Cincinnati Wild Flower Preservation Society
Ohio Native Plant Society, Southwest Ohio Chapter
Updated Friday January 27, 2023 at 8pm
Our hikes and lectures are free and open to the public, and all are welcome. (but we depend on our memberships to cover our expenses.)
"You don’t have to be a plant expert to enjoy these trips and lectures. The locations are amazing and the atmosphere is casual. I’ve enjoyed every event that I’ve attended for many years!"- BB
What you missed- On Friday January 13, 2023, our program was "Untangling Equity and the Environment: The Future of Conservation and How We Get There”, presented by Tanner Yess, Co-Director of Groundwork Ohio River Valley. This organization works on expanding the human connection to nature in communities left behind by the environmental movement through engagement, education, and employment. He presented remotely to our group of 25 at Avon and 25 at home.
-----Our next event----
Friday February 10, 2023 at 7:30 pm Lecture – “Big Bone Lick - Cradle of Paleontology” presented by Dr. Glenn Storrs – Location Avon Woods Nature Center (and by Zoom) – Please RSVP here before 11pm Thursday Feb 9
Almost 20 miles southwest of Cincinnati, in Boone County, Kentucky, can be found Big Bone Lick State Historic Site, a fossil locality known to scientists and historians around the world.
In 1807, Thomas Jefferson asked William Clark to collect fossils for him there, where he encountered the remains of mastodon and other “Ice Age” animals during the first organized paleontological excavation in the Western Hemisphere.
Discovered by Europeans in 1739, fossils from Big Bone were later examined by Daniel Boone, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, William Henry Harrison, and Meriwether Lewis, along with Jefferson, Clark, and many others. Native Americans likely had been aware of the presence of “big bones” at the site for centuries - animals have long been attracted to its flowing salt springs, and indigenous hunters have followed them there.
Notably, the 18th century French anatomist Georges Cuvier, used the new principle of comparative anatomy to confirm the concept of extinction based upon its fossils, and new discoveries continue to be made at the site. As a result of this long and continuing history, Big Bone Lick is justifiably known as the “Birthplace of American vertebrate paleontology.”
Dr. Glenn W. Storrs is the Associate Vice President for Science & Research and the Withrow Farny Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology at the Cincinnati Museum Center.
RSVP (requested) for Zoom and In-Person - Please RSVP by filling in the very brief form here , which helps us with our planning.
If you are attending by zoom, please register by 11pm on Thursday, we will send you the zoom link on Friday morning. You may log in at 7:25pm Friday.
If you are attending in person, RSVP is helpful but not required, so we know how many cookies/chips to bring! You may wish to bring something to share.
Any questions or problems (including zoom), contact Bob Bergstein at bergstein123@gmail.com or 513-477-4438
In-Person Directions: Avon Woods Nature Center is a Cincinnati City Park at 4235 Paddock Road, Cincinnati 45229. Google Maps knows both "4235 Paddock Road" and "Avon Woods Nature Center". Apple maps correctly knows only "4235 Paddock Road"
Friday March 10, 2023 - "The Rare and Unusual - Discoveries at the Edge" by Mark Zloba- Preceded by optional Potluck Dinner - Location is the Gathering at Northern Hills (and by Zoom). Please RSVP here (link activated Feb 15) before 11pm Thurs March 9
5:15 pm – Appetizers
5:45 pm - Potluck Dinner- Please rsvp here (link activated on Feb 15) , for dinner and/or lecture. It is helpful for us to know how many are coming in person (and to send zoom link to others.) Please register by 11pm Thursday and the zoom-link will be sent Friday morning. You may log into the meeting at 6:50pm Friday.
(If you forget to rsvp, you are still welcome to attend the dinner and lecture in person.)
You may bring a dish of your choice; appetizer, main or side dish, or dessert. Any food or zoom questions, contact Bob Bergstein by text/phone at 513-477-4438.
7:00 pm – Annual Meeting (Board Election) then Lecture - "The Rare and Unusual - Discoveries at the Edge" presented by Mark Zloba, Ecological Manager, Edge of Appalachia
From fireflies that synchronize, crickets that live entirely within ant mounds, rats that collect nickels, snakes that rattle, katydids new to science, to lichens once believed to be extinct, Mark will share some of the many new finds made at the Edge of Appalachia Preserve in nearby Adams County Ohio.
This Preserve is co-owned and managed by the Cincinnati Museum Center and the Nature Conservancy. Beginning with the small Lynx Prairie ( here ), this Preserve system has grown to over 20,000 acres, preserving the amazing and diverse natural areas in Southern Ohio.
Mark Zloba is the ecological manager of the Preserve and works for the Cincinnati Museum Center. He has been working at the Edge for 25 years, doing education, land management, collections and research. During this time, the preserve has been conducting an All Taxa Biological Inventory, inviting experts in many fields to explore the preserve, collecting specimens and teaching identification techniques. The research is ongoing.
Directions- Google maps knows “The Gathering at Northern Hills” and the address 460 Fleming Road, 45231 .
--Our Spring Hikes for 2023 will be posted soon--
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