Kathleen A. ("Kali") Robson
Proprietor/Botanist

• B.S. (Botany) University of California, Davis (1983)
• M.Sc. (Botany) University of British Columbia (1985)
• Ph.D. (Biology/Botany) University of Nebraska-Lincoln (1989)

Employment Background, Research and Technical:

• Watershed Stewardship Program, WSU Cooperative Extension, Clark Co. (1999-2000). Developed new program to educate adult volunteers on factors impacting watershed health; practical solutions for watershed protection and restoration. Organized 10 week, day-long training sessions that included workshops and seminars presented by qualified experts in various relevant fields.

• Inter-Tribal Restoration Team & Native Plant Nursery, Richland, WA (administered by Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation & Nez Perce Tribe); Consulting Botanist (1994-1995). Assisted the Inter-Tribal Restoration Team & Native Plant Nursery (members included the Nez Perce Tribe of Idaho, Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, Wanapum People and Yakama Indian Nation) with the re-vegetation of a disturbed cemetery site near the Hanford Nuclear Reservation. Project included the development of a temporary native plant nursery at WSU Tri-City campus, propagation and salvage of shrub-steppe species; extensive collection of growth and survival data. Attempt to replace much original diversity reflected in successful cultivation of almost 40 native species.

• Yakama Indian Nation, Environmental Restoration/Waste Mgmt. Program, Botanist (1993-1994). Surveying, monitoring and mapping of rare plants and species of cultural importance, and assessing sensitive habitats, such as wetlands. Many areas are relatively pristine due to five decades of strictly controlled access, providing excellent baseline data for future restoration; developed a computerized botanical/ethnobotanical data base; assisted other Yakama Nation programs with draft Environmental Impact Statements (System Operations Review for the Columbia River, Yakima Training Center Expansion); workshops for the Tribe's summer camp education programs for children; assisted Yakama Nation Museum with ethnobotanical displays.

• U.S. Forest Service, PNW Research Station, Forestry Sciences Lab, Wenatchee, WA; Post-Doctoral Research Botanist (1990-1992). Established research programs to study the growth, reproduction, ecology and systematics of rare species of vascular plants; organizer in starting the Rare Plant Consortium. Monitoring and greenhouse studies established for 14 rare endemic and disjunct species on several National Forests in the Pacific Northwest, in collaboration with many of the Consortium participants. Identified plants for various projects at the Wenatchee Lab; consulted on experimental and statistical methodology.

• Rare Plant Consortium, co-founder & secretary (1991-1994). Invited new members, organized meetings, kept participants informed of new developments and activities related to rare plant issues. In 1990 the Consortium was initiated as a network for those interested in rare plant biology and conservation, and grew to include 81 member organizations representing six nations.

Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Natural Resource Sciences, Washington State University, Pullman.

Courses taught at Washington State University, Tri-Cities & Vancouver branch campuses (1993-2000):

• Botany 332, Systematic Botany. A survey of vascular plants of the Pacific Northwest; principles of systematics, taxonomy & nomenclature; experience in the use of technical dichotomous keys.

• Botany 410/510, Vascular Plant Anatomy. Structures and functions of cells, tissues and organs of vascular plants, reproductive and vegetative; comparative morphology of major plant groups.

• Botany 463/563, Field Ecology. Quantifying natural vegetation in a variety of Pacific Northwest habitats; systematic & random sampling methods, data collection, analysis of vegetation and related abiotic variables; uses of different analytical approaches (frequencies, clustering, principal components, etc.); interpretation and description of results.

• Natural Resource Sciences 301 & 302, Forest & Range Plant Resources I & II. Taxonomy and applied ecology of native and exotic forest and range plant species of the Pacific Northwest; plant communities and relationships to geographic features and climate; overview of plant morphology/anatomy; experience in the use of technical dichotomous keys. Web site development.

• Natural Resource Sciences 303, Conservation of Natural Resources. Consideration of resource issues, focusing on both renewable (forests, range, wildlife, etc.) and non-renewable (soil, minerals, fossil fuel, etc.) resources. Human populations, resource consumption and pollution, and sustainable alternatives to destructive activities are central themes.

