Author discusses botanist-explorer

Author Jack Nisbet will discuss the explorations and discoveries of David Douglas in a free presentation Sunday at Vancouver Barracks.

The event will be at 2 p.m. in E.B. Hamilton Hall, in the Red Cross Building at 605 Barnes Road.

Nisbet is the author of “The Collector: David Douglas and the Natural History of the Pacific Northwest.” Nisbet will discuss the Scottish naturalist’s travels around the Pacific Northwest from 1825-33. His base of operations always remained at Fort Vancouver.

The changes Douglas witnessed marked significant turning points for the social, economic, scientific, and environmental stories of the region.

Douglas was the premier botanical explorer in the Pacific Northwest and throughout western North America in the 19th century. His discoveries include hundreds of western plants, most notably the iconic Douglas fir.

Nisbet’s most recent book, “The Collector,” tracks Douglas from his humble birth in Scotland in 1799 to his adventures in North America discovering new plants considered exotic for the English and European market.