To cover 500 million years of land plant evolution in an hour, we will speed through the origins and rise of land plants at a rate of ten million years per minute. We will address the challenges of life on land, how plants adapted from their aquatic origins, how plants changed the terrestrial environment and how the environment changed plants. The evolution of stems, roots, leaves, seed, flowers and fruits will be discussed. Wear a seatbelt!

Dr Barbara Hawkins teaches Biology of Land Plants, Plant Physiology, Tree Biology and Forest Ecology at the University of Victoria.  A focus of research in her group is tree nutrient uptake and allocation. They are particularly interested in co-adaptation of conifers and their mycorrhizal partners, and in variation among tree populations in stress tolerance. The work ranges from lab experiments measuring nutrient uptake with microelectrodes, to field work assessing nutrient stoichiometry of tree foliage, fungi and soil. Many years ago, she obtained a BSF in Forest Management at the University of British Columbia, worked in the forest industry in northern British Columbia, and then went to the School of Forestry in Christchurch, N.Z. for my PhD. She has been a faculty member in the Centre for Forest Biology at the University of Victoria for 33 years and was Chair of the Department of Biology for 5 years. Very happy to be back to teaching and research!

This presentation will be via Zoom Video Conferencing. On the Monday preceding the event, Nature Vancouver members will receive the Zoom link in the weekly e-News.  The talk will begin at 7:30 pm.  Non-members are welcome and should Email denis@NatureVancouver.ca a few days ahead to register for the link.