Chasing Cusick's Primrose: A Botanical Mystery In-Person
In 1892, Wood River Valley pioneer and botanist Eliza Avery Brodhead collected an uncommon spring-blooming primrose near Ketchum and Bayhorse, but in the intervening 134 years, those populations have gone unnoticed or have perhaps even disappeared. This talk by biogeographer David Burchfield follows a biogeographer’s slightly obsessive search for Mrs. Brodhead’s enigmatic primroses and shows how local knowledge, citizen science, and modern mapping technologies can help document and protect overlooked plant populations in central Idaho.
Presented in partnership with the Sawtooth Interpretive & Historical Association (SIHA), kicking off their 2026 Summer Series.
Registration requested to join us in person. To watch live online (no registration needed) visit: https://vimeo.com/event/5970357. A recording will be available to watch only on The Community Library's Event Archive.
- Date:
- Friday, June 26, 2026
- Time:
- 5:00pm - 6:00pm
- Time Zone:
- Mountain Time - US & Canada (change)
- Location:
- John A. and Carole O. Moran Lecture Hall
- Campus:
- The Community Library
- Audience:
- Adults
- Categories:
- Lectures & Conversations
David Burchfield is a professor at Brigham Young University–Idaho, where he teaches geographic information science, remote sensing, and physical geography. As a biogeographer, he uses spatial data and field observations to better understand the living landscapes of the Intermountain West. He lives in Rexburg with his wife and three young children and enjoys backpacking, exploring Idaho’s mountains, and photographing its charismatic flora and wild places.