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Date/Time
Date(s) - 09/09/2025
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Location
Frick Environmental Center

Category(ies)


The September meeting has been moved to September 9 so that it will not be the same week as the Lincoff Foray

Guest speaker Melissa K. McCormick       

Melissa McCormick is a Senior Ecologist at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) and is the Director of the North American Orchid Conservation Center (NAOCC).  She earned her B.S. degree from Trinity University in Texas in 1992 and Ph.D. in Ecology, Evolutionary Biology and Behavior from Michigan State University in 1999.

Melissa joined SERC in 1999, first as a postdoctoral researcher, then as a research scientist, and now as a senior ecologist. Her main research focus is on associations between plants and mycorrhizal fungi, with a strong focus on orchids.

In 2011, with Dennis Whigham, she co-founded NAOCC at SERC. The goal of NAOCC is to safeguard the native orchids of the US and Canada through propagation, preservation, and education. She has authored over 60 peer-reviewed scientific publications about orchids, their mycorrhizal fungi, their pollinators, and other drivers of plant distribution.

When the tables are turned: plants that eat fungi

Fungi are regularly thought of as decomposers–plant pathogens.  But they also interact with plants in ways that are beneficial. Mycorrhizal fungi are essential for plant access to nutrients and water and for protection against pathogens. Sometimes the plant is even able to parasitize the fungus.

Over 10% of plant species can get all of their nutrients from fungi for at least part of their life. This includes all orchids, which rely completely on fungi for all nutrients from the time of seed germination until their first green leaves form. Melissa will introduce the plants that have evolved to take advantage of fungi and what it means for the ecology of both the plants and the fungi.

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Sometimes the address and location information for a meeting point is not 100% accurate. Some parks and meeting point do not have a street address so it is difficult to program the map to point to the exact location. Click on the link for any additional driving directions and meeting point information to Frick Environmental Center.

We request that no one hunts a walk or foray location for at least two weeks prior to a walk or foray. It is only through your cooperation that we can have successful walks and forays. All walks & forays will be held rain or shine. Come 15-30 min early and socialize. All walks start on time, so be early, if you are late we will already be in the woods. If you are a club member and have already joined our Facebook Group you can find last minute additions or changes there.