March Meeting – Seaweed Speaker and Salvia Workshop
The speaker at our March 5, 2026 membership meeting will be Dr. Laurie McConnico on Seaweeds: Conspicuous and Charismatic Residents of the Central Coast. The membership meeting will be preceded by a mini-keying workshop on salvias. General membership meetings and this workshop are open to everyone. Details below.
SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING MEETING LOCATION: our March meeting is at the Atascadero City Library.
Speaker: Are you curious about seaweeds and how they differ from terrestrial plants? Perhaps you are intrigued by giant kelp, sea “palms”, or the numerous other algal species that can be found on our coast. Join us for a talk about seaweeds on California’s Central Coast, as phycologist Laurie McConnico demystifies the secret lives of marine algae!
Laurie McConnico is a tenured biology professor at Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo, CA. She earned her BS in Biology from UC San Diego, MS in Marine Science from Moss Landing Marine Labs, and PhD in Marine and Coastal Studies from the Universidad Autónoma de Baja California Sur, México. Laurie is trained as a Marine Biologist/ Ecologist with a specialty in seaweeds. Her work in the field of marine science has led to research experiences in California, Florida, Alaska, Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, Costa Rica and México. Laurie teaches marine biology, ecology, organismal biology, and a range of field courses that take her students to the Sierra Nevada, Channel Islands, Big Sur, and Baja CA, México. Her passion for field studies and research in marine biology helped launch several research courses for undergraduates at Cuesta College. In her free time, Laurie enjoys traveling, hiking, exploring the outdoors, and most warm water activities.
There will be a social gathering and light refreshments from 7 to 7:30 pm and then the formal business meeting and speaker program will start at 7:30 pm.
Workshop: Prior to the membership meeting and at the same location, there will be an optional free mini-keying workshop on salvias from 5:30 to 6:30 pm. Learn the key characteristics of native Salvia/sage plants (in the Lamiaceae family) using the Vascular Plants of SLO County book (Keil flora), and practice keying locally collected salvia specimens. Participants should bring their own hand lens, headlamp, dissection tools, and Keil Flora. Copies of the relevant parts of the key and a limited supply of extra tools will be provided.
Photograph by Dr. Laurie McConnico