2015 Keynote Speakers

  

Prescott College Professor and naturalist Walt Anderson uses words and images to discuss plant reproductive strategies in “Plant Parenthood, or Do Violets Have Blue Genes?”  Plants are not the “pure as a lily” beings that Victorians wished them to be; in fact, their sex lives can be quite a pollen, and their family behavior can be a bit on the seedy side.  Nevertheless, we should not stigmatize a plant for its style.   This entertaining presentation, a natural selection of images, will discuss plants as shaped by evolution. Once exposed to this way of thinking, you may never look at a plant again in exactly the same way.

 

Walt Anderson has been teaching ecology, natural history, wildlife management, wetland ecology & management, animal behavior (and misbehavior), flowering plants, and other subjects at Prescott College since 1991.  He is author of various books and articles, and his photographs, drawings, and paintings have been published widely.  He loves to share his knowledge and enthusiasm about nature on expeditions he leads around the world, including trips to East Africa, Madagascar, Brazil, Ecuador (including Galapagos), Argentina, Australia, Mexico, Alaska, the American West, and Antarctica. 

 

 

 

“The Effect of Climate Change on Flora and Fauna in the Southwest” 

Janie Agyagos, wildlife biologist from the Forest Service, will discuss climate change in the southwest.  While changing weather patterns will be covered, Janie will focus on how climate change is and will affect Arizona’s wildlife and plant species.  In addition, she will summarize scientists predictions of future southwestern effects as a result of climate change.  

Janie Agyagos currently works on the Red Rock Ranger District of the Coconino National Forest where she has served as district wildlife biologist since 1994. Janie’s main duties include inventorying and monitoring special status plant, fish and wildlife species; designing and implementing habitat improvement projects; managing area closures for the protection of rare fish, wildlife and plant species and/or their habitat; conducting project effect analyses and consultations; and coordinating with multiple agencies in the management of plant, fish, and wildlife species and their habitat. In 2010, Janie received the third Norman B. Herkenham Award for Native Plant Landscaping, which is presented by Keep Sedona Beautiful annually at its Native Plant Workshop held each spring.