Getting to Know Us: Dwayne Estes

Dwayne Estes is the Executive Director and co-founder of the Southeastern Grasslands Institute. He is also a Professor of Biology and Principal Investigator with the Center of Excellence for Field Biology at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, TN where he has mentored more than a dozen graduate students. His enthusiasm and love of Southeastern grasslands, botany, and natural history is infectious as anyone who has had the opportunity to talk with him can attest. Recently we sat down with Dwayne to learn a little more about him and his role at the Southeastern Grasslands Institute.

Celebrating 5 Years of Saving Southeastern Grasslands: A Conversation with SGI’s Co-founders

Five years ago, on October 5, 2018, the Southeastern Grasslands Initiative (SGI) was officially born. Like any birth, it didn’t just magically occur. It was preceded by a long period of gestation and behind-the-scenes activities. We wouldn’t be where we are today without that gestation period or the people who supported SGI before it officially existed, but that’s a story for another day.

Getting to Know Us: Jared Gorrell

Jared Gorrell is a graduate student of Dr. Dwayne Estes, SGI’s Executive Director, at Austin Peay State University (APSU). Jared earned his Bachelor’s degree in Botany from Southern Illinois University Carbondale in 2019. As a graduate student at APSU, Jared is focusing on a botany and ecology at an SGI project site, the Sumter Farm, located in Geiger, Alabama. He’s hoping to achieve his Master’s degree by December 2023. Recently we sat down with Jared to learn a little more about him and his role at SGI.

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Exciting New Discovery: New Species of Beaksedge Described from Southeastern Grasslands

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A new species of beaksedge, a grass-like plant found in wet areas, was recently described by Claire M. Ciafré and her co-author Robert F. C. Naczi. This new beaksedge has been found in only seven locations in the entire world – all of which are in the southeastern U.S.

Grasslands You Can Visit: Dunbar Cave Grassland at Dunbar Cave State Park

It can be hard to imagine over 3.5 million acres of grasslands stretching in a horseshoe shape from what is now the Land Between the Lakes area of Kentucky and Tennessee east to the Mammoth Cave area of Kentucky. Yet, much of that area was once a mixture of tallgrass prairie, oak savannas, and depressional wet meadows. We know this from a combination of historical records and by looking at the types of plants and animals that can be found there.

Rock-pinks: Cryptic Jewels of Southeastern Rock Outcrop Grasslands

The August 1, 2022 SGI newsletter featured a note about our field botany team discovering a “new” population of the rare Menges’ fameflower (Phemeranthus mengesii) in a rock outcrop grassland remnant in the Cumberland Plateau of Tennessee.

That got me thinking about all the cool plants in that genus, and about drought adapted plants of glades and other rock outcrop grasslands in general. And now that we’re in the hottest part of the year, these seemed like good topics for a blog post.