Friday, February 2, 2024, 9:00AM-11:30AM EST, Virtual & Free
“Coming together to discuss current botanical projects, conservation, and collaboration in Kentucky and beyond”
The Kentucky Native Plant Society (KNPS) and the Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves (OKNP) is co-hosting the 4th annual Kentucky Botanical Symposium on Friday, February 2nd, from 9:00AM-11:30AM EST. For ten years, KNPS has organized a botanical symposium with a goal of bringing together professionals, community scientists, academics, researchers, gardeners, and students to learn about what is going on in the world of Kentucky botany and beyond.
This year, speakers and facilitators include Jeff Nelson providing KNPS updates, Tara Littlefield (OKNP) providing current state updates related to Kentucky plant conservation, Bashira Chowdhury (Mississippi State University) discussing Prices potato bean (Apios priceana) and pollinators, Vanessa Volker (OKNP) presenting awards for the Kentucky Botanist Big Year project on iNaturalist, Dr. Sally Chambers (Eastern Kentucky University) discussing filmy fern (Vandenboschia boschiana), Dr. Shawn Krosnick and Chris Waters (Tennessee Tech) covering pollinator interactions in rare plants and Invasive Plant Assessments by Frannie Preston and Dr. Ellen Crocker (University of Kentucky and Invasive Plant Council-KY-IPC).
We are also accepting updates from our plant partners to be featured in the botanical stakeholders highlights portion of the meeting. You can submit a PowerPoint slide including information about news or events to be featured during the symposium break. If you want to update Kentucky’s botanical community about recent native plant related news, projects, or upcoming events, check the appropriate box in the registration form below. Upon submitting your registration you will be directed to a page where you will be able to upload your slide.
KNPS is also taking nominations and giving out awards for significant conservation actions in Kentucky in 2023. As you register for the Botanical Symposium you will have the option to nominate organizations or individuals in the following categories:
- Plant Conservation Organization Award: An agency or organization that has contributed significantly to Kentucky plant conservation in 2023
- Plant Conservation Individual Award: A person who has contributed significantly to Kentucky conservation in 2023
- Ex situ conservation Award: Person or agency that has significantly contributed to ex situ plant conservation in Kentucky in 2023
- Plant Research Award: Person or agency that has significantly contributed to plant research in Kentucky in 2023
- Stewardship Award: Person or agency that has significantly contributed to native plant community stewardship in KY in 2023
- Community Science Award: Person or agency that has significantly contributed to community science in KY in 2023
We hope you will be able to attend the Botanical Symposium. If you have any questions, please contact us at BotanicalSymposium@knps.org.
Tentative Agenda
Finalized agenda will be distributed at a later date to those who register. The following list is tentative and non-comprehensive.
Welcome & General Symposium Rules Overview, Kendall McDonald, KNPS Vice-President
Kentucky Native Plant Society Updates, Jeff Nelson, KNPS President
State of Kentucky Plant Conservation, Tara Littlefield, OKNP Plant Conservation/Biological Assessment Branch Manager
Prices potato bean (Apios priceana) and pollinators, Bashira Chowdhury, Mississippi State Univeristy
Invasive Plant Assessments for Kentucky, Frannie Preston and Dr. Ellen Crocker, University of Kentucky, Invasive Pest Council
Filmy Ferns in Kentucky, Dr. Sally Chambers, Eastern Kentucky University herbarium curator
Break with stakeholder and upcoming events slideshow
Studying pollinator interactions in rare plant species: old dog, new tricks, Dr. Shawn Krosnick and Chris Waters, Tennessee Tech
Kentucky Botanists Big Year iNaturalist overview and awards, Vanessa Voelker, OKNP
Conservation Awards Ceremony and Tribute to Bob Dunlap
Questions and Discussions Section
Registration
Use this registration form to sign up for the Symposium. There is no fee to register and attend. When you submit the registration form, you will receive an email with a link to the virtual meeting.
Kentucky Botanical Symposium Speakers
Kentucky Native Plant Society Updates, Jeff Nelson, KNPS President
Jeff Nelson has a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of California at Santa Barbara. Jeff worked as the IT Director of the Paducah Independent School District for 15 years, retiring in 2008. A native of California, Jeff, his wife Liz, and his son Aaron, moved to McCracken Co., Kentucky, in 1987. After building their house on their 10 acres, the family has spent the last 30 years restoring the property from farmland to a native woodland. As a lifelong amateur naturalist, Jeff loves exploring Kentucky and learning about the rich diversity of the Commonwealth’s many ecosystems. He has been a member of the KNPS since the early 1990s and on the Board since 2017, and is the current KNPS president (2022-2024)
State of Kentucky Plant Conservation, Tara Littlefield, OKNP State Botanist, Plant Conservation & Biological Assessment Branch Manager & KPCA Coordinator
Tara Littlefield is the state botanist and manager of the Plant Conservation and Biological Assessment Branch at the Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves. She has over 18 years’ experience as a heritage biologist (botany and ecology) and natural area conservation leadership. She also coordinates the states Plant Conservation Alliance, a public private partnership working on rare plant and community conservation, and is the past president of the KNPS (2016-2022). Tara has a B.S. in Biochemistry from University of Louisville, M.S. in Forestry/Plant Ecology from the University of Kentucky and is currently pursuing a PhD at the University of Kentucky in Forest/Natural Resource Conservation. Much of her work involves rare species surveys, general floristic inventories, natural areas inventory, biological research, acquisition/protection of natural areas, rare plant/community restoration and recovery, and biological/conservation program development and management.
Finding a Place for Bees in the Conservation of Apios priceanaa, Bashira Chowdhury, Mississippi State University
Apios priceana is a federally-listed threatened bean ranging from Alabama and Mississippi through Tennessee and Kentucky, and seed production depends on insect pollination. Like many imperiled plant species, it relies on bees as pollinators, and multiple studies suggest that A. priceana can be pollinated by native and non-native bees. This means bees will be a critical component of species recovery, particularly in actions related to outplanting and safeguarding A. priceana. I will share recent collaborative work from our team, which includes the Chickasaw Nation and resource biologists at Land-Between-the-Lakes, on how bees pollinate A. priceana and how this data can be used to guide recovery actions range-wide.
Invasive Plant Assessments for Kentucky, Frannie Preston and Dr. Ellen Crocker, University of Kentucky, Invasive Plant Council
Frannie Preston is the Invasive Species Outreach Coordinator at the University of Kentucky. She is developing a training program to teach others about invasive plant education. Along with outreach and education, she is working with Jason Brown and the KY-IPC to update Kentucky’s Invasive Plant List. She has a background in wildlife education with a B.S. in Wildlife Biology and Conservation Education from Murray State University. She loves to learn and teach about how plants function within ecosystems.
Kentucky Botanists Big Year iNaturalist awards, Vanessa Voelker, OKN
Filmy Ferns (Hymenophyllum) in Kentucky, Dr. Sally Chambers, Eastern Kentucky University herbarium curator
Dr. Sally Chambers is an Assistant Professor and curator of the Ronald L Jones and Berea herbaria at Eastern Kentucky University. A native of Kentucky, Sally grew up exploring the woods around her home in Owensboro. As an undergraduate student at the University of Kentucky, Sally fell in love with the field of botany and decided a career working with plants would be the most rewarding life experience. Her graduate work led her all over the Appalachian Mountains hunting for a fascinating fern that inhabits rock shelters. She then moved to Florida to continue her botanical career at the University of Florida and Marie Selby Botanical Gardens. Here she expanded her research toolkit and conducting field work in remote areas of Dominica, Hawai’i, Belize, Peru and many more locations. She is excited to talk about the fascinating connections between Appalachian flora and the tropics.
Studying pollinator interactions in rare plant species: old dog, new tricks, Dr. Shawn Krosnick and Chris Waters, Tennessee Tech
Shawn Krosnick is an Associate Professor at TN Tech in the Dept. of Biology. Her research focuses on plant reproductive biology and plant systematics.
Chris Waters is a Ph.D. student at TN Tech in the Dept. of Biology. He is studying pollinator interactions in Physaria globosa across its range using both traditional and molecular techniques.