Death Valley, Botanizing Low to High, a talk by Matt Berger

Matt Berger has hiked from the lowest to the highest points of Death Valley National Park, observing and recording flora throughout its diverse environments. Matt will provide an overview of the biogeography and microhabitats of the park, and will share his photos of the limestone endemics and other rare plants. We hope to hear a few of his secrets to finding rare plants in the desert and mountains.

Matt will be preceded by the recipient of the CNPS SCV 2019 Graduate Research Scholarship, Lacey Benson. She attends San Jose State University and doing a morphometric analysis comparing western sword fern (Polystichum munitum) pinnae size across the coast redwood ecological gradient. Analysis of pinnae morphology will be compared to climate data and will aid in understanding how the longevity of this fern may be affected by climate change.

Matt Berger received his BS in horticulture and and his MS in plant pathology at West Virginia University. Matt is a passionate backpacker having thru hiked the Appalachian Trail, Pacific Crest Trail twice, Continental Divide Trail, Arizona Trail and other long distance trails for a total of over 11,000 miles in the last 8 years. Matt is an accomplished photographer of the plants, fungi and animals that he encounters on his adventures. You can find his photos on Instagram at @sheriff_woody_pct and on YouTube at sheriff_woody_pct.

This talk will be live streamed on YouTube and Zoom:
https://www.youtube.com/c/CNPSSantaClaraValley
Zoom requires advance registration:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcvc-qoqzorGNARNob_xYETP2SlxZUYPBHc