Hi, I’m Terry I’m taking this class because I love Alaskan Flora. I feel it should be a required class for anyone doing a BS Arctic Ecology focus. Off my soapbox. I grew up in New England in the woods ponds swamps you name it. I grew up admiring Rachel Carson and still do. We camped, and hiked all over the east coast. When I was in the service I was stationed in the Pacific Northwest on Coast Guard ships that patrolled from Antarctica to Alaska and looked over the scientists’ shoulders. I moved to Alaska in 08 to Mat Su Wasilla and Willow till Sockeye then I moved to the Fairbanks area. Attended school at Bay community college in one part of UP and then Lake Superior State on Lake Superior I have been home for just over a year. When I moved here from Texas I went to Every National Park on the way. My major is Ecological and Evolutionary Biology with Minors in Alaska Native Studies and Alaska Climate Change Biology. I have 3 favorite Alaskan flowers. Fireweed not only for its beauty but its versatility as a food. Swamp Iris of Mat-Su Valley Palmer Hayflats. Finally, the Arctic Rose has many uses as food, medicine, and perfume. I admire it because it is resilient.
Welcome Terry,
what a gorgeous image of fireweed! As you can tell from the class banner I love fireweed myself. I have seen some variations in the flower color of fireweed, but the white fireweed as still alluded me (the image is from https://alaskanessences.com/products/white-fireweed-i-epilobium-angustifolium-i). Sounds like you have done a bit of traveling. I love to explore and seek out exotic plants along the way. One of my favorite things to do and one of the benefits of being a botanist. Many of my friends in grad school would choose plants to study that would enable them to travel to some pretty amazing places. I worked on Ephedra (Mormon tea), it is found all over the SW US, but extends into Mexico and all the way down to Tierra Del Fuego in S Chile. Lots of traveling to check the many different habitats of Ephedra out for my grad studies. And yes, this class should be required for any ecology major in AK.