LEARNERS? LOUNGE, SCIENCE SERIES- featuring Dr. Mark Leach

For the cost of a beverage, meet scientists at your favorite hangout!

Tip Toe Through the Taxa, Sedge Family: Despite being Wisconsin’ third largest family of plants, few people know what a sedge is. “Isn’t it a kind of grass?” is a frequent response. Although sedges are superficially grass-like, they have a charm and beauty all their own. You will learn how to distinguish sedges from grasses and rushes, and learn a few distinctive species, as we virtually explore Wisconsin’s wetlands, prairies, and forests to encounter the marvelous diversity of sedges.
Sedge fact: The genus Carex is by far Wisconsin’s largest, containing 180 taxa, nearly double the second largest genus, Aster, which has 94.

Dr. Leach is an authority on grassland fire ecology and is a restoration ecologist with a Ph.D. in botany from U.W. Madison. He has taught at U.W. Stout, Northland College, and U.W. Madison. He has written several scientific papers on the ecology of oak savanna, prairie, and their rare plants and insects. His new e-book, Positive Participation with Nature: Ecological Restoration in Wisconsin will be available this summer from economoebooks.com.

Find us on NOVAS, Science Cafes: http://sciencecafes.org/find/