Two Decades of Botanical Adventures with Lowell Ahart (2002-2024)
A Pictorial Overview of Our Work and Explorations of Northern California Landscapes
May 16, 2024
7:00 – 8:00 PM (Via Zoom)
Presented by John Dittes
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Join us as we reminisce on the botanical works and travels of renowned Northern California botanist and plant collector Lowell Ahart, in accompaniment of John and his life and business partner, Josephine. Since 2002, the trio has developed a close and “uniquely productive” friendship. Together, they’ve worked on numerous Landscape Scale projects in Central and Northern California, including botanical surveys for timber and fuels-management projects on the Plumas National Forest (PNF), Conservation Easement Documentation Reports on northern-California ranchlands, rare plant surveys and vegetation monitoring for floodplain restoration projects on the Modoc Plateau, surveys and wetlands delineations on salmonid fisheries habitat projects, collecting for a pharmaceutical investigation, and others. The three have enjoyed numerous “fun” trips afield together as well, always with plant presses at hand, and valuable herbarium specimens and data made. Seasoned botanists and those “new to botany” alike will enjoy this story and visual overview of the landscapes explored, botanical discoveries made, and interesting people met along the way.
John Dittes has worked since 1990 on botanically-related projects throughout California and the western states. He has been employed as a Rare Plant Botanist for the PNF, as consultant with Jones and Stokes Associates (now ICF), and since 2000 along with Josephine, has been an independent contractor with Dittes & Guardino Consulting. Since 2015, he has also worked as a Registered Nurse, the last 3 years on the Medical Surgical-Oncology Unit with Enloe Health in Chico. John also developed and taught technical workshops for the CSU Chico Herbarium, including Introduction to Plant Identification, ID of Plants from Vernal Pools and Seasonal Wetlands, and Introduction to ID of Poaceae, Asteraceae and Fabaceae. In addition to botanical interests, he has deep appreciation for the natural and cultural history of California, conducts research on Pleocomid Rain Beetles, is an avid photographer, enjoys fishing, and is fond of dogs.
