8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
October 22, 2022
502 East Event Centre
502 E. Carmel Dr., Carmel, IN 46032
Featured Speakers
Tony Reznicek, PhD, KEYNOTE
From the Ground Up: Indiana Landscape and Flora
Tony is Curator (now emeritus) at the University of Michigan Herbarium working especially on the systematics and evolution of sedges, particularly in Latin America. He also works with the flora and biogeography of the Great Lakes region, with strong interests in rare plant conservation, plant migration, and related topics. He also oversees the Michigan Flora Online website, which works to make available information about Michigan plants and their occurrence. His field research has been varied, including much of the US and Canada, with a number of trips to Alaska, as well as many trips to Mexico, plus some trips to South America and China. Tony is also an avid gardener with interests in rock gardening, native plants, hardy succulents, woodland plants, and more generally, any plants of evolutionary and ecological interest. Tony’s topic will address how landscapes in Indiana evolved…influences, weather, geology, humans, and natural occurrences.
Annie Novak, KEYNOTE
Reading a Landscape: A Fundamental Approach to Observing Our Natural Environment
Whether hiking a new trail or exploring a familiar neighborhood, we can learn far more from the characteristics of the living and non-living environment than what we might notice at first pass. Drawing on the fundamentals of soil, plant, and animal ecologies with enriched observation practices, Annie will show us how we can build a stronger relationship with the landscapes around us. A passionate educator, Annie teaches locally and nationally and speaks at conferences around the country on the connections between people, food, and ecology and the benefits of urban agriculture. She is founder and director of Growing Chefs: Food Education from Field to Fork; the Manager of the Edible Academy at the New York Botanical Garden; co-founder of Eagle Street Rooftop Farm in Greenpoint, Brooklyn; and author of The Rooftop Growing Guide: How to Transform Your Roof into a Garden or Farm. Her work has been featured on NPR and in the New York Times and other publications.
Gabriela C. Nunez-Mir, PhD
Invasive Forest Defoliators: The Big Picture
Gabriela is a member of the 2021 cohort of the University of Illinois at Chicago’s Bridge to the Faculty Scholar Program, through which she is hosted by the Department of Biological Sciences. She will share her research on what drives the spread of a highly damaging non-native insect defoliator, the European gypsy moth, while addressing invasive insect pests more generally and their devastating effects on forest ecosystems. Nearly every woody plant genus endemic to North American forests is affected by at least one non-native insect or pathogen. Gabriela will show how macroscale studies can produce useful insights for the conservation of native plants, especially when localized information about the dynamics of specific invasive threats is unavailable.
Gabrielle Cerberville
Environmental Phoenixes: Plants, Mushrooms, and the Scorched Earth
As a child, Gabrielle was fascinated by finding food in nature; in her neighborhood she was known as the “blueberry girl.” Following graduation in Music Composition from Butler University, Gabrielle discovered a passion for edible mushrooms and documenting what was learned while foraging for them. Her video on puffballs went viral with 6.5 million views and encouraged further multimedia forays into mycology. Known on TikTok as @chaoticforager, Gabrielle continues providing science-based foraging information. She has spoken at various mycological and botanical societies and universities and is partnering with local organizations to bring free outdoor education to the public. She may even compose some music about mushrooms.
Nathanael Pilla
Botany and Beer: Demystifying Botanical Jargon
It is daunting to take the first step into becoming a botanist when you have an unknown graminoid in front of you…especially when you don’t even know what “a graminoid” is! Describing himself as a “charismatic plant preacher,” Nathanael created a YouTube channel, Botany and Beer, so that viewers could sit back and enjoy a beer while learning botany. Through videos, presentations, and hikes, Nathanael weaves common themes with botanical jargon, showcasing the intricacies of plants with the goal to make botany easy to understand. A botanist with ORBIS Environmental Consulting, he recently co-authored Wildflowers of the Indiana Dunes National Park.
Barb, Mike, and Wes Homoya
The Homoyas’ Hoosier Orchid Big Year
The Homoya family tells all about their ambitious quest in 2021 to track down every extant type of orchid in Indiana. As the tale of their journey unfolds, you will be transported through time and space into bogs and prairies, fens and forests, and in the end, hopefully to a place of wonder and appreciation for Indiana’s orchids and their diverse habitats. Retired from the Roudebush VA Medical Center after a long nursing career, Barb enjoys botanizing, birding and “salamandering” and volunteers for Sheltering Wings, Hope Clinic, and as Florathon chairperson for INPS. Mike is a retired botanist/plant ecologist for the Indiana Natural Heritage Program, DNR Division of Nature Preserves, and author of Orchids of Indiana; Wildflowers and Ferns of Indiana Forests: A Field Guide; and co-author of Wake Up, Woods and the recently published Wildflowers of the Midwest. He is a board member and immediate past president of INPS. Wes conducts avian surveys in Colorado and leads international birding trips for Natural Selections Tours. When he is at home, he enjoys all things nature, including foraging, habitat restoration, and volunteering for Lights Out Indy.
Register for the Conference
Covid Precautions
INPS is committed to the safety and well-being of our Annual Conference participants. To promote a safe environment for those attending in person, we recommend vaccination and mask use. If Centers for Disease Control guidelines change, we will inform registrants and abide by the latest CDC recommendations.
Conference Schedule
7:30 – Registration and Breakfast
8:40 – Welcome
8:45 – Tony Reznicek
9:40 – Gabriela Nunez-Mir
10:25 – Break
10:50 – Annie Novak
11:45 – Announcements
11:50 – Lunch
1:00 – INPS Annual Meeting
1:30 – Gabrielle Cerberville
2:15 – Nathanael Pilla
3:00 – Break
3:20 – Mike, Barb, and Wes Homoya
4:05 – Closing comments and adjourn