ENHS Nature Trails September 2001 Article 1

This month's speaker: David Wagner

Few of us have had the good fortune to be nurtured in the Himalayas by parents' encouraging the exploration of nature to the extent enjoyed by Dave Wagner in his youth. Perhaps this experience plus the daily inhalation of his selfless environment has directed Dave towards the intellectual, compassionate and giving roles he plays in the greater Eugene community today. It's great to have him as our EHHS President and first speaker this year.

We're you INTERESTED IN NATURE AS A CHILD?
I was one of those who was a nature nut from the earliest times. I was interested in everything in the natural world. I was told that I was fascinated with National Geographic magazine long before I could read. Getting out into the wild country was my first priority from when I was allowed to wander on my own. My school was in the foothills of the Himalayas, a place of great diversity.

PARENTAL INFLUENCES?
My father taught me how to collect butterflies in a professional fashion before I was eight years old. He was a missionary to India, a place ideal for a developing biologist. My father taught me to love nature. My mother tolerated even my bringing snakes into the house.

EARLY TEACHER INFLUENCES?
I was inspired by Dr. Robert Fleming, Sr., a naturalist who was a mentor for many young students of natural history in India. He was the one who taught me to press ferns successfully in the monsoons.

LANDMARK EXPERIENCES?
I have had some great hikes in mountains on three continents. Couldn't choose one over another, but the most recent was hiking in Thailand in the Doi Inthanon cloud forest with my wife.

ANY NATURE HOBBIES?
When I was in high school I collected butterflies, snakes, beetles, and ferns.

MEMORABLE TRAVELS?
The ones that got me into so many mountains.

WHO INFLUENCED YOU TO PURSUE STUDIES IN BOTANY?
I can't say; this was an urge that upwelled in me from the early days.

HOW DID YOU GET INTO YOUR AREA OF SPECIALIZATION?
Drawn into a vacuum, so to speak. When I first tried to identify liverworts, I found the available literature wasn't as helpful as it could be. I decided to learn the plants well enough myself so I could write a local guide to liverworts.

WHERE DID YOU GET YOUR TRAINING?
Undergraduate degree from University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington. My graduate work was done at Washington State University.

WHAT BROUGHT YOU TO OUR TOWN?
A job as director of the herbarium at the University of Oregon. When the herbarium closed, I stayed on. . . . I feel my roots are put down; I even think like a plant.

WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO TALK ABOUT?
My title is really a bluff; I'm going to talk about the ordinary plants we see around us. These are all beautuful and marvelous when they are examined "up close and personal."

Dave has worked many years as a botanist at his own research company, the Northwest Botanical Institute. He also leads numerous hikes and field trips and teaches a summer class in field botany at the University of Oregon.

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