March's Speaker, Dr. Frank Lang

When Dr. Frank Lang begins his lecture about Patagonia, several in the audience may recognize a familiar voice. The program “Nature Notes” on Jefferson Public Radio is his creation. Nothing in the natural world would appear to be off limits as a potential topic for this weekly show. Dr. Lang has wondered publicly about how toads made it to Wizard Island in Crater Lake. He has alerted his listeners to the gustatory qualities of alkali flies and Pandora moths. As Dr. Nature Notes, Frank has made crawling on hands and knees, searching for grapeferns (also called moonworts), nose at soil level, seem an entirely normal, indeed enjoyable, activity.

The route that led to his exceptionally broad interest and expertise, although not circuitous, could not be considered straight, either. It begins in and around Olympia, Washington, where Frank Lang was born and raised. He remembers always being interested in plants and animals. One of his early treasures was an American Flyer microscope his parents presented to him. He used it to look at all kinds of little things, including the miniature creatures in pond water. His parents also let him have pets—lots of pets. A partial list includes dogs, cats, hamsters, rabbits, gerbils, turtles and fish.

A major influence in Dr. Lang’s development as a biologist was Margaret McKenny, the renowned naturalist. (Those of you who have The Wild and Savory Mushroom or A Field Guide to Wildflowers will recognize the name; she and Roger Tory Peterson are coauthors of the latter.) She helped a young boy scout get his Nature merit badge. Frank confessed that he achieved only one more merit badge after that, then entered high school and discovered girls, and that was it for scouting—though he continued interacting with Margaret McKenny. She led outings for boys from troubled homes on Saturdays in the Olympia area. Although his home life was decidedly untroubled, Frank got to go along. They stalked mushrooms, went to the coast on birding expeditions, and sought out wildflowers.

McKenny also taught him photography. He saved his money and bought an SLR (single lens reflex) camera, usually the choice of only serious photographers. Together they focused on wildlife, especially wildflowers. He did some of his own developing, but stuck to black and white, realizing that the exacting nature of color development wasn’t a good fit with his temperament.

Frank also got an early start in developing his artistic talent. One of his grade school buddies loved to draw. The two of them spent a lot of time drawing fish, of all things. Later, as a teen, he continued his focus on drawing, concentrating on birds. Because of his connection with McKenny, none other than Roger Tory Peterson critiqued some of his bird drawings.

Frank had developed a keen interest in botany before heading off to college, in part due to a high-school class in botany (How many high schools in the entire country currently offer a class in botany?) but still maintained an active interest in animals as well. He remembers clearly going over the Oregon State University (then Oregon State College) catalog with his mother, trying to decide whether he should major in zoology or botany. Zoology required one more math class, so botany got the nod.

After finishing his undergraduate work at OSC he returned to home turf, completing his master’s work at the University of Washington. His MS thesis dealt with vegetative changes on gravelly prairies of Western Washington. He went to the University of British Columbia for his doctoral work. His long-standing interest in ferns led him to study under a fern expert there, doing his doctoral research on the biosystematics and evolution of licorice fern. (He should love our stump photo, page 5.)

After finishing his PhD, Dr. Lang spent one year at Whitman College, replacing Ted Anderson who was on sabbatical leave. From there he went to Ashland, taking a position in the biology Department at then Southern Oregon College in 1966—a position he would hold until he retired in 1997. He enjoyed his career there; he said he never was presented with a good reason to leave. Along the way, besides the traditional courses he taught, including plant ecology and systematic botany, he had several sidelines. He taught a course in biological illustration, not only at SOU but also at the Malheur Field Station. At the latter venue it was a three-week effort during each of seven summers.

Frank also had the honor of hosting a group of Japanese botanists over several summers. He led them on plant-collection forays in the areas around Ashland. They would dry and prepare their specimens, take them back to their institutions in Japan, and extract and identify new natural products from them. His name appears on the author list of a number of plant biochemistry manuscripts as a result of this collaboration. The ultimate payoff was two all-expense-paid trips to Japan for him and his wife.

In another of his many extra-curricular activities, Frank acted as official botanist for five or six summers on the now-defunct World Explorer Cruise Line. As they went to and from southeast Alaska, he would give two or three lectures onboard ship, lead field trips at ports-of-call, and display his collections on the ship’s fantail. He said he got enough to eat.

After retiring, Frank has maintained an active pace. One noteworthy effort resulted from three years spent working with the BLM on ecological matters, culminating in the establishment of the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument in 2000. He currently serves on the boards of the Crater Lake Natural History Association and the Klamath Bird Observatory.

On 21 March 2008 at 7:30 PM, Dr. Frank Lang will display for us some results of his love of travel, as well as his experience and skill as a photographer. He said it will be about 60% travelogue, 40% natural history, and that we should come away with all we need to know to knock around Patagonia. Please come to “Following in the Footsteps of Darwin: Walking Through Patagonia Today.”


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