Wednesday Nite at the Lab

press release: WN@TL goes hybrid both with Zoom and with in-person (Room 1111) presentations. The zoom registration link is still go.wisc.edu/240r59. You can also watch a live web stream at on YouTube.

On April 26 Jack Zinnen will travel from Champaign to Madison to speak to us on “The Biodiversity of the Midwestern Commercial Plant Trade.”  His talk will include a strong flavor of native plants, especially prairie plants. 

Description:  Plant vendors are widespread in the Midwest and are critical for promoting native plant biodiversity. Join us as we discuss the native plant biodiversity sold in the commercial plant trade, using data from a detailed study of over 500 plant vendors. Topics covered include the characteristics of different plant vendors on the landscape, the diversity of plant species sold, popular and unpopular native species, and patterns of commercial availability. Furthermore, we will cover the relevance of the commercial plant trade to ecological restoration and backyard gardening. 

Bio:  Jack Zinnen is an assistant research scientist in the Wetlands Group at the Illinois Natural History Survey in the Prairie Research Institute at the University of Illinois. He received his bachelor's degree in Biology at the University of Illinois Springfield. He completed his PhD in Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. His research expertise includes vegetation science, restoration ecology, wetland science, and conservation genetics. Specifically, he studies Floristic Quality Assessment and ecological conservatism, rare plant species, prairie ecology, and the topic of tonite's seminar, the native plant industry. 

Explore More:   Zinnen & Mathews 2022