Back by popular demand, Scott Dean will be our speaker for November. Scott gave his program at the last Asheville Orchid Festival and it was literally standing room only in the library. As an expert in the field, he can teach us a lot about our own backyard of orchids.

Scott was born and raised in the mountains of southern Appalachia, specifically the coalfields of West Virginia and southwestern Virginia.

 Western North Carolina has been his home since 1992. After retiring from the military, he attended UNC-Asheville, earning a degree in biology, with a focus on the flora, fauna and geology of the southern Appalachians.

He was a walk leader and featured speaker for the UNC-Asheville Wildflower Pilgrimage from 1995 until 2015. Scott has led wildlife and wildflower walks at the Western North Carolina Nature Center, where he worked for a year building the cougar and bobcat habitats, and has served as First Vice President of the Friends of the Nature Center as well as serving on the Town of Weaverville Tree Board. He developed curricula, and teaches field classes for the Blue Ridge Naturalist program now offered at the N. C. Arboretum.

This program is open to the public. Please join us even if you are not a member.