Join us October 25 at the Indiana Native Plant Society’s 32nd annual conference on the theme, Nature Everywhere: Curated Spaces and Wild Places, encompassing topics from ecological garden design and plant-soil interactions to community engagement in land management and more.
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Speakers
Larry Weaner (Keynote)
Planning for the Unplanned: Integrating Ecological Restoration Techniques and Landscape Design
Larry Weaner, FAPLD, founded Larry Weaner Landscape Associates in 1982 and its educational affiliate New Directions in the American Landscape in 1990. His nationally recognized work combines horticulture, landscape design, and ecological restoration, and spans more than twenty U.S. states and the U.K. He has been profiled in national publications including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Landscape Architecture Magazine, and Garden Design. His book, Garden Revolution: How Our Landscapes Can Be a Source of Environmental Change (Timber Press 2016), coauthored with Tom Christopher, received an American Horticultural Society (AHS) Book Award in 2017. In 2021 he received the AHS Landscape Design Award and the Association of Professional Landscape Designers (APLD) Award of Distinction.
Photo credit: Kim Sokoloff
Roy Diblik (Keynote)
Coming to Know Plants: Understanding Plant Relationships in the Garden
A founding member of Northwind Perennial Farm, Roy Diblik is a recognized perennial plant expert, grower, designer, speaker, and author. Combining his 35 years of knowledge growing traditional and Midwest native perennials, he specializes in highly aesthetic, sustainable plant communities for all seasons while reducing maintenance through design. He believes that gardens should be thoughtful, ecologically directed, emotionally outreaching and yet very personal.
Chris Helzer
Stories from the Grasslands and the Square Meter Project
Chris Helzer is Director of Science and Stewardship for The Nature Conservancy in Nebraska, where he conducts research and supervises the Conservancy’s preserve stewardship program. He also helps develop, test, and share prairie management and restoration strategies. Chris is also dedicated to raising awareness about the value of prairies through his photography, writing and presentations. He is the author of The Prairie Ecologist blog and two books, The Ecology and Management of Prairies in the Central United States and Hidden Prairie: Photographing Life in One Square Meter. He is also a frequent contributor to NEBRASKAland magazine and other publications. Chris and his family live in Aurora, Nebraska.
Zurijanne Carter
Advancing Natural Areas Management through Public/Private Collaboration
Zurijanne Carter is the Chief Natural Resources Officer for Metroparks Toledo, where she focuses on ecological restoration and sustainability and pursues grant opportunities to support large-scale habitat management and restoration projects. Zuri holds a Bachelor’s degree in Wildlife and Fisheries Biology from Clemson University and a Master’s in Fisheries and Wildlife Management from Michigan State University where she focused on the human dimensions of wildlife management. Her career has been dedicated to the stewardship of natural resources, balancing conservation with community engagement and sustainable land management practices.
Justin Thomas
Plant/Soil Interactions
Justin Thomas is an instructor of plant ecology and ID workshops for the Institute of Botanical Training and for NatureCITE (organizations founded by he and his wife Dana) and has conducted taxonomic and ecological research for 27 years. Justin is a co-author of the Ecological Checklist of the Missouri Flora, research associate with Missouri Botanical Garden, published taxonomic authority on the genus Dichanthelium, and serves as a scientific advisor to several conservation organizations. Justin promotes a holistic view of life as a system of study and inspiration.
Louise Weber
Psychological Benefits of Nature
As a Professor of Biology and Environmental Science at the University of Saint Francis–Fort Wayne, Lou’s expertise combines ecology, conservation biology, ecopsychology, and ecotherapy. With 30 years of experience in undergraduate teaching and research, Lou also serves as Division Director of Biology at USF, the Chair of the Natural History Section of the Ecological Society of America, and is on the boards of the Southwest Conservation Club and Soarin’ Hawk here in Fort Wayne. She is also the author of an ecology textbook, Understanding Nature: Ecology for a New Generation.