Everything Nac

Stephen F. Austin State University’s SFA Gardens will host the monthly Theresa and Les Reeves Lecture Series at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 9, in the Brundrett Conservation Education Building at the Pineywoods Native Plant Center, located at 2900 Raguet St. Grant Stephenson, founder of Horticultural Consultants Inc. in Houston and an expert on cold-hardy palms, bamboo and cycads, will present, “Understanding Palms to Understand Their Needs to Thrive in the Landscape.”

With more than 30 years experience in the nursery industry, Stephenson is particularly focused on varieties that thrive in the Gulf Coast climate. His fascination with the plant world began when he was 3 years old while working alongside his grandmother in her gardens.

Stephenson later started working in the horticultural industry and began studying landscape architecture and design. In 1991, he founded Horticultural Consultants Inc., a wholesale nursery supplying collector-quality specimen plant material and offering expert horticulture consultation. HCI is now the preferred supplier of palms and other tropical plants for the nation’s most demanding landscape projects.

Stephenson has acquired palms throughout the world and maintains active relationships with botanists, growers and plant enthusiasts worldwide. Botanical gardens, estates, private collectors, zoos, amusement parks, landscape architects, developers, arboretums and top landscape contractors look to him for his expertise. He is continuously sought after to identify problems and solutions in the area of cold-hardy palms, bamboo and cycads.

In the mid-1980s, Stephenson became a commercial and lifetime member of the International Palm Society. In May 2008, he was elected to the society’s Board of Directors where he has served for the past four years. He holds a U.S. patent on the Oasis Palm Tree Anchoring Systems, along with the Oasis Palm Cart, which is used for moving large specimens weighing up to 4,500 pounds by hand.

Stephenson lives in the Austin area with his family and is currently focusing on consulting as well as appraising palms for damage caused by fire and other weather-related events.

The Theresa and Les Reeves Lecture Series is held the second Thursday of each month and includes a rare-plant raffle after the program. The lecture is free and open to the public, but donations to the Theresa and Les Reeves Lecture Series fund are always appreciated.

Parking is available at nearby Raguet Elementary School, located at 2428 Raguet St., with continual shuttle service to the Brundrett Conservation Education Building.

For more information, call (936) 468-4129 or email sfagardens@sfasu.edu.

For the first time, Stephen F. Austin State University graduate students enrolled in the School of Human Sciences’ dietetic internship program will have the opportunity to study abroad in Guatemala with Refuge International, an organization providing health care to remote areas of the world.

Through this immersive experience, SFA dietetic interns enrolled in HMS 511: Introductory to Dietetics Practice will have the opportunity to conduct nutrition assessments and perform nutrition counseling with the help of translators. Students will learn how to provide healthy meal plans using limited and traditional resources to support growth and healing. Additionally, students will have the opportunity to observe surgeries as well as work in areas such as triage unit, a pharmacy and a lab.

“Nutrition is international, and this course will help our students put theory to practice in a unique setting,” said Dr. Darla Daniel O’Dwyer, SFA dietetic internship director and food, nutrition and dietetics program coordinator.

Leslie Goudarzi, a registered dietitian in the East Texas area, will accompany the students in Guatemala. According to Goudarzi, “Students will be educated on the specific cultural aspects of food choices and environment, health beliefs, and the relationship between food and disease.”

“This is an excellent interdisciplinary experience as various disciplines work together,” O’Dwyer said.

Dietetic graduate students are required to complete 1,200 supervised practice hours to be eligible to sit for the national registered dietitian exam. This trip will help graduate students earn those hours. The study abroad trip is scheduled for July 29 through Aug. 5 at the San Raymundo facility, which is located in the highlands of Guatemala City.

For more information, contact O’Dwyer at (936) 468-2439 or dodwyer@sfasu.edu.