Richard Hebda
Curator, Botany and Earth History
Tel: 250-387-5493, Fax: 250-356-8197
E-mail: rhebda@royalbcmuseum.bc.ca
Mailing Address: 675 Belleville Street
Victoria, B.C. Canada
V8W 9W2

Research Interests 

Richard is interested in botany in general but in particular the use of fossil plant remains to instruct us about broad themes such as biogeography, evolution, and history of the landscape and climate. Areas of research expertise include pollen analysis and paleobotany, classification and biology of grasses, plant ecology, ethnobotany, use of native plants in gardening and ecological restoration, as well as stratigraphy and paleoecology. The field of climate change, and its impacts on ecosystems is a recent focus. Research is carried out with the help of graduate and undergraduate students from the University of Victoria where Richard has faculty appointments in the Department of Biology, and the Schools of Earth and Ocean Sciences and the University of Victoria.

Current projects

His projects include: the origin and evolution of alpine and subalpine ecosystems in British Columbia, timing and extent of the Cordilleran Ice sheet, the alpine flora of British Columbia, grasses of northern British Columbia, taxonomy and biology of the reedgrasses (Calamagrostis) of North America, uses of grasses in ecological restoration, response of postglacial vegetation to climate changes; vegetation and climate history of Vancouver Island and south central British Columbia. Projects are also underway to use climate model data to examine impacts of climate change on key tree species and some of their pests.

Publications