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Title: Sedges: Identification and Ecology
Scheduling Details: June 14–20, 2026
Description: This week-long seminar will focus on the diverse, and difficult, genus Carex. We will explore the taxonomic structure of the genus in eastern North America, learn to identify species in the field and by using various technical keys and references, and learn about the ecological diversity of the genus. The seminar will combine lectures/discussions, field excursions, and laboratory work to help students develop proficiency in recognizing common species and identifying specimens. We will explore the ecological role of Carex in various natural communities, and learn the common dominant species in each ecological setting.
Lisa Standley (lisa_s...@verizon.net) became fascinated with sedges as an undergraduate, when she discovered the diversity and complexity of the group, and with the lack of scientific knowledge on the biology and evolution of Carex. Lisa earned a BS and MS from Cornell University, with a master’s thesis on Carex crinita and C. gynandra, before moving to the west coast and completing a PhD at the University of Washington, on Carex section Phacocystis in the Pacific Northwest. During Lisa’s subsequent brief academic career, she continued to work on questions of evolution and speciation in this group. Lisa spent the majority of her work years as an environmental consultant, starting as a wetland scientist and eventually managing large NEPA environmental impact statements for major transportation projects across the country. During that time Lisa wrote treatments of several groups of Carex for the Flora of North America, continued botanical research on local floristics and floristic change in eastern Massachusetts, and published the Field Guide to Carex of New England (2011). Since 2011, Lisa has been the Curator of Vascular Plants for the New England Botanical Society herbarium, and has been working on a Field Guide to Cyperaceae of New England (the non-Carex species), soon to be published.
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