Ed Clebsch

Ed was born and raised in Clarksville, Tennessee. He received bachelor's and master's degrees from The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and a doctorate from Duke University. He majored in botany, and minored in geology, zoology, and soil science. His professional academic tenure was at The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, after a two year postdoctoral research appointment there. His professional interests during his active career included teaching, natural history, and research on rare plant species and plant communities. He was active in extending the university's mission through public service. He has participated in the Gatlinburg Wildflower Pilgrimage for most of its 58 year history, taught in the non-credit Smoky Mountain Field School for all but one year of its long history, consulted with state and federal agencies and with private industry on environmental matters throughout his active career and since, served the university and his profession in committee work and as an officer in various capacities, and worked for five years as a contract botanist for the Regional Natural Heritage Program of the Tennessee Valley Authority. For the past 2 ½ years he has worked as Projects Manager for the nonprofit Foothills Land Conservancy, helping to protect Tennessee's special lands from real estate development. He currently serves on the Education Committee of the Watershed Association of the Tellico Reservoir and the Secretary of Agriculture's Advisory Board for the U.S. Forest Service's Land Between The Lakes.

Plenary Presentation - THE NATURAL HISTORY OF TENNESSEE

Characterize the natural history of 41,217 square miles in 30 minutes? HA! A cross section of the state from the highest point, Clingmans Dome, to the low point at Memphis reveals the Unaka Range, the Valley and Ridge Province, the Cumberland Mountains and Cumberland Plateau, the Highland Rim, the Central Basin, the Western Highland Rim, and the Gulf Coastal Plain. Rocks vary in age from Pre- Cambrian to Recent, with broad geographic coverage by Paleozoics. No Pleistocene glacial evidence, but plenty of peri-glacial features. The Tennessee River, heavily impounded, is one of the oldest in the world. Climates are humid subtropical (Koppen). Vegetation is mostly temperate broad-leaved deciduous forest. The vascular flora includes 2902 species. Tennessee has more federally listed species than any other landlocked state, largely because of mussel diversity. Protected lands include the Cherokee National Forest, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, nearly 100 state wildlife management areas, eight National Wildlife Refuges, 130 state parks and designated natural areas, many city and county parks, and accelerating numbers of areas protected by private land trusts. The All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory in the Smokies, now 10 years old, includes 6151 (Jan. '08) species new to science or new to the park, and is thought to be less than 10% complete.