Good morning all. We have a request for help from Dr. Karen Clary related to cactus work she’s doing at the LBJWC. The on-site tasks are listed below. Please contact Dr. Clary if you’re interested, greenhouse and research experience is helpful.
Project: Tobusch Fishhook Cactus Inventory
There are three different tasks in this project: Measuring and recording the size of 125 cactus plants, writing precise location info on plastic pot tags for 350 cactus plants and writing label information onto the pots containing 350 cactus plants.
When: As soon as possible.
Contact: Karen Clary, Director of Plant Conservation Program
Task 1: Measure and record width of 125 cactus plants.
· Number of volunteers needed = 2:
· One volunteer will make width measurements of the midsection of each cactus, and another will enter the info onto a paper spreadsheet.
· Length of time: about 4 hours total. Work can be broken up into smaller amounts of time.
· Working conditions: Work will take place in the greenhouse or the plant nursery, depending on the heat of the day. Plants can be moved out of the greenhouse if it’s too hot to work in it and onto to the benches in the shade to be measured but will need to be moved back into the greenhouse when done.
· Skills needed: Once trained, volunteers will work independently. Ability to pay attention to detail when taking measurements. Legible handwriting to record the measurements. Ability to work outside in warm weather.
Task 2: Make new species name tags for 350 cactus plants in the greenhouse.
· Number of volunteers needed = 2
· Volunteers will write plant label info on plastic pot tags and insert them into the pots.
· Length of time: 4 – 8 hours total. Work can be broken up into smaller amounts of time.
· Working conditions: Work will take place inside the seed lab or herbarium (air-conditioned).
· Skills needed: Once trained, volunteers will work independently. Ability to pay close attention to detail when reading and writing precise label information. Legible handwriting.
Task 3: Write label information on the rim of the pots that contain the cacti using a Sharpie marker pen.
· Number of volunteers needed = 2
· Volunteers will write the plant label information on the pots and check to make sure they match the plastic label information recorded in Task 2, above.
· Length of time: 12 hours total. Work can be broken up into smaller amounts of time.
· Working conditions: Work will take place in the greenhouse or the plant nursery, depending on the heat of the day. Plants can be moved out of the greenhouse if it’s too hot to work in it and onto to the benches in the shade to be labeled but will need to be moved back into the greenhouse when done.
· Skills needed: Once trained, volunteers will work independently. Ability to close pay attention to detail when reading and writing precise label information. Legible handwriting. Ability to work outside in warm weather.
Thanks!
Karen H. Clary, Ph.D.
Director, Plant Conservation Program
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
The University of Texas at Austin
4801 La Crosse Avenue
Austin, TX 78739
kclary@wildflower.org
512.232.0160
Inspiring the conservation of native plants