Event

Oak Origins: From Acorns to Species and the Tree of Life

Join Andrew Hipp, the Morton Arboretum’s director of the herbarium and senior scientist in plant systematics, for an exploration of how oaks become such important and beloved trees across the Northern Hemisphere.
Lectures
Gardens

In 2004, Congress designated the oak (genus Quercus) as our national tree following a four-month open-voting process sponsored by the National Arbor Day Foundation. At The Huntington, these iconic trees are a core botanical collection and the focus of important research and conservation efforts. Join Andrew Hipp, the Morton Arboretum’s director of the herbarium and senior scientist in plant systematics, for an exploration of how oaks become such important and beloved trees across the Northern Hemisphere.

This presentation touches on the natural history and biology of reproduction in oaks, the origins of oak species and their hybrids, and the estimated 56 million years of oak evolutionary history. A book signing will follow the lecture.

A tan book cover with green leaves and white text that says, “Andrew L. Hipp, Oak Origins: From Acorns to Species and the Tree of Life.”

Andrew L. Hipp, Oak Origins: From Acorns to Species and the Tree of Life, 2024. | The University of Chicago Press.

About the Speaker

In addition to his post at the Morton Arboretum, Andrew Hipp is a lecturer at the University of Chicago. His research group investigates the evolution of plants and how they shape our world, with a strong focus on oaks. He received a 2013 Fulbright Scholarship to work in France on the evolution of oak genomes, a 2018 Distinguished Informal Science Education Award from the National Science Teachers Association, and a 2023 Fulbright Specialist Program award to teach in Germany on the evolution and ecology of oaks. Hipp is the author of Oak Origins: From Acorns to Species and the Tree of Life (the University of Chicago Press, 2024), Field Guide to Wisconsin Sedges (University of Wisconsin Press, 2008), and 16 children’s books on a variety of natural history topics (Powerkids Press, 2002–04), as well as more than 130 academic articles and book chapters. Hipp’s creative work has appeared in Arnoldia, the quarterly publication of the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University; Scientific American; International Oaks: The Journal of the International Oak Society; Places Journal; and his natural history blog, A Botanist’s Field Notes.