Naturalist Lecture Series - Online Classroom

This Zoom lecture, as part of the Naturalist Lecture Series, will begin promptly at 7pm and last about an hour, with Q and A at the end. A zoom link will be sent to all registered participants a couple of days before the talk, and a reminder day of.

Presentation Summary: Washington’s beautiful landscapes support a tremendous diversity of ecosystems including marine eelgrass beds, tidepools, salt marshes, lowland rainforests, montane coniferous forests, subalpine and alpine meadows and parklands, shrub steppe, grasslands, prairies, sand dunes, riparian areas, forested swamps, vernal pools, marshes, fens and bogs. These ecosystems support thousands of species, some of which are unique to Washington and not found anywhere else on earth. In this presentation we will take virtual trek across Washington’s diverse terrestrial landscapes, showcasing a variety of the state’s ecosystems and associated species.   

Presenter Bio:  Joe Rocchio is the Program Manager for the Washington Dept. of Natural Resources, Natural Heritage Program. The Washington Natural Heritage Program connects conservation science with conservation actions by collecting, maintaining, and distributing data on rare species and ecosystems, as well as providing a number of other services and products in support of conservation in Washington. Joe served as the Program’s Vegetation Ecologist from 2007 to 2019 and focused his efforts on ecosystem classification, developing ecological integrity assessment tools, and identifying ecosystem conservation priorities. Peatlands have been a particular emphasis of his work. Previously, Joe spent nine years as the Colorado Natural Heritage Program’s wetland ecologist where he conducted inventories for rare and high-quality wetlands, with an emphasis on montane fens. He is a Regional Editor for the U.S. National Vegetation Classification and a member of the Ecological Society of America’s Vegetation Classification Panel. He is currently chair of the network’s U.S. Section Council. Joe has a B.S. in Environmental Science from Indiana University and M.S. in Ecosystem Analysis from the University of Washington.