Preparation for the California Botanist Certification Exams

8:30 – 8:45 AM 
Welcome and Introductions 

8:45 – 10:00 AM
Review of Sight ID & Keying Exam 
Sight ID Exam – how the exam works, what plants you need to know, and how to study for it.  Examples of test questions will be provided.  
Keying Exam – how the exam works, what tools you will need to use.

10:00 – 10:15 AM
Break

10:15 – Noon
Review of Written Exams (Field and Consulting)
A broad range of topics for both the field and consulting botanist, including taxonomy, botanical terminology, field survey methods and protocols, plant communities, systematics (basic), sampling methods, code of ethics, CEQA, NEPA, ESA, CESA, vegetation classification, floristics, thresholds of significance, rarity, database tools, online resources, references.

David Magney, Special Projects Program Manager of the CNPS Rare Plant Program and owner of David Magney Environmental Consulting (DMEC), is a biologist/botanist, Certified Consulting Botanist and Certified Arborist, and physical geographer with a thorough knowledge of the flora of CA and over 30 years of field experience. He is the chair of the Board of Certification, since 2016.  David joined CNPS staff in mid-2016 after 32 years in various leadership roles as a volunteer focusing on conservation and rare plants, including serving as CNPS Board President and president of the Channel Islands Chapter for many years.

As an environmental consultant, David has worked on and managed a large variety of projects throughout the Pacific Southwest, including biological resource inventories, vegetation mapping and classification, wetland delineations and restoration, rare plant surveys and ecological studies, fisheries habitat assessment and mitigation design, fisheries monitoring, small mammal trapping and surveys, biological impact analysis and mitigation, and construction and mitigation monitoring. He formed DMEC in 1997 after spending 2 years with FugroWest, 6 years with Jones & Stokes Associates, and 3 years with Dames & Moore, as well as working with the Los Padres National Forest and UCSB Herbarium. David earned a BA in Geography and Environmental Studies (emphasis in botany) from UC Santa Barbara in 1985. He also holds an A.S. in Landscape Horticulture from Ventura College. David has taught courses and given presentations on wetland impacts and mitigation, CEQA, Clean Water Act permitting, water quality, riparian and wetland plant identification, and wetland delineation methodology. He has authored two floras in CA and presented numerous papers on vegetation and water quality, and has nearly completed a manual on the flora of Ventura County (www.venturaflora.com). He served on the Environmental Review Board for Los Angeles County Regional Planning, and the City of Ojai’s Tree Committee until 2016.