Past Conferences
Featured Speakers
2023
Host: FNPS, Magnolia/Sarracenia, Naples, and Cuplet Fern
Location: Virtual and Field Days throughout the state
Theme: Adaptations
Featured Speakers
Featured Speakers
- Bruce Means, Ph.D. -- The Florida Panhandle: A North American Biodiversity Hotspot
- Larry Weaner -- Growing, Planting and Maintaining Native Plants: Turning a Challenge Into an Opportunity
2021
Host: FNPS
Location: Virtual Conference
Theme: 40 years of Celebrating Native Florida
Featured Speakers
2020
Host: University of North Florida
Location: Cancelled - no site
Theme: 40 years of Celebrating Native Florida
Featured Speakers
2019
Host: Citrus Chapter and FNPS
Location: Plantation on Crystal River
Theme: Transitions
Featured Speakers
- Eric Draper -- People Make the Parks, Plants Make the Parks Special
- Jack Putz, PhD -- Rising Seas, Retreating Forests, and other Rapid Changes in Coastal Ecosystems
- Reed Noss, PhD -- Why is Florida So Rich in Biodiversity?
- Tom Hoctor, PhD -- Florida Regional Landscape Conservation: Obstacles and Opportunities
2018
Host: FNPS
Location: Miami, FL
Theme: RENEWAL!
Featured Speakers
- Craig Huegel, PhD -- Sex in the Garden
- George Gann -- The Promise (and some perils) of Ecological Restoration
- Roger Hammer -- Exploring the Everglades Backcountry (without dying a horrible death)
- Tiffany Troxler, PhD -- Local and Regional Opportunities for Natural Systems to Benefit Society
2017
Host: Central Florida Chapters
Location: River Ranch
Theme: Connections
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Featured Speakers
- Laura Super -- Mycorrhizal fungi are fascinating: biology, human impacts, and solutions
- Roger Hammer -- Wildflowers of the Kissimmee Valley
- Suzanne Simard, PhD -- Connections: Above and Below
- Thomas Lodge -- What is the Everglades All About?
- Tonya Clayton, Ph.D. -- Sea Level Rise in Florida: News From Our Natural Areas
Featured Speakers
- Clay Henderson -- Sound Environmental Policy
- Roger Hammer -- Endemic Florida Wildflowers
- Tim Rumage, PhD -- This Spaceship Earth
- Tom Hoctor, PhD -- Florida Wildlife Corridor
2015
Host: Florida Native Plant Society
Location: Tallahassee
Theme: Theme -- Born to Burn
Featured Speakers
- Bruce Means, PhD -- The Wild, Wild World of the Florida Panhandle--An Amazing Cradle of Life
2014
Host: Coccoloba Chapter
Location: Ft. Myers
Theme: Growing Native
Featured Speakers
- Bill Hammond, Ph.D. -- Our Two Million Year+ Brain-Body Connection to Phytons of the Plant Sphere
- Don Chambers, PhD -- The Scientific Basis for Climate Change: Understanding the Most Important Findings of the 2013 IPCC Report
- Edward F. Gilman, PhD -- Producing Quality Shade Trees
- J. C. Cahill, PhD -- What Plants Talk About
- Jim Wohlpart, PhD -- Remembering Sacred Reason: Global Warming, Sense of Place, and Native Species
- Roger Hammer -- Wildflowers of Collier County
2013
Host: Ixia Chapter
Location: Jacksonville, FL
Theme:
Celebrating La Florida; the Land of Flowers
Featured Speakers
- Jim Draper -- Pascua de Florida and Planting in Harmony
- Roger Hammer -- La Florida
- Tom Hoctor -- Florida Wildlife Corridors
2012
Host: Hernando and Suncoast Chapters
Location: Plant City
Featured Speakers
- Douglas W. Tallamy, PhD -- Keynote Speaker
- Hillary Swain, PhD, Executive Director, Archbold Biological Staton -- Plenary Speaker
- Jeff Klinkenberg -- Keynote Speaker
2011
Host: Cuplet Fern, Lake Beautyberry, Pine Lily and Tarflower Chapters
Location: Maitland
Theme: Patios, Preserves and Public Spaces: Making Connections
Featured Speakers
- Mari Margil -- Keynote Address: CELDF/Earth Jurisprudence: The Rights of Nature
- Rick Dark -- Keynote Speaker: “Livable Florida: Native by Design
- Rutherford H. Platt, PhD -- Keynote Address: Blooming Cities: Restoring Nature in Urban America
2010
Host: Magnolia Chapter
Location: Tallahassee
Theme: Celebrating 30 Years of FNPS History!
