Hello everyone! My name is Justin, and I’m a biologist with ADF&G. During my many years of college, I experienced the misfortune of botany classes always conflicting with required courses. For anyone considering wildlife biology as a career, it’s worth knowing that many Federal jobs require 9 credits of botany to get an interview, so take them whenever you can! I’ve been in Alaska since 2012 and attended graduate school at UAF. I studied plant-herbivore interactions, but my research was restricted to a single willow species and I want to gain more general knowledge and familiarity with local flora. I’m an avid outdoorsman and I hope this course helps me forage more safely and recognize native and invasive species while traveling the state for work. I’m working on setting up my personal microscope and will add a photo later, but I may end up using one from my lab at work if the camera quality on my phone proves to be a problem. I just received my macro lens attachment last night and need to fabricate a stand. Two of my favorite plants are oddballs. Bladderwort is invasive in Washington where I grew up, but carnivorous aquatic plants are cool! Fairy Slippers (Calypso bulbosa) are just adorable and bring me joy. Images shamelessly stolen from the internet.
Welcome Justin,
Great to have you in class catching up on some botany. I hope this class will enlighten you to the wonders of plants in Alaska and beyond. Tell us about your favorite plant, I guess is not the one willow species you studied for your M.S. degree, or maybe it is? Show us an image of the wild places in Alaska you visit for your job?
I added some plant photos to the original post, but I will have to dig around for field photos as most of them are on my work computer and camera!
Awesome! Thanks!