The rapid extinction of species on our
planet is of great alarm to the conservation community.
Efforts to rescue species have had some success in the past
considering the rebound of animals such as the Bald Eagle and
American alligator. However, one iconic tree species, the
American chestnut (Castanea dentata) has captured the
imagination of horticulturalists and plant biologists for
decades in attempts to rescue it from extinction. Since the
1950s its status is considered "functionally extinct" as it is
not able to reproduce in the wild due to the introduction in
the late 1880s of a deadly imported Asian fungal blight
(Cryphonectria parasitica) which kills the tree above ground,
but not the root system. The blight, first discovered at NYC's
Bronx Zoo in 1904, quickly spread to the nearly 4 billion
trees transforming the ecosystems of the Eastern U.S. forests
forever. Humans and wildlife lost a productive source of
nutritious nuts and rot-resistant lumber. It was considered
one of the worst ecological and economic disasters to strike
in the last 100 years. But conservationists, despite
unsuccessful attempts resurrect the species through myriad
methods, did not give up. After government programs and other
research methods were abandoned in the 1960s, a grassroots
organization, The American Chestnut Foundation (TACF), was
founded in 1983. Based on knowledge in maize genetics, TACF
scientists launched a method called backcrossing, to breed
blight-resistant genes from the Chinese chestnut species (C.
mollissima which evolved with, and is tolerant of, the blight)
with its American cousin. Fast forward nearly 40 years and the
work has accelerated thanks to cutting edge genomic
predictions and gene discovery. Large scale reintroduction of
the chestnut is within reach in our lifetimes.
About the Speakers:
Lisa Thomson is a lifelong conservationist.
After receiving her undergraduate degree in art and biology
from Stetson University, she went on to earn a master's degree
in design at Florida State University. For more than 28 years,
she worked at The Nature Conservancy, first as a conservation
land manager and administrator, and then as a senior
philanthropy officer and team leader. In 2010, she was
recruited to join Rollins College's senior administration as
an Associate Vice President to lead a development team for its
capital campaign. In 2015, Lisa joined The American Chestnut
Foundation as its President & CEO to build on its loyal
constituency and help restore the magnificent American
chestnut tree to its native range.
Jared Westbrook joined TACF in January 2015 as the
organization's new quantitative geneticist. Originally from
Grand Rapids, Michigan, Jared earned a BS in Environmental
Science from the University of Michigan, an MS in Botany, and
a PhD in Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology from the
University of Florida. Jared's dissertation research studied
the genetic enhancement of resin production in loblolly pine
stems for use in liquid biofuels. Jared works extensively with
the Meadowview Research Laboratory and commutes from Asheville
to take TACF's breeding program to the next level.