Toxic and Invasive Plants

Title: Plant specimens, Giant Hogweed, and Looking Towards a Sustainable Future

Dr. Niesenbaum and his students use historical data from specimens in the Muhlenberg College Herbarium to assess the fate of or threats to locally rare plants, and to determine causes of extinction. This historical approach has great potential for examining the effects of habitat loss, invasive plants, and climate change on rare plants.  This work will be presented within the context of recent invasions by the highly toxic plant Giant Hogweed or Heracleum mantegazzianum with regard to understanding the invasion and management approaches. 

Dr. Niesenbaum will also speak more broadly about sustainability as his book Sustainable Solutions: Problem Solving for Current and Future Generations will be published by Oxford University Press in late 2018.  This book offers a  combination of history, policy, science and-perhaps most important in these troubling times-a message of hope. You will come away not only with optimism for the future but also with recipes and a roadmap for how to make and reach a better tomorrow    

Bio:  https://richardniesenbaum.com/bio/