At the August meeting Dr. Christine Bertz’s presentation is “War in the Garden: Chemical Inhibition in Native and Non-Native Plants.”

Dr. Bertz currently serves as research faculty at the Center for Research in Educational Policy, a State of Tennessee Center of Excellence at the University of Memphis. She designs and conducts research evaluations of projects that aim to improve the quality of STEM teaching and learning throughout the United States. She holds a Ph.D. in Biology from the University of Mississippi, where her research focused on interactions between native and invasive plants within xeric scrub ecosystems following large-scale disturbance. Her background also includes work in exotic animal physiology and captive husbandry, surface water quality, and the distribution of threatened and endangered prairie plants. Dr. Bertz also serves in a volunteer capacity on the Board of Directors of the Tennessee Invasive Plant Council.