McNeal Pat McNeal is a recognized and well-respected expert in the landscaping and plant communities. Utilizing his skills as a plant hunter and propagator, he owns and operates a unique wholesale nursery in central Texas. His operation, McNeal Growers, produces many special, uncommon and new plant species that are used in urban gardens and in many diverse types of restoration projects. Because of the unusual nature of the plant materials grown by McNeal Growers, as well as Pat’s extensive knowledge of so many plant species, Pat is often called as a consultant on a broad range of projects. During the past 15 years, Pat has been chosen to conduct surveys of endangered species for the government and ecological studies for state park planning. In addition, he has created landscape restoration planning and designs for commercial development and public and private projects. In his work, Pat seeks to promote a deeper understanding of the roles plants play in modern urban development, emphasizing the appropriate, informed and thoughtful utilization of plant resources for more sustainable land use. Topic: Ecology of Plant Use |
| April
6 |
Lottie Millsaps Lottie Millsaps is a certified Texas Master Naturalist, a long-time member of the San Antonio Chapter of NPSOT, and a member of the board of the Friends of Friedrich Park. Her lifelong fascination with native plants has led her to spend many years studying the local vegetation. She is largely self-taught, although she once took some botany courses at San Antonio College. Much of her education on native vegetation was gained while collecting for the Bexar Regional Herbarium. Besides knowing how to identify most of the native plants in this area, she also has interesting and amusing facts to tell about nearly every plant. Topic: Identifying Texas Wildflowers |
| May
4 |
Jason Singhurst Phytogeographer, Wildlife Diversity Program, TPWD Topic: Rare and Endemic Plants of the Southwest Edwards Plateau Mr. Singhurst was unable to make the presentation, and he has gratiously rescheduled for the October 5 meeting. |
| June
1 |
Dr. Patricia Q. Richardson University of Texas Integrative Biology Dr. Richardson received her PhD in Biological Sciences from the University of Texas at Austin. For the next two decades she worked with several university professors as a laboratory scientist, supervising a variety of research projects involving biochemistry of proteins and detection of insects in grain and grain products. In 1992 she changed career paths and began to work in the area of ecologically sound land management with a focus on rangeland and prairie restoration. She became interested in dung beetles and how effective they can be as beneficial insects on pasture and rangeland. In fact she is sometimes currently referred to as "the dung beetle lady". Studying dung beetles provoked an awareness of the astounding complexity of biologically health soil and generated an appreciation of the essential role that good soil plays in all ecosystem processes. She now looks at land restoration with the perspective that everything going on above ground is providing an indication of what is or needs to be going on below. Topic: Life in the Great Underneath, How It Affects Your Plants |
| July/August |
No meetings scheduled. |
| September
7 |
Barbara Lowenthal and Linda Riner - Now a retired teacher and a certified Master Naturalist, Barbara Lowenthal moved to the Hill Country in 1982 and spent several years working with the education program at the Riverside Nature Center in Kerrville where she is currently a member of the Gleaners. Over the past ten years she has been learning about our native flora; performing plant rescues; and assisting with the development of a wildflower meadow at the Center and a butterfly garden at Kerrville Schreiner Park. Currently, she is a member of a team who is working on a virtual herbarium of Hill Country native flora. - Returning to Texas after retirement and settling in Kerrville, Linda Riner continues her childhood passion of bird watching and enjoying the outdoors, as well as studying and appreciating the native Texas plants. To learn more about our native plants, she joined two groups: the Gleaners of Kerrville and the Fredericksburg Chapter of NPSOT. In the Gleaners, she began to learn about seed gathering and cleaning, and plant rescue. The Native Plant Society has been a great help to her in identifying plants and learning how to landscape with natives. She believes these groups are a wonderful way to gain more knowledge about our native Texas plants. Topic: Seed Collecting: Where it all begins
|
| October
5 |
Jason Singhurst Phytogeographer, Wildlife Diversity Program, TPWD Jason Singhurst, was born in Richardson, Texas (Collin County), where he spent his childhood stomping around the Austin Chalk Limestone Prairies and Creek Bottoms on North Central Texas and "Flint Hill" prairies and hardwoods of southeastern Kansas where his family settled in the 1850's. Jason earned a B.S. and M.S. at Stephen F. Austin State University, where he had the great fortune to work with Dr. Elray Nixon on the book Trees, Shrubs, and Woody Vines on East Texas and grew to have an affinity for the eastern Texas flora. He has worked for Texas Parks and Wildlife Department from 1995 to present as a staff Botanist, Plant Community Ecologist, and conducts Geographic Information Science and Remote Sensing projects state wide. He has published more than 30 journal articles on the flora of Texas, most recently describing a new plant species to science: Carr's rattlesnake root (Prenanthes carrii) -- endemic to Bandera, Gillespie, Kerr, and Real Counties in Texas. He is also a co-author of the Rare Plants of Texas book that will be published with A&M Press spring of 2005. Topic: Rare and Endemic Plants of the Southwest Edwards Plateau |
| November
2 |
Dick Richardson, PhD Professor, Department of Integrative Biology, The University of Texas at Austin Dr. Dick Richardson received his PhD in Genetics from North Carolina State University. He is a Fellow in the National Science Foundation, AAAS, Texas Academy of Science, and Wakonse. He is a well-published author with numerous research papers, articles, and books. His past research has been in the following areas of population genetics: fitness traits, behavior, speciation, and biological pest control. His current areas of research are in public policy in natural resource management and these areas of ecology: habitat selection, dispersal, prairie restoration, and agro-ecology. When he has a break, he enjoys his hobbies in backpacking, hiking, and flying. Together with his wife Dr. Patricia Q. Richardson, he is also highly active with the Center for Environmental Research, co-located with the City of Austin Biosolids Management Facility at Hornsby Bend. They conduct research, use it as a field lab, and collaborate with the teachers to mentor elementary school children at the Hornsby Dunlap Elementary School (Del Valle ISD). Topic: Ecological Footprints |
| December
7 |
Winter social event. |
| January
7 |
Rufus Stephens, Wildlife Biologist Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Topic: The Less-Touted Environmental Advantages of Growing Native Plants |
| February
4 |
Dave Barrett Owner of Where Wild Things Grow-Native Plant Nursery, Leon Springs Topic: Deer-Resistent Plants for this Area |
| March
4 |
Mike McBride - Fredericksburg Chapter President-elect of Native Plant Society of Texas Topic: Plants of the Llano Uplift (see details on the March 11 field trip to Enchanted Rock State Natural Area) |
| April
1 |
Manuel Flores Local radio plant show host Topic: Texas Native and Adapted Salvias |
| May
6 |
Jimmy Black, Pharm.D. Cactus enthusiast and fellow NPSOT-Boerne Chapter member Topic: Hill Country Cactus — The layman's approach to a successful cactus garden |
| June
3 |
Sue Tracy Previous multiple officer for NPSOT during its formative years, published writer, and fern enthusiast Topic: Ferns of Texas |
| July/August |
No meetings scheduled. |
| September
2 |
John Dromgoole Host of the Gardening Naturally radio program on KLBJ for 20 years, and owner of The Natural Gardener nursery in Austin, voted "Best Nursery" eight times in the Austin Chronicle's "Best of Austin Poll" Topic: Fall Gardening with Organics |
| October
7 |
Joanne Wells Affectionately known around San Antonio as "The Butterfly Lady" due to her in-depth knowledge and many presentations on butterflies; and head of the Elderhostel Program at the Barshop Jewish Community Center of San Antonio Topic: Life Stages of Lepidoptera, San Antonio Area |
| November
4 |
Janis Merritt The former Native Plant Curator for native areas of the San Antonio Botanical Gardens for over 10 years, Ms. Merritt is currently with the San Antonio Department of Parks and Recreation's Proposition 3 Edwards Aquifer Protection program. Merritt leads preservation and restoration efforts and monitors acquired preserves for general condition, incursions, and biological conditions. She also does management, evaluating, mapping, and exotic-species control. Topic: Methods of Propagating Native Plants |
| December 2 |
Winter social event. |
| January 8 |
Paul Cox, author and member of the San Antonio
Botanical Gardens, presented a program on "Waging
War with Native Plants", the use of native
landscape plants. |
| February 4 |
Steve Windhager gave a presentation on
ecological restoration strategies. |
| March 5 |
Patty Leslie Pasztor, author, presented a
program on how Native Americans and early settlers
used native trees, shrubs, and wildflowers of this
region. |
| April 2 |
Dorothy Mattiza, well-known author and
authority on native plants of the Hill Country,
spoke on the importance of diversity in ecosystems
and restoration in the Hill Country. |
| May 7 |
Marvin Hatter of the Texas Department of
Transportation (TxDOT) discussed TxDOT's practices
and decision making regarding native vegetation
along our highways. |
| June 4 |
Members of the Boerne Chapter of NPSOT gave
demonstrations on water catchment (by Marybeth and
Lloyd Roecker), composting (by Rebecca and Randy
Yoder), and bird watering (by Janet and Jerry
Doyle). |
| September 3 |
Dianne Simpson, Vice President of the Board of
the Government Canyon Natural History Association,
presented a program on the Government Canyon State
Natural Area. |
| October 1 |
Susan Sander, Hill Country environmentalist,
gave a presentation on Alien Invasion,
problems created by the invasion of foreign plants
into the Texas Hill Country. |
| November 5 |
Paul Warwick of The Nature Conservancy (TNC) of
Texas gave a presentation on the background and
involvement of TNC of Texas. Bill
Carr, also with TNC and a Research Associate with
the Plant Resources Center of the University of
Texas at Austin, gave a presentation on the rare
and/or endemic species inventory at TNC's
relatively new "Love Creek Preserve" near Medina in
western Bandera County. |
| December 3 |
Winter social event. |