A National Hotspot for Biodiversity on a Private Research Preserve: The Jones Center at Ichauway

 JULY 13, 2021 at 5:30
by DR. KIER KLEPZIG

The Jones Center at Ichauway is a 30,000 acre working forest, wildlife preserve and ecological research center. Funded from an endowment established by Robert Woodruff (the long time CEO of Coca Cola), this property contains thousands of acres of incredibly biodiverse wildlife, insects, reptiles, amphibians and plants. I will discuss what it takes to maintain this incredible place, the research we do, and how we share the work we do.

Our Presenter: Dr. Kier Klepzig is the Director of the Jones Center at Ichauway, a privately funded research center in SW Georgia. His research interests revolve around symbiosis, particularly between insects and fungi. Prior to coming to the Jones Center 4 year ago, Kier worked for 23 years with the US Forest Service, – 9 of those years in Asheville. He has a MS and PhD, both with a double major in Entomology and Plant Pathology, from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His wife Lisa was a nurse in Asheville and also ran her own chocolate shop there – The Chocolate Lab.