Featured Speakers
- Darrel Morrison -- Overcoming Faceless/Placeless Landscape Design
- June Bailey White -- The Joys and Horrors of Inheriting an Old Family Garden
- Vassilike Betty Smocovitis, PhD -- Plant Blindness: Historical and Cultural Perspectives on a Peculiar Disease
2009
Host: Palm Beach County & Cooplum Chapters
Location: West Palm Beach, Florida
Theme:
Wake Up and Plant the Natives: Planting Today to Preserve Florida's Tomorrow
Featured Speakers
- Dan Austin, PhD -- Plants and People: From Swamps to Deserts
- Doug Tallamy, PhD -- Bringing Nature Home
- Harold R. Wanless, PhD -- The Influence of Sea Level Change on Florida's Ecology
2008
Host: Mangrove, Pinellas, Serenoa & Suncoast Chapters
Location: Palmetto Civic Center
Theme: Estuaries to Uplands: Preserving our Native Plant Heritage
Featured Speakers
- John Thaxton -- Tools to Influence Public Policy and Local Government: Decisions to bring about Change in Your Community
- Linda Young -- he Status of Estuaries in Florida
2007
Host: Paynes Prairie Chapter
Location: Gainesville – Gainesville Hilton
Theme: Conservation cures: by the yard and mile
Featured Speakers
- he Status of Estuaries in Florida -- Ecology of a Cracker Childhood
- William Cullina -- Perspectives from the New England Wild Flower Society
2006
Host: Pawpaw and Lyonia Chapters
Location: Daytona Beach Shores – The Shores Resort & Spa
Featured Speakers
- Gary Knight -- Working Together to Understand and Protect Florida's Precious Natural Heritage
- Richard Louv -- Last Child in the Woods: Nature Deficit Disorder
2005
Host: Conradina, Eugenia & Searocket Chapters
Location: Melbourne – Hilton Melbourne Rialto Place
Theme: 25 Years of Preservation, Progress and Promise
Featured Speakers
2004
Host: Tarflower Chapter
Location: Orlando - Hotel Royal Plaza
Theme: Protecting Florida’s Future with Native Landscapes
Featured Speakers
- Colleen Castille -- Update on environmental regulatory and law enforcement programs and land acquisition under Gov. Bush
- David Price -- Creating a Sanctuary: Olmstead Inspired by Nature
- Kathy Burks -- Invasive Exotic Plants: An Update
2003
Host: Cocoloba Chapter
Location: Fort Myers - Holiday Inn Select
Theme: Symbiosis: The Power of Partnerships
Featured Speakers
- Doug Jones, PhD -- Butterfly Migration and Biomagnetism
- Elfren Cazares PhD -- The Importance of Micorrhizae to Plant and Habitat Restoration
- Mike Duever, PhD -- South Florida Plant Communities: past, present, and future
2002
Host: Magnolia Chapter
Location: Tallahassee - Ramada Inn North
Theme: Native Plants in Native Places: Botanical Treasures Off the Garden Path
Featured Speakers
- Gil Nelson, PhD -- atural Gardens of the Florida Big Bend: An Orientation to Your Four Days in Paradise
- Loran Anderson, PhD -- Carnivorous Plants of the Florida Big Bend
2001
Host: Pinellas Chapter
Location: Tarpon Springs, Palm Harbor - Westin Innisbrook Resort
Theme: Biodiversity and Development: Striking a Balance
Featured Speakers
- Andy Wasowski -- Building Inside Nature's Envelope
- Stuart L. Pimm, PhD -- Life on Earth: Does It Have a Future?
