Luther College’s Beth Lynch, associate professor in biology and Savannah Wilson, class of 2019, are presenting their lecture about plant diversity in northeastern Iowa at 9:40 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 28, in Valders Hall of Science, Room 206.

The lecture is part of Luther's spring Biology Colloquium series. All lectures and discussions are open to the public with no charge for admission.

In their talk, Lynch is sharing her observations of native plant diversity around Decorah and will discuss the importance of keeping track of native plant populations over time. Wilson is describing research she conducted on forest communities of Finch Memorial Hardwoods, part of the Driftless Area National Wildlife Refuge in 2018. 

Wilson plans to graduate from Luther in 2019 with a degree in biology. During her summer research in 2018, Wilson surveyed the composition of Finch's forest, observing plantlife as well as the delicate microenvironment of the area. Lynch comments about working with Wilson during the summer, "…[Wilson] expressed interest in plants, and since I'm a botanist, I thought that was pretty great. When the opportunity to work at Finch came up she was sort of an obvious person to do the work."

Lynch received a bachelor’s degree in biology from Trent University as well as a doctoral degree in ecology, evolution and behavior from the University of Minnesota. Her primary area of research in on the interactions among forests, forest fires, and climate change in pine and oak forests of northern Wisconsin. Lynch is also engaged in research with students on plant communities of the Palezoic Plateau northeastern Iowa. Lynch works on land stewardship projects on public lands in region and serves of the Board of Directors of Seed Savers Exchange in Decorah, Iowa.

Luther's biology colloquium meets approximately 10 times during the academic year for lectures and discussions led by visiting scholars, faculty, and student researchers.

A national liberal arts college with an enrollment of 2,005, Luther offers an academic curriculum that leads to the Bachelor of Arts degree in more than 60 majors and pre-professional programs. For more information about Luther visit the college's website: http://www.luther.edu.