Ferns with Bertrand Black
Part of the Naturalist Journeys 2021-22 Winter Presentation Series
February 16 | 6 – 7 pm EST | Free | Live via ZOOM

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Lady ferns (Athyrium filix-femina) are one of the most common and widespread ferns in the temperate regions of the northern hemisphere, and are familiar to many New England naturalists. However, these plants have a controversial and complicated history among botanists. Even today, depending on your location or who you ask this fern has been given many different names and is recognized at multiple different taxonomic levels (species, subspecies, variety, etc). In this talk, we will investigate the convoluted history of this this fern and examine the most recent scientific methods now being applied to make sense of them.

About Bertrand: I am from Santa Fe, NM. I received a Bachelor of Science (2017) from Humboldt State University in Arcata CA, where I double majored in Botany and Biology with an emphasis on ecology and biodiversity. In the redwood forests of northern California, I became captivated by the ferns and other non-flowering plants. My undergraduate research focused on tissue culture, fern gametophyte morphology (using scanning electron microscopy), and chromosome staining in a hybrid complex of the genus Polypodium. In my free time, I enjoy cooking Japanese food, visiting museums, and staying active through hiking and yoga.

My research interests have been greatly influenced by the life and work of the famous 18th century naturalist Alexander von Humboldt. Like Humboldt, I seek to maintain a holistic approach to my research by unifying diverse branches of scientific disciplines, such as systematics, ecology, and evolutionary biology.  In 2019, I joined the Barrington-Sundue Lab at the University of Vermont as a PhD student to uncover and characterize diversity, taxonomy and distribution of extant fern lineages. Currently, my research is focused on a model-based approach to explain patterns of fern diversity, in addition to a reexamination of Athyrium (Athyriaceae) systematics in temperate North America and the neotropics.

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