Ohio Botanical Symposium

One last reminder for those of you with a botanical bent...

2009 Ohio Botanical SymposiumFriday, April 3, 2009

9:15 am to 4 pm Registration begins at 8 am

Symposium Brochure & Registration Form Register Online

Where: Villa Milano 1630 Schrock Road Columbus, Ohio, 43229

Registration: $25 (includes continental breakfast, lunch buffet (menu), refreshments, six presentations, media show, materials, exhibits, vendors and parking). Additional $10 after March 31. Download the registration form and agenda here.

Symposium sponsored by: Ohio Division of Natural Areas & Preserves, The Cleveland Museum of Natural History, The Nature Conservancy and The Ohio State University Herbarium.Additional support provided by: Arc of Appalachia Preserve System, Cincinnati Wildflower Preservation Society, Flora-Quest, Mohican Native Plant Society, Native Plant Society of Northeastern Ohio, Naturally Native Nursery, Ohio Prairie Nursery and Scioto Gardens.

Meet our keynote speaker:
Award winning and world renowned botanist and conservationist, Dr. W. Hardy Eshbaugh will present the keynote address “The Challenges to Biodiversity Conservation in the 21st Century: Where does Ohio fit in the Equation?” Dr. Eshbaugh is Professor Emeritus of Botany, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio and Research Associate, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis. He has received numerous awards including the Peter H. Raven award from the American Society of Plant Taxonomists, the Great Egret award from the National Audubon Society, the Outstanding Communicator award from the Ohio Ornithological Society,and the Osborn award from the Ohio Biological Survey. Dr. Eshbaugh has extensive international experience having taught and led field natural history courses and trips in the Bahamas, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, Amazonian Peru, Costa Rica and Uganda. He has traveled and consulted on trips to Greenland and the high Canadian Arctic, and the Antarctic. His research on the origin and evolution of chili peppers has taken him throughout Latin America, the Amazon, and Andean South America. He has travelled to East Africa and South Africa conducting research and as a participant in several international meetings on the botany of sub-Sahara Africa. More recently, Dr. Eshbaugh has devoted his energies to various conservation issues and in particular on ecotourism as a tool for effective conservation especially in the developing world.

Other Presentations:
Restoration and Pollinators: Patterns of Diversity and Abundance of Pollinator Communities
Dr. Karen Goodell, The Ohio State University

Fern Allies of Ohio
Dr. R. James Hickey, Miami University

A Media Show: Nature’s Beauty in Southern Ohio 2009 John Howard

Woodland Fungi: The Destructive, the Deadly and the Delicious
Dr. Landon Rhodes, The Ohio State University

Best Plant Finds of 2008
Greg Schneider, Ohio Division of Natural Areas and Preserves

Conservation & Restoration Efforts of the Metro Parks
John Watts, Columbus & Franklin County Metro Parks

Exhibitors: Beech Creek Arboretum and Nature Preserve, Chadwick Arboretum, Cincinnati Wildflower Preservation Society, Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Columbus and Franklin County Metro Parks, Flora-Quest, Friends of the Ravines, Lake Erie Islands Chapter of the Black Swamp Conservancy, Metroparks of the Toledo Area, Mohican Native Plant Society, Native Plant Society of Northeastern Ohio, Ohio Division of Natural Areas & Preserves, Ohio Invasive Plants Council, Ohio Mushroom Society, Ohio Prairie Association, Ornamental