Rylan Sprague spends a lot of roaming the Black Hills National Forest. As a botanist for the Forest Service, he identifies areas that support rare plants, maintains fences that protect plants and provides botanical reviews of timber sales and other projects in the northern Black Hills.

At the next Deep Talks, Thursday, April 13, Sprague will discuss unique habitats; plant compositions; and Ethnobotany, the study of how culturally significant plants are used, in the Black Hills. He will also focus on plants that are important to people of the Lakota, Dakota and Nakota nations. The talk will include a hands-on session with plant materials.

“It’s incredibly fulfilling to have a role in the management of the Black Hills,” said Sprague, who has lived in the Black Hills most of his life. “My work takes me to areas of the Forest I have never visited.”

Rylan holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology with a Botany emphasis and Master of Science in Sustainability from Black Hills State University. Sprague serves on the Cultural Advisory Committee for the Sanford Underground Research Facility and is a member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe.

“Deep Talks: The Botany of the Black Hills,” takes place at the Sanford Lab Homestake Visitor Center, 160 W. Main, in Lead, S.D. The event begins at 5 p.m. with a social hour; the talk begins at 6 p.m. Deep Talks is free to the public. Donations to support community education are welcome. Guests aged 21 and older may sample craft brews from Crow Peak Brewery; light refreshments sponsored by First Interstate Bank will be provided.

Deep Talks is a lecture series created by the Sanford Underground Research Facility and the Sanford Lab Homestake Visitor Center. The event is held the second Thursday of each month, October through May (except December). Deep Talks is free to the public. Donations to support community education are welcome.