Dr. Lawrence Zettler has studied orchids in the high Andes Mountains of South America and along the deforested hills of Madagascar, and he's studied the elusive Ghost Orchid found in South Florida, Cuba, and other parts of Central and South America. As director of the Orchid Recovery Program at Illinois College, Dr. Zettler specializes in preserving these rare and unique flowers by understanding the fungus these orchids rely on to survive.
In his lab, Dr. Zettler uses the fungus species he’s collected in research trips across the globe to grow endangered orchids from seeds, and then reintroduce those seedlings back into the wild.
Originally from Gainesville, he was in Southwest Florida last week to meet with the Naples Orchid Society, and to bring his undergraduate students to the area as they prepare for a month of work in the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge in Collier County.
The students will be working for a third year with Cuban orchid expert Dr. Ernesto Mujica, who’s working with the students to study orchids found in Florida and elsewhere in countries like Cuba and Ecuador. Last summer they discovered more than 100 additional Ghost Orchids at the refuge.