2000
Host: Dade Chapter
Location: Miami - Radisson Mart Plaza Hotel
Theme: Living with nature in the 21st Century
Featured Speakers
- Francis 'Jack' Putz, PhD -- he Homogeocene: Questions About the Past and Concerns About the Future
- Georgia Tasker -- What Tree in the Right Place?
- Nathaniel P. Reed -- Exotics: A Way of Life or---?
- Terrence 'Rock' Salt -- The Everglades restoration: Maintaining the Momentum
1999
Host: FNPS
Location: Palm Coast, Flagler County - Palm Coast Resort
Theme: Gardening In Harmony with Nature
Featured Speakers
- Brett Rappaport -- Avoid Running Afoul of Local Weed Laws!
- Sara Stein -- Restoring the Ecology of our Own Back Yards
1998
Host: Palm Beach Chapter
Location: Palm Beach Gardens - Palm Beach Gardens Marriott
Theme: Florida’s Garden of Good and Evil
Featured Speakers
- Clyde Butcher -- Florida's Biological Landscape
- Dan Austin, PhD -- Displacement of Native Ecosystems by Invasive Alien Plants: The Florida Experience
1997
Host: Paynes Prairie Chapter
Location: Gainesville – Radisson Hotel
Theme: Healing the Landscape: Restoring Florida’s Ecological Balance
Featured Speakers
- Roger Hammer -- Recreating Florida's Good Ole Days: Does Ecological Restoration Imply a Return to the Past or is it a New vision for the Future of Florida's Natural Areas?
- Sally and Andy Wasowski -- Creating Native Habitat Gardens
1996
Host: Serenoa Chapter
Location: Sarasota - New College
Theme: Where the Sea Grapes Meet the Cedars: Plants on the Edge
Featured Speakers
- Gary Nabhan -- The Forgotten Pollinators
- Richard Wunderlin, PhD -- Central Florida's Flora and Its Origin
1995
Host: Magnolia Chapter
Location: Tallahassee – Ramada Inn
Featured Speakers
1994
Host: Conradina and Sea Rocket Chapters
Location: Cocoa Beach - Holiday Inn
Theme: Unifying People with the Landscape
Featured Speakers
1993
Host: Heartland Chapter
Location: Haines City – Grenelefe Resort
Featured Speakers
- Hillary Swain, PhD -- Now That We've Bought It, What Do We Do With it? on Environmentally Endangered Lands Program
- William Hammond, PhD -- Getting Wild and Managing to Stay Wild
1992
Host: Pinelas Chapter
Location: St. Pete Beach – Dolphin Inn
Featured Speakers
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1991
Host: Tarflower Chapter
Location: Orlando – Holiday Inn, UCF Area
Featured Speakers
1990
Host: Dade Chapter
Location: Miami – FIU Campus
Featured Speakers
1989
Host: Coccoloba Chapter
Location: Fort Myers – ECC Campus
Featured Speakers
1988
Host: Paynes Prairie Chapter
Location: Gainesville – UF Campus
Featured Speakers
1987
Host: Heartland Chapter
Location: Lakeland – Florida Southern College
Featured Speakers
1986
Host: Suncoast Chapter
Location: Tampa -- University of South Florida
Featured Speakers
1985
Host: Tarflower Chapter
Location: Winter Park – Rollins College
Featured Speakers
1984
Host: Palm Beach Chapter
Location: Boca Raton, Florida Atlantic Univsity
Featured Speakers
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1983
Host: Naples Chapter
Location: Naples – The Conservancy
Featured Speakers
1982
Host: FNPS
Location: Gainesville, University of Florida
Featured Speakers
1981
Host: FNPS
Location: Winter Park, Rollins College
Featured Speakers
- Wayne King, PhD -- Why Native Plants are Importans