• Natural Resource Sciences 353, Range Plant Identification. Focus on identification of plant species (especially grasses) of greatest wildlife and range value in the Western states, emphasis on native and alien plants of the Columbia Basin.

• Natural Resource Sciences 417, Special Topic: Assessment of PNW Plant Communities. Quantification and comparison of natural vegetation and relative disturbance, invasions of exotic species; understanding needs of future restoration projects by examining different plant communities and levels of human alteration.

• Natural Resource Sciences 419/519, Special Topic: Restoration/Riparian Restoration. Restoration of native vegetation on the WSU branch campuses, including eastern shrub-steppe and riparian areas west of the Cascades. Plant propagation; data collection on mortality rates, growth rates, reproductive output and herbivore damage; comparison of species in pristine, disturbed and restored sites; analysis and interpretation and reporting of of results.

• Natural Resource Sciences 450/550, Conservation Biology. Covers a variety of conservation issues, especially of the Pacific Northwest; applied ecology, genetics and demographics in conservation; rare species; management strategies; diversity and fragmentation; economic, political, ethical and legal issues; preserves; case studies.

Selected Publications:

Maze, J., K. Robson & S. Banerjee. 2000. Studies into the abstract properties

of individuals. IV. Emergence in different aged needle primordia of Douglas fir. BioSystems. 56:43-53.

Maze, J. & K. Robson. 1996. A new species of Achnatherum (Oryzopsis)

from Oregon. Madroņo, 43(3):393-403.

Robson, K.A. 1996. Propagating shrub-steppe herbaceous dicots in

south-central Washington. Restoration & Mgmt. Notes. 14(1):76-77.

Robson, K. and J. Maze. 1995. A comparison of rare and common grasses

of the Stipeae. I. Greenhouse studies of growth and variation in four species from parapatric populations. Int. J. Plant Sci. 156(4):530-541.

Robson, K.A., J. Maze, R.K. Scagel and S. Banerjee. 1993. Ontogeny, phylogeny

and intraspecific variation in North American Abies Mill. (Pinaceae): an empirical approach to organization and evolution. Taxon 42(1):17-34.

Maze, J. and K. Robson. 1993. In defense of aesthetics.

Lasthenia, a publication of the U.C. Davis Herbarium, Summer.

Maze, J. and K. Robson. 1991. Tracking changes in northern and southern

distributional limits of plant species in interior British Columbia and Washington. NW Environ. J. 7:351-352.

Robson, K.A. and S.P. McCormick. 1988. 6-methoxyflavonoids from

Balsamorhiza section Artorhiza. Biochem. Syst. and Ecol. 16:411-412.

McCormick, S.P., K.A. Robson, J. Maze and B.A. Bohm. 1987. Flavonoids

from Wyethia section Agnorhiza. Phytochemistry. 26:2421-2422.

Government Reports:

Robson, K.A. 1992. A comparative study of the rare Wenatchee

larkspur (Delphinium viridescens) and its sympatric relative, Western monkshood (Aconitum columbianum). USDA-USFS, Pacific Northwest Research Station, Portland.

Robson, K.A. 1992. Reproductive constraints and seedling recruitment

in the endangered showy stickseed (Hackelia venusta). USDA-USFS, Pacific Northwest Research Station, Portland.

• Dr. Cyril V. Finnegan, Dean Emeritus of Science, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C. V6T 1Z4, Canada. (604) 822-3366 (office) or (604) 222-2459 (home).

• Dr. Jack Maze, Professor Emeritus, Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C. V6T 1Z4, Canada. (604) 822-6554 (office) or (604) 732-8381 (home).

• Dr. William H. Rickard, Research Ecologist, Retired, Battelle PNW Laboratory & Washington State University, Tri-Cities, Richland, WA. (509) 946-9195 (home).

• Dr. Sally Simmons, Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Natural Resource Sciences, Washington State University, Pullman. (Presently at WSU Tri-Cities campus).