Gary Kauffman, a botanical forest product specialist for National Forests in North Carolina, will present”Botanical Forest Products in the Southern Appalachians,”Wednesday, March 30, on the West Virginia University campus.

The event, set for 7 p.m. in the Greenbrier Room of the Mountainlair, is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.

Kauffman’s lecture will address management issues and approaches developed for assessing, monitoring and harvesting non-timber forest products in the southern Appalachians . The non-timber forest products include all of the plants that grow in the forests along with the trees, such as mushrooms, ginseng and ramps.

Kauffman is currently working with the National Forests in North Carolina to determine growth and harvesting factors within the field of botanical forest products. His work includes harvest studies, modeling the habitat for vascular plants and counts of specific types of plants.

This lecture is the second in”The Wild Harvested Species Seminar Series,”sponsored by WVU ’s Department of Biology and the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences. Announcements will be forthcoming about the future lectures in the series.

For more information, contact Brent Bailey, WVU Department of Biology, 304-293-5201, ext. 31468.