Fern Expert to Deliver Musselman Natural History Lecture April 21

Robbin Moran, curator of ferns and lycophytes at The New York Botanical Garden, will deliver Old Dominion University's annual Lytton J. Musselman Natural History Lecture Thursday, April 21.

The program, which is free and open to the public, will begin at 7 p.m. in the Big Blue Room of the Ted Constant Convocation Center. Moran's topic is "Helpful and Harmful Ferns."

Moran is the author of 90 scientific papers and four books on ferns, including the volume "Flora Mesoamericana," which examines the ferns of Central America and is the largest fern flora book ever written. He also has published a popular book, "A Natural History of Ferns," and is co-author of two other books: "Ferns and Allied Plants of New England" and "The Fern Grower's Manual."

A reception in the Constant Center lobby, starting at 5:30 p.m., will precede the lecture. Those planning to attend the reception and lecture are asked to RSVP at biolrsvp@odu.edu or call 683-3597 by Friday, April 15.

This is the eighth annual lecture in the Musselman Natural History series, which is supported by an endowment. Musselman is the Mary Payne Hogan Professor of Botany at ODU.

Michael Pitchford, an ODU alumnus and former biology student of Musselman, led the effort to launch the lecture series. Pitchford is the president and chief executive officer of Community Preservation and Development Corp. in Washington, D.C. He and his wife, Sue, also an ODU graduate, provided a substantial gift to the lecture series endowment.

Musselman Natural History Lecture subjects have included whales, rattlesnakes, wild orchids, warblers, the long leaf pine and the Chesapeake Bay.