WHAT’S THAT PLANT?!
An Online, Interactive Flora of Polk County, Oregon

Opportunities are available for teachers and students to take a hands-on tour of a newly initiated project in the Biology Department at Western Oregon University. The project, entitled An Online, Interactive Flora of Polk County, Oregon, includes the following objectives:

1.     Provide research and training opportunities for undergraduate students at Western Oregon University in methodologies and tools employed by environmental scientists , conservation biologists, phylogeneticists and systematists [e.g., Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Global Positioning Systems (GPS)]

2.     Provide new and useful results to the scientific/academic community on the vascular flora of Polk County, Oregon

3.     Develop a resource information center regarding our local vascular plant resources for the educational community via the worldwide web that will include results from GIS and GPS, an interactive guide to the flora replete with digital images, and encyclopedic descriptions of each plant species in our area

4.     Provide education outreach opportunities for students and teachers from local junior high and high schools and interested members of the surrounding community, especially within Polk County

Tours are geared for teachers/students with broad interests in:

Environmental Science (including field methodologies), Computer-based Interactivity and Plant Systematics

However, specific details and particular biological aspects can be incorporated based on individual needs and interests. For further information, to schedule a tour, or to confirm your identification of the species pictured above, please contact:

Bryan E. Dutton, Ph.D.
Department of Biology
Western Oregon University

Phone: 503/838-8452; Email: duttonb@wou.edu