Submitted photos The Tree Talks Lecture Series at the Kump Education Center will feature four monthly lectures beginning Wednesday, Jan. 22 at the historic Kump House. Speakers include, from left, Melissa Thomas-Van Gundy, Lacy Rucker, Kristen Wickert, and Ken Beezley.

ELKINS — A new lecture series billed as “Tree Talk” will offer community members an opportunity to explore the vital role of trees in West Virginia’s landscapes, history and future.

The four-part series will take place at the Kump Education Center and is co-sponsored with the Elkins Tree Board. The first lecture will be Wednesday, Jan. 22 and is tabbed as “Witness Trees of the Monongahela National Forest: Land Records and Ecological Data.”

The first lecture will be conducted by Melissa Thomas-Van Gundy, a research forester for the USDA Forest Service Northern Research Team. Thomas-Van Gundy will talk about the use of early land surveys and deeds to document the forest of Monongahela National Forests. 

“Witness Trees are records of our past,” Thomas-Van Gundy said. “By studying these records, we uncover stories about how forests have changed over time, how people shaped the land, and how we can better manage our forests for the future.”

Thomas-Van Gundy will discuss how information can be used in the management and restoration of forests on the Monongahela National Forest today. 

The second lecture will be Feb. 26 and will feature Lacy Rucker, a biological scientist with the USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station. The lecture is billed as “Under Pressure: A Tale of Two Salamanders.” Rucker will discuss the historical impacts, habitat fragmentation, destruction and how climate change continues to threaten salamanders. 

Lecture No. 3, called “Fungi and their Relationship with Plants,” will be March 26. The session will be conducted by Kristen Wickert, a forest pathologist with the West Virginia Mushroom Club. Wickert will discuss the good, the bad, and the ugly of relationships between plants and fungi, with a specific focus on how fungi can help or hinder trees in the Appalachian Forests. 

The fourth lecture is scheduled for April 23 and will be led by Ken Beezley. It is titled “Stress, Strain and Trees: An Introduction to Tree Mechanics and Risk Assessment.” Beezley is an instructor of Sustainable Resource Management at Davis & Elkins College, and his presentation will cover topics related to how trees manage stress from storms, pruning and land development.   

All of the lectures are scheduled for 7 p.m. and are free and open to the public. The lectures will take place in the Kump House located on Randolph Avenue. For more information, visit kumpeducationcenter.org.