NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The SFA Gardens at Stephen F. Austin State University will host the monthly Theresa and Les Reeves Lecture Series at 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 18, in the Agriculture Building, Room 110, at 1924 Wilson Dr. Texas A&M University horticulturist and professor Fred Davies will present "Spaced Out: Challenges of Growing Horticultural Crops for NASA in Lunar and Martian Agriculture."

Davies received his bachelor's and master's degree in horticulture from Rutgers University and his Ph.D. in horticulture from the University of Florida. At Texas A&M, he teaches courses in plant propagation and nursery production.

In addition to low pressure-controlled production environments for NASA, Davies' other areas of research entail ornamental nursery crop physiology, mycorrhizal fungi and international agriculture. He is co-author of "Hartmann and Kester's Plant Propagation - Principles and Practices."

The Theresa and Les Reeves Garden Lecture Series is generally held the third Thursday of each month at the Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture's SFA Mast Arboretum. Refreshments are served by the SFA Gardens volunteers before the lecture with a rare plant raffle being held afterward.

The lecture is free and open to the public, but donations to the lecture series fund are accepted. For more information, contact Greg Grant at (936) 468-1863 or grantdamon@sfasu.edu.