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Category: Introductions

  • Hello! From Kendall K

    Hi guys! I’m Kendall, I was born and raised in Fairbanks, and i’m going to be going on my 3rd year at UAF next year, but I am taking 5 years to graduate because I will be getting degrees in psychology and biology! I want to specialize/ focus on plant biology/Alaskan flora within my biology degree, so this class is just perfect! Can’t wait to become fluent in botanical language and be able to identify all the things I come across on my runs and hikes and skis across Alaska and the US! I cross country run and ski for UAF and admire plenty of plants along the way, so that is the extent of my plant knowledge and experience thus far! A pretty fun fact about me is that I have 14 tattoos, and most of them are botanicals that represent my friends and family’s favorite plants! Here is a tour: (I tried to find the botanical nomenclature terminology for each specific plant, but I may have made a few mistakes and would more than welcome any corrections!)

    Northwestern Lady fern (Athyrium filix-femina(L.)) is my favorite plant! This is because I love how ancient they are, the symmetry and fluffiness is really satisfying and amazing to me, and I am obsessed with the stomata for some reason! + you can see the daisy (Bellis perennis) for my grandma on my shin.
    Tulip (Tulipa Apeldoorn) for my best friend, sunflower (Helianthus annuus) for my mom, and fireweed (Chamerion angustifolium) for my aunt!
    Hibiscus flower (Hibiscus rosa-sinensis) for my cousin! I also have a dandelion (taraxacum officinale) tattoo on my shoulder matching with my best friend.
    Taken with my disposable camera this spring!
    On a run on a bouncy bridge in Whistler, BC, Canada a few days ago for a US ski team junior camp!

    No pictures of my magnification setup as its coming in the mail on Monday 🙁 Talk to you guys later!

    -KK

  • Introduction to Brenda Cook

    I have lived in Fairbanks since 2001. Previously I lived in Moscow, Idaho and previously to that, I lived in Lakewood, Washington where i was born and raised. Growing up, my parents were heavy into gardening both vegetables and flowers. It was from them that I got my love of gardening. I really love flowers. I love the many colors and varieties flowers come in. Because I enjoy so many flowers, it’s difficult for me to pin point a favorite. So I would say, my top three flowers would be peonies, sunflowers and petunias.

    One of my dahlias
    Some of my petunias

  • Keston, K intro

  • Ana’s Intro

    Salutations, my name is Ana and I’m a freshman student at UAF/UAA. I’m part Alaska Native from the lower Kuskokwim and Bristol Bay areas and have been foraging/gathering wild plants and berries for sustenance as part of our subsistence way of life since I was a little girl. Living in the city and studying for my degree, I realized that I wanted to learn more about wild flora for their medicinal qualities as well. I have ordered several books on wild plants of Alaska and the Northwest, and have been taking classes online as well as workshops on the continental west coast of the US. I’m very excited to have found this class, as most wild plant classes (for foraging or medicine) in Alaska have been cancelled or put on hold due to the pandemic. I’m a bit of a science head, so this class seems like the ideal elective for me. I hope to be able to apply what I learn here with what I’ve learned in the other plant classes, as well as the books relating to local flora.

    Favorite plants? Hmmm, I find that I love birch and willow, so I guess I prefer deciduous trees to conifers. Wildflowers here in Alaska, probably Iris and Fireweed; it’s bittersweet because I love seeing fireweed, but the blossoms herald the end of sun and seasons. Berries, I think the Cloudberry and Nagoonberry; I pick blueberries and crowberries a lot as well, but that’s just part of our family foraging. Medicinal, I find I’ve used willow and plantain (I don’t feel experienced enough to use anything else just yet) more than anything, probably due to mosquito bites; those spit-poultices are mighty handy.

    As far as gardening goes, my parents and grandparents had the green thumbs. My grandfather’s garden was lovely! I, however, have been cursed with a black thumb XD Well, I shouldn’t say that, I guess I’m just always so busy that I tend to forget about plants. I can keep kids and pets alive, but not plants just yet. I have a bamboo plant at work, but I only have to water it once a week, so it’s low maintenance. Everything else green and under my care has met an untimely death.

    I would love to get into vegetable gardening, but I’m away too often in the summer for that to come to fruition. I enjoy outdoor recreation all year long, all the seasons, but I live for Alaska summers! Hiking, fishing (fly, spin, subsistence), camping, 4x4ing, sea-kayaking & whitewater rafting, berries, and that leads into fall hunting. I’m not home enough to tend a vegetable garden. *long sigh*, sad sauce.

    It’s late, I wasn’t watching the time, and my dog is letting me know the lights need to be turned off (she’s so dramatic, *eye roll*). Talk to you later!

  • Angels Introduction

    Hello, my name is Angel. Originally from North Carolina, we bought a home here in Fairbanks in December after the Army brought us here. We have so much vegetation on our land and I would love to get to know what we actually have right in our backyard. Our 3 girls love going out to pick raspberries, cranberries, and blueberries. I would love to teach them all the other thing we have as well. My favorite flower is the Lilly. Specifically the Calla Lilly. It’s beautiful and elegant. I’m really looking forward to learning more on what Alaska has to offer!

  • Introduction

    Hi everyone I’m Aihs. Ive been in Fairbanks for about a decade or more on and off due to moving back and forth and my family lifestyle. I have been foraging for a couple of years, super involved in the sustainable community and gardening wherever I can. It’s my dream to have my own homestead. I really value sustainable practices and the wealth of knowledge that you can gain from the plants around you. I am also very interested in Ethnomycology and I love to forage fungi. I have a lot of favorite plants, one of my most recent faves is Rhodiola rosea. The extract that I’ve made and experienced from the root is truly wonderful and empowering. My herbal journey is very led by my yearning for wellness and communal restoration. I try to use plant medicine often, I deeply believe that becoming a botanist is the right path for me so i’m super grateful for this course and everything that comes with it. I don’t think I would enjoy hunting although I’ve never did have the opportunity to experience a homestead and I couldn’t bring myself to the slaughtering part. I respect hunting as an indigenous and sustenance practice however. Happy Indigenous Peoples Day!

    The photo i’ve included is my little one, gardening, or rather building “dirt castles”.

  • Olivia’s Introduction

    Hello Everyone,

    My name is Olivia, and I am excited to take this class with all of you. I know very little about plants formally. However, I am interested very interested in them. I like identifying plants on hikes and picking out berries to sample. My local favorites are currants, salmon berries, blueberries, and raspberries. This year for the first time I went foraging for fiddleheads. It was a really nice addition to an experience I was already enjoying. my hands are anxious when they are free. It would also be really helpful to be more plant aware, there have been too many surprise devil’s club experiences in my life.

    My macrolens is on the way. Hope to share photos soon.

  • Dylan’s Intro

    Hi Everyone,

    I’m excited to a part of this class! I have had some experience with plants and such as I grew up in rural southeast Alaska. We spent a lot of time in the forests hunting and fishing so I learned to live along with the local wildlife. I just got done with a 2 year stint back in my hometown( I’m back living in Portland, Oregon now) and I have an even bigger respect for the local flora. There are so many interesting plants in that area. I’ve attached one of my favorite plants, the salmonberry. It’s so delicious and beautiful it will always remind me of home no matter where I go.

  • Jennifer’s Introduction

    Hi – I’m delighted to be in class with all of you. I live and work in Alabama. I’ve spent most of my life in the South, though have camped, hiked, and paddled pretty extensively well to the north (including one journey to Fairbanks and its environs). My work and studies across the years have been varied – and I currently serve as a the pastor of a small, progressive, diverse church in Birmingham.

    In a previous job, however, I worked for three years in education at our local botanical garden in a program that focused on the engagement between people and plants. It required me to have a broad, but not especially deep, knowledge of plants and the plant world. I developed particular interests in Ethnobotany and Ecological Restoration (particularly phytoremediation), but did not have the opportunity to engage more deeply with these subjects before I felt a call in a rather different direction.

    With this and other courses, I’m making an effort to circle back to these areas of interest. The reasons range from the fact that plants make me happy to practical applications in greenspaces to which I can contribute to a meandering sense of my own ongoing work in the world.

    It’s hard to pick a favorite plant, but these are a couple of them:

    Southern Maidenhair Fern – Adiantum capillus-veneris

    wild Blackberries – Rubus fruticosus – they are just starting to ripen here

    Maypop/Passionflower – Passiflora incarnata – home to the Gulf Fritillary butterfly

    This is my current plant lab set-up for this class, which includes the optivisor, the macrolens, and a hand lens I like to keep handy. I might be interested in a USB microscope too, but the link on the lecture wouldn’t open for me – and I’m not sure how to judge what’s a wise choice among the vast number of options out there. Any further suggestions?

    Also – and I apologize for not asking this earlier in the week – how would you like me to handle the inaturalist posts, Dr. Ickert-Bond? I’m clearly not posting in or from Alaska, so would you prefer I post in an Alabama project? Or is there someway to post in the AK group but not make it part of the public record so I don’t confuse everybody?

    It’s good to meet everybody and I look forward to our shared learning this month!

  • Amanda’s Introduction

    My name is Amanda I am an Outdoor Leadership student at Prince William Sound College in Valdez. I am very new to botany but have always been interested in learning about it. I grew up helping my mom with the garden and always enjoyed taking care of the plants. Last year I began foraging and collected a lot of morels from the wildfires near Soldotna. This summer I began foraging for devils club, fiddleheads, fireweed shoots, nettle, and watermelon berry. I plan to forage for kelp and seaweed soon.

    I am very excited about this class and for learning a new botanical language. I look forward to learning about plants; hopefully which ones are edible and have medicinal benefits.

    I decided to get the CoPedvic Phone Camera Lenses (wide-angle, macro, and fisheye) for taking photos with my smartphone. I also have a camera that I may use from time to time as well.