Identifying Environmental Change through Palaeobotanical Analysis

The speaker for our April 20 OKC Audubon meeting will be Dr. Rachel Jones speaking on Extending the Ecological Perspective: Identifying Environmental Change through Palaeobotanical Analysis. Her presentation will briefly cover the methods of fossil plant analysis used in palaeoecological research. she will discuss her work in paleoecology as it relates to no-analog communities found in North America during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition. No-analog communities are defined as community fossil assemblages in which no modern counterpart exists. These vegetation communities often represent a mix of species adapted to more glacial environments, as well as those found in more temperate. There is recognition by paleoecologists that these unique assemblages may have provided refuges for species to exist during extreme climate variability throughout the Pleistocene-Holocene transition.

Dr. Rachel Jones is Dean for the School of Science & Kinesiology at the University of Science & Arts of Oklahoma and Professor of Environmental Science & Biology, a paleoecologist. She joined USAO as an Assistant Professor of Biology in August 2014. She received her B.A. in Anthropology from Arizona State University and both her M.S. (Botany) and Ph.D. (Ecology) from the University of Wyoming.

Her research is focused in southern U.S. paleoecology. She utilizes paleoecological research techniques in conjunction with anthropological data to answer questions concerning the Native American role in the development of certain ecosystems. Dr. Jones has also conducted paleoecological research concerned with investigating vegetation change in the southern Ozarks of Missouri since the last glacial maximum. Additionally, she has been an environmental consultant for nearly a decade working in Wyoming with the energy industry to assess vegetation reclamation efforts.

Come out and enjoy the camaraderie and bring a friend.

Our meetings are held September through June on the third Monday of each month with the exception of January. Meetings begin at 7 p.m. Visitors are always welcome.

Meeting Location:

Our meetings are held at the Will Rogers Garden center, located at the intersection of NW 36th Street and I-44. The Oklahoma City Audubon Society is neither a chapter of, nor affiliated with, the National Audubon Society.