Presentation: Grass Ecology with Don Gayton

October 11, 2022
Native Grasslands of BC’s Southern Interior
Don Gayton will present an illustrated talk on the native grasslands of BC’s southern interior.
Starting with the basics, Don will touch on the history, distribution, current uses and threats to our treasured grasslands. He will also delve into the biodiversity and species at risk issues, as well as the challenge of climate change. Don draws on first-hand knowledge of the native grasslands of Saskatchewan and eastern Washington, as well as our own Southern Interior grasslands.
Don Gayton is a consulting ecologist and writer, based in Summerland. He has a lifelong passion for grasslands and dry forests, having worked in the western US, Saskatchewan and British Columbia. His research interests include fire ecology, ecological restoration, range management and wetlands. Gayton’s technical publications include Impacts of Climate Change on British Columbia’s Biodiversity, Basic Concepts in Ecological Restoration, and BC Grasslands: Monitoring Vegetation Change. His popular publications include award-winning books of non-fiction: The Wheatgrass Mechanism, Man Facing West, and Landscapes of the Interior, and Okanagan Odyssey. Don is also actively involved in the creation of the new South Okanagan-Similkameen National Park Reserve. Don has a bachelor’s degree in Agronomy from Washington State University and a Master’s degree in Plant Ecology from the University of Saskatchewan.