He also has a YouTube channel. I first saw him speak at SF Nerd Nite which is a speaker series in San Francisco. He’s very entertaining and basically a self taught botanist.
His youtube channel is great! I love his Bay Area hikes and plant explanations.
There's a nice article about him, he is a full-time train engineer who drives train shipments all around the west coast and while he was traveling he got curious about all the plants he would see from the train so he started going to the libraries on his breaks from work to learn about plants.
I second the Youtube channel suggestion. Very entertaining and informative. Lots of trash talking and banter to keep things interesting.
The SF tours are especially great. Explanations of why things should/should not be planted in areas really opened my eyes to how bad the urban designs can be.
Sidenote: I like that he tattooed his finger with measurement lines so he can use his fingers in the pictures as reference for size.
It's been a while since I attended one. I remember some of the most interesting talks were the ones I was not particularly interested in from the descriptions. Mostly talks about the history of San Francisco:
For those in the Bay Area he has a pretty hilarious video of him shopping at Berkeley Bowl too, shredding junk like the homeopathic bs but praising their produce selection. Bonus video of him analyzing the sad trees in the Emeryville Target parking lot.
randycupertino|6 months ago
There's a nice article about him, he is a full-time train engineer who drives train shipments all around the west coast and while he was traveling he got curious about all the plants he would see from the train so he started going to the libraries on his breaks from work to learn about plants.
https://www.outsideonline.com/culture/books-media/botany-joe...
Interesting chilean high-elevation rare carrot: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdodZcrFIPM&t=2s
old growth redwoods: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xbma869jMQY&t=4s
Ccecil|6 months ago
Sidenote: I like that he tattooed his finger with measurement lines so he can use his fingers in the pictures as reference for size.
nothercastle|6 months ago
ASinclair|6 months ago
* Ghost signs: https://sf.nerdnite.com/2014/06/04/nerd-nite-sf-49/
* Neon signs: https://sf.nerdnite.com/2017/10/11/nerd-nite-sf-89-brain-sci...
* Dairy farming: https://sf.nerdnite.com/2019/08/14/nerd-nite-sf-111-butterfl...
myvoiceismypass|6 months ago