Barbara Ertter is a 4th generation Idaho native, with a great-grandfather (Barnet E. Light) who was Boise’s first weatherman after being posted to Fort Boise. After attending schools in the North End, with the Boise foothills as a primary playground, Barbara went on to nurture her growing passion for botany at The College of Idaho, followed by graduate work with the authors of Intermountain Flora at University of Maryland and New York Botanical Garden. Most of her career was spent as Collections Manager/Curator of Western North American Flora at the University and Jepson Herbaria at the University of California, Berkeley, preceded by a 3-year stint as herbarium curator at the University of Texas, Austin. She began transitioning to early/quasi-retirement with the purchase of a delightful bungalow in Boise’s North End in 2005.

Back home, and with ready access to the foothills, Barbara’s seminal passion for the floristic “treasures” of the Boise Front became reignited. Since her return, she has been gradually working on a comprehensive flora of the area, as well as accumulating photographs and species lists for different trails. She began sharing what she has learned in 2018, in the form of guided wildflower walks on selected trails that harbor particularly rich wildflower displays and/or noteworthy species, including some recently and yet-to-be described. In addition to the plants themselves, the walks include an overview of the geology and ecology of the Boise Front, interwoven with historical tidbits and land management issues, all enriched by half a century of personal experience with past and present conditions. Making this information available on- line is the impetus for the current website, with the goal of increasing general appreciation (and hopefully conservation) of the “treasures” of the Boise Front.

Barbara’s research interests have also encompassed a broad diversity of other loosely overlapping projects. In the floristic realm, she created the authoritative Annotated Checklist of the East Bay flora: Native and Naturalized Vascular Plants of Alameda and Contra Costa Counties, and updated Mary Bowerman’s classic The Flowering Plants and Ferns of Mount Diablo, California. As the American expert on the genus Potentilla (a large and confusing relative of strawberries) and related genera, and also native western roses, she is senior author on treatments in Flora of North America North of Mexico and The Jepson Manual: Vascular Plants of California. With a diversity of collaborators, she has described over 40 new plants from western North America, mostly Potentilla and relatives, with a long queue of potential novelties waiting in the wings. Her knowledge of comparable ecosystems was significantly enhanced by the unique opportunity to make 3 trips to Iran, including extensive fieldwork, in the early 2000’s, followed by fieldwork in Iraqi Kurdistan in 2010. Barbara has also delved deeply into the historical aspects of western North American botany, has written a chapter on “Bees and Flowers: A Love Affair” for California Bees and Blooms, and has been working on a recently discovered Miocene fossil flora in McCall.

Current research affiliations include the Harold M. Tucker Herbarium and Orma J. Smith Museum of Natural History at The College of Idaho, the Snake River Plains Herbarium at Boise State University, and a continuing connection with the University and Jepson Herbaria at UC-Berkeley.

Links to recorded talks:

OTHER CONTRIBUTORS

Paul Shaffer and Bob Gobeille are the primary contributors to website design and development.  Martha Brabec has provided the interactive maps, Roger Rosentreter has shared his extensive lichen expertise, and Spencer Wood has helped with the geological descriptions.

“Thank You to Paul Shaffer“:  Volunteer Acknowledgement written in 2023 by Michael Mancuso, President of the Idaho Native Plant Society, and Karie Pappani, Pahove Chapter President, published in Sage Notes 45(2): p. 13.

“The Idaho Native Plant Society is fortunate to have many volunteers dedicated to its success.  One of these people is long-time Pahove Chapter member Paul Shaffer.  Among his many contributions to INPS, Paul has been generous in lending his IT expertise for over 20 years.  With Paul’s help, INPS was able to build, and in subsequent years maintain, a well regarded and user-friendly website, including the capacity for members to renew their INPS membership and make donations.  Paul did the research and acquired the software INPS uses to keep track of membership and other organizational tasks.  Paul was instrumental in initiating Pahove’s Annual Native Plant Sale. This event continues to be a resounding success and important way for INPS to connect with the larger Treasure Valley area community.  Paul’s work for INPS flies under the radar and goes unrecognized by most members.  This made it especially gratifying to publicly recognize and acknowledge Paul at the April Pahove Chapter meeting.  Paul received a gift card as a small token of our appreciation for his many years of service to INPS.  We would also like to acknowledge Paul’s contributions to the design and development of the Treasures of the Boise Front website . . . . Thank you, Paul!”