Profile for Charles E. Blair, M.D., Trustee on the Board of the Mosquito and Vector Management District of Santa Barbara County (MVMDSBC)

Charles Blair at KCPR Console; Mustang Daily Photo 5 June 2008

Charles Blair was first appointed to the MVMDSBC (then Santa Barbara Coastal Vector Control District) Board of Trustees in 2005 as a replacement for a retiring member, and has been re-appointed twice, current term running until 2011.  He is an active member of the Southern California Vector Control Environmental Taskforce (SCVCET).  He prepared a poster on the relationship of invasive aquatic weeds and mosquitoes, which has been displayed at several plant, invasive weed, and vector conferences.  In June 2009, he gave a program entitled “Invasive Aquatic and Riparian Weeds and Mosquitoes; Challenges. Successes, and Opportunities” at a SCVCET Forum.  He is also on the Board of Directors of the Vandenberg Village Community Service District.  Additionally, he is on the Board of the Santa Barbara County Special District Association, and a past president.  He is on the Board of the Vandenberg Village Association, and a past president.

He retired from the United States Air Force in 1999 as a General Surgeon.  His last duty station was Vandenberg Air Force Base where he served as Chief of Surgical Services.  He is also a life-long amateur general naturalist, focusing on botany, especially California Native Flora, since 1974.  After retirement, he taught biology for two years at Allan Hancock College in Santa Barbara County before returning to school at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in 2001 for more in depth study of botany and related subjects.

He is active in the California Native Plant Society (CNPS) (www.cnps.org ) -- a past president of the San Luis Obispo Chapter, and currently chair of the statewide Volunteer Recognition Committee.  Other plant activities include the Lompoc Valley Botanical and Horticultural Society (LVBHS) (http://lvbhs.org/); California Invasive Plant Council (Cal-IPC) (www.cal-ipc.org/); Santa Barbara County Weed Management Area; California Botanic Society www.calbotsoc.org/: Southern California Botanic Society; American Society of Plant Taxonomists; and Botanic Society of America (www.botany.org).

In addition to his natural history activities, hiking, botanizing, birding, and photography, he is quite musical.  This entails church choir singing and supporting local organizations, such as both the Lompoc Music and Concert Associations; Basin Street Regulars (Dixieland) www.pismojazz.com ; the Central Coast Bluegrass Music Association; and Festival Mozaic.  In 2003, he trained to become a volunteer musical host (AKA DJ) on KCPR (www.kcpr.org), the Cal Poly SLO FM radio station, hosting “Musica Americana; America’s Stories Told in Song” since 2004.  He is also a supporter of and occasional guest on KCBX (www.kcbx.org/ ), the local NPR station.