Category: Chapter Meetings

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— by Gary Bowers

Learn about invasive species in Texas, their history, and the issues when Robin Doughty and Matt Warnock Turner present the program topic “Unnatural Texas” at the next NPSOT-Wilco chapter meeting on Thursday, October 10. We meet at the Georgetown Public Library.

In their recently published book,  Unnatural Texas? The Invasive Species Dilemma, Robin and Matt investigate the problems posed by so-called invasive species. These non-native plants and animals are increasingly affecting the economic, medical, and ecological health of Texas. Their new book is both a primer and a “think piece.” Drawing upon a representative sample — from across the state and over five centuries — of approximately 20 non-native species (including mammals, birds, fish, insects, mollusks, trees, water plants, and fungi), they introduce readers to Texas’ “big hitters,” discuss a range of arguments for controlling them, and explore how culture and shifting attitudes influence their management.

Robin W. Doughty, a Yorkshire-born Geographer, who received his PhD from University of California Berkeley, has been on the UT faculty for more than 40 years. Robin has a longstanding professional and personal interest in wild animals, environmental change, and conservation. He has authored over 10 books on such subjects as the feather trade, the recovery of the endangered whooping crane, the mockingbird, the purple martin, the armadillo, the eucalyptus tree, and more recently the international steps being made to conserve albatrosses. He continues to travel the world extensively and lecture on physical geography, cultural history, and wildlife.

Matt Warnock Turner, a fifth-generation Texan, is a naturalist, teacher, and free-lance writer who works as a market researcher at UT’s McCombs School of Business.  Son of a well-known botanist, he applies his humanities training (PhD in literature from Yale) to enrich our understanding of the plant kingdom around us.  He has published both scientific and popular works, including the award-winning, Remarkable Plants of Texas (2009).He’s twice appeared as a guest on PBS’s “Central Texas Gardener” and starred in the PBS documentary, “Wildflowers:  Seeds of History.” We welcome Matt back as a returning speaker. Matt presented “Remarkable Plants of Texas” at our January 2015 chapter meeting.

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NPSOT-Williamson County meetings are free and open to the public.

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