Quotes and Vocabulary for BIO340A

"The cult of biology"- people who believe in evolution and environmentalism, as quoted by a lawyer in a court proceeding in the late 1980s about the interests of the logging industry versus preserving the habitat of the Spotted Owl.

"Even biologists don't talk about trillions!" Bob Misley comparing the age scale of the entire universe at approximately 13.7 billion years old versus the national debt...

At the Clackamas Community College native plants garden there are steps spaced at a scale of 100 million years apart. You have to walk across the entire courtyard to get from 4.6 billion years ago when the earth was formed to today. Entire human history is only the width of a sheet of paper at the very end. At the beauty and majesty of all the geology behind biology I exclaimed, "yeah, and only 200 years to destroy it!" referencing the industrial revolution and the resultant technological pollution of the planet's biosphere. Bob said, "I am optimistic that humans will find a way to sustainability". I said, "I feel like I've been to a funeral."

"Exploding overalls" In the 1600s farmers did not realize that all that fertilizer they were getting on their clothes when they worked their fields was getting nitrogen all over them and sometimes, in the heat of the sun, their overalls would catch fire from the highly flammable nitrogen residue!

"The only thing better than being absolutely right, is being absolutely wrong!" --Bob Misley.
On the field trip to Mary S. Young park, Bob identified a plant as Coltsfoot (page 294) but later when they flowered he could see that it was really Waterleaf (page 231) as we saw at the Marylhurst native plants tour of the campus.

"Teratogen"--causes developmental mutation in the embryo. Cornlily (page 113) is one such plant that when the sheeps eat it their babies are born with mutations such as only one eye and they die early.

"Evo Devo" evolutionary development. I think Bob just made that up because it sounds cool!

"One person's butterfly is another person's moth!" Rough translation: A plant that some view as purely ornamental, others may view as medicinal or otherwise useful. Another Bobism.

"Old growth forests" what the logging industry calls the forests of Oregon because the phrase implies dead, decaying, or dying trees that nobody wants anyway, might as well make 'em into paper.

"Ancient forests" what environmentalists call the same Oregon forests because it connotes sacred, spiritual land requring conscientous preservation.

"Estacadian" someone, such as Bob Misley, who originated from Estacada.

"If you don't eat it, it eats you." general rule of nature, brought to you by Bob.