In the first of a series of Science Café gatherings this spring semester at Stetson University, Tony Abbott, Ph.D., associate professor of Environmental Science and Studies at Stetson, will discuss the mapping of William Bartram’s travels in the southeastern U.S., especially along the St. Johns River. His talk is scheduled for Thursday evening, Feb. 5, at 7 p.m. in the Gillespie Museum, Stetson University, 234 East Michigan Avenue, DeLand.

William Bartram published his seminal natural history in 1791, Travels through North & South Carolina, Georgia, East & West Florida, the Cherokee Country, the Extensive Territories of the Muscogulges, or Creek Confederacy, and the Country of the Chactaws.

“Though many maps of his journey have been produced in the last four decades,” explains Abbott, “Bartram’s narrative is actually geographically enigmatic.” The discussion will trace the representation of his travels from the first popular map of his journeys, which appeared in the Atlas of Early American History, and will examine the conditions of geographic knowledge during and after Bartram’s travels.

The Science Café is an evening of informal conversation about faculty research and current trends in a range of disciplines. The museum exhibit rooms become a lively café for these exchanges between campus and area scientists and the community. Light refreshments, including coffee and chocolate, are served.

The Spring 2015 series includes evenings with faculty from Stetson’s Department of Environmental Science and Studies. On March 19, Jason Evans, Ph.D., will explore the category “native plant,” through a case study in “What Does Native Mean Anyway? The Strange Tale of Water Lettuce in Florida.”

On Thursday, April 16, Department Chair Wendy Anderson talks of her research in coastal ecosystems in “Too Much of a Good Thing? Impacts of Seabirds and Their Predators on Island Ecosystems and Other Coastal Areas.”

These events are free and open to all. Cultural credit is available to Stetson undergraduate students. For more information, contact the Gillespie Museum at 386.822.7330 or [email protected] or visit the museum’s website:   www2.stetson.edu/other/gillespie-museum.