Northern California Botanists Botanical Leaflets Volume I, Issue 2 President’s Message Northern California Bota- nists have had a busy spring and summer. We were able to award 7 scholarships for $ 1000.00 each to botany students in Northern Cali- fornia for the 2008-2009 academic year. This is a great way to promote bo- tanical study in Northern California. We also cele- brated National Botanist Day with a field trip to low elevation serpentine on the Plumas National Forest in May. Many of us have been busy dealing with the results of the early fires this year and especially the dry lightening In honor of the first Na- tional Botanist Day, NCB in cooperation with the Plu- mas National Forest spon- sored a field trip to low elevation serpentine on May 23,2008. National Botanist Day started here in North- ern California as a way to celebrate botanists and all the hard work that we do. May 23rd was picked to celebrate Carolus Lin- naeaus’s birthday. This is a grassroots effort that has that occurred throughout the state in June. On the Plumas National Forest, about 100,000 acres burned in the North Fork and Mid- dle Fork of the Feather River. Many of the shrubs and oaks are starting to sprout again. The new green growth of the bracken ferns has been quite a con- trast to the black overstory of conifers and oaks. NCB will not have a sympo- sium in 2009 because of the California Native Plant So- ciety conference in Sacra- mento this next January. We will, however, be do- nating money to the CNPS been endorsed by both NCB and by NBOT (a group of botanists that meet periodi- cally in Redding several times a year). We visited a serpentine outcrop on National Forest land in Magalia to view a MacNab cypress ( Callitropis macnabiana) stand and resto- ration efforts to obliterate user-created trails and roads. We traveled to Saw- mill Peak where Eriogonum umbellatum var. ahartii and Fall 2008 conference committee to help with student scholar- ships. In addition, we will have a booth at the confer- ence. We are looking for volunteers to help with the booth. In January of 2010 we plan to have our third sympo- sium. We are beginning to plan the symposium now so if you would like to volun- teer to help, please let us know. For more information, see related articles within this newsletter. Have a great fall! Linnea Hanson Packer a eurycephalus var lewis- rosei occur on another ser- pentine outcrop. We dis- cussed the prescribed burns that are planned at both sites and the monitoring that has been completed. Thirty people attended the field day from state and federal government, col- leges, private industry, and non-profit organizations . It was a wonderful day and everyone really enjoyed themselves. OFFICERS President: Linnea Hanson Vice President: Colby B °ggs Secretary: Jenny Marr Treasurer: Gail Kuenster Members-at-large Barbara Castro Robin Fallscheer Christine Hantelman Lawrence Jane way Robert Schlising Joe Silveira Karen Wiese Mike Williams Inside this issue: Student Research awards 2 2009-2010 scholar- ships 2 NAME THIS PLANT 2 Volunteers wanted 3 Board of Directors 3 Non-profit status 3 Membership news 3 Employment opportu- nities 3 National Botanist Day Event May 23, 2008 Botanical Leaflets Page 2 2008 — 2009 Student Research Scholarship Awards This was the first year Northern California Botanists offered student research scholarships. We received 37 applications from a very strong candidate pool. These included 3 undergraduate students, 13 in a Master’s degree program, and 21 in a PhD program. The schools repre- sented include UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UC Santa Cruz, CSU Hum- boldt , CSU San Francisco, CSU Sonoma, CSU Sacramento, and Southern Illinois University. The Scholarship Committee had a difficult time choosing the scholar- ship recipients. The breath of sub- ject matter and the quality of the research proposals were out- standing. The research proposals covered the most contemporary issues facing the field of botany to- day, climate change, fire dynamics, invasives, and conservation. It is reward- ing to know that such important work is being conducted in the academic com- munity! Northern California Botanists awarded seven $ 1 ,000 scholarships. We con- gratulate these outstanding students and would like to thank an anonymous donor and our members who have helped to make these awards possible. This year’s recipients and the title of their research are: Gavin Archbald (MS/San Francisco State University) “Evaluating the poten- tial for spread of an invasive forb, Limo- nium ramosissimum, in San Francisco Bay salt marshes” Christopher Dolanc (PhD/UC Davis) “Current and future vegetation change in Sierran subalpine due to changing cli- mate” Steven Johnston (MS/ Sonoma State University) “Evolutionary ecology of a host-pathogen interac- tion in California woodlands” Laura Saunders (MS /Sonoma State University) “The effects of mammalian herbivory on the growth and establishment of oaks” Lisa Schile (PhD/UC Berkeley) “Tidal wetland vegetation response to climate change in the San Fran- cisco Bay-Delta” Marit Wilkerson (PhD/UC Davis) “Downsides to habitat corri- dors’ potential for exotic plant inva- sion” Cara Witte (MS/ CSU Humboldt) “Floristic inventory of Horse Mtn., Board Camp Mtn., and surrounding areas, with special consideration to plants on serpentine outcrops” Student research scholarships 2009-2010 Northern California Botanists are pleased to announce that they will be awarding student research scholar- ships for the 2009-2010 academic year. Research scholarships will consist of $ 1 ,000 awards to undergraduate and graduate students who are enrolled in a botany, plant ecology, or other plant-focused program as a full-time student at one of northern California’s colleges or universities. Junior and sen- ior undergraduates and MS and PhD graduate students are eligible. Projects must be part of Independent Study, The- sis or Dissertation coursework. Applications must be submitted to NCB by midnight on March 1 , 2009. Awards will be announced in May 2009, with funding provided to students for the 2009-2010 academic year in August 2009. Applications will be available in January. For more information and to download an application, visit the NCB webpage: http:/ / www . csuchico . edu/biol / Herb / norcalbot/ index.htm Can you name this plant? Can you name this native plant of northern California, that is forming its aggre- gate fruit of achenes inside a leathery receptacle? Volume I, Issue 2 Page 3 Volunteers wanted NCB is striving to become more actively engaged with its membership on several levels and is requesting your participation. Please consider your preferred level of participation (e.g., general volunteering to assist with NCB’s annual symposia, help- ing with the NCB booth at the 2009 CNPS conference in Sacramento, specific volunteering to serve on NCB’s action com- mittees). Please let us know if you would like to become more involved by contacting us at ncbotanists@gmail.com N CB is setting up an information booth at the upcoming CNPS conference in January 2009. One of the features will be a dis- play of “Tools of the Trade”. To date, we have modern tools used by field botanists, as well as a few historic items like a vasculum. We’d like more! If you have other historic items that you’d be willing to share, please contact Christine Hantelman at baji@chico.com NCB is looking for volunteers to represent the organization through attendance at NCB’s booth at the CNPS 2009 Conference. If inter- ested, please contact NCB at ncbotanists @gmail . com NCB is looking for webmaster help! If you have web expertise and would like to donate some time helping us maintain our web pages, please con- tact us at ncbotanists@gmail.com NCB is currently looking for volunteers to serve on the student stipend and student research scholarship review committees. Your participa- tion will support the selection of students who receive finan- cial assistance to attend the 2010 NCB annual symposium and will help select recipients of the 2009-2010 student research scholarships. NCB Board of Directors Officers and member-at-large, com- prising the Board of Directors, were voted in by the ballots received in May 2008. The roster of board members as listed elsewhere in this newsletter, will serve a two-year term, ending in 2010. Most ballots voted for all members on the slate . There was one write-in. President Linnea Hanson has contacted him, asking if he would like to volunteer to help in particular activities. Persons de- siring to serve as directors of Northern California Botanists are urged to make their interest known to the Board so as to be included on the slate for voting by the entire membership in early 2010. Please contact Rob Schlising at rschlis- ing@csuchico . edu Non-profit status In 2008, NCB obtained its non- profit status for both federal and state tax reporting. We are now a federally recognized SOI (c) (3) non -profit organization as of February 2007. Membership dues and dona- tions to N CB are tax deductible . Membership news N CB counts on its membership and donations to help fund its programs such as the student research scholarships. In addition, we are starting to plan for our next conference in January 2010. If your membership has expired, this will be the last newsletter sent to you. Your expiration date is listed on the address label of this newsletter. Please consider renewing and helping with a donation if possible to help fund next year’s student research scholar- ships and other important N CB programs . Employment opportunities The Federal Government is hiring botanists. Check http: / / jobsearch.usajobs.gov/ for current vacancies . Though not posted yet, the Anchorage Forestry Sciences Lab anticipates hiring both permanent seasonal and temporary positions for the 2009 field season to serve on the data collection team in Alaska. For more information contact: Connie Hubbard at chub- bard@fs.fed.us or Ray Koleser at rkoleser@fs.fed.us. Plant on page 3 : Calycanthus occidentalis Northern California Botanists c/o Chico State Herbarium California State University Chico Chico, CA 95929-0545 Membership application Name: Affiliation: Address: City: State: Zip: Email: Phone (optional) MEMBERSHIP DUES: Individual $25.00 Student $15.00 Organization $40.00 In addition, I would like to donate $ to Northern California Botanists to help fund NCB programs and student research scholarships. Make checks payable to “Northern California Botanists” and mail to: Northern California Botanists c/o Chico State Herbarium California State University, Chico Chico, CA 95929-0545 NCB is a federally recognized 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization. E-mail: ncb 0 tanists@ 5 mail.com Check out our webpage! www.csuchico.edu/biol/ Herb /norcalbot/ index.htm