"Native Plants and Habitats of the Ouachita Mountains" and later a walk on Cedar Creek trail

Theo Witsell, senior botanist and ecologist for the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission and a Research Associate at the Botanical Research Institute of Texas, will be the guest speaker for our June meeting. 

Also read: "How One Neighborhood Saved Millions of Gallons of Water With Native Plants"

He is currently working on a number of research projects including an inventory of the plants of remnant grasslands across Arkansas and the description of several undescribed plant species.  He has authored or co-authored more than 30 scientific publications and book chapters and serves as a regional reviewer for the Flora of North America Project. 

Theo has also worked as a contract botanist for a number of federal agencies and private organizations including the USDA Forest Service, the National Park Service, the United States Department of Defense, The Nature Conservancy, NatureServe, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center (University of Texas at Austin), and the Gates Rogers Foundation.  He is co-editor of the recently published Atlas of the Vascular Plants of Arkansas, and is co-author of an upcoming book on Trees, Shrubs, and Woody Vines of Arkansas.  

Theo is a native Arkansan and holds a Masters degree in botany from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.  His research interests include the ecology and conservation of rare plants and their habitats, restoration of degraded ecosystems, and anything to do with the shale barrens of the Ouachita Mountains.  He has expertise in the flora of North America east of the Rocky Mountains and is also an avid native plant gardener.

Theo Witsell atop Woodcock Bluff.  Lower Buffalo Wilderness Area.  Buffalo National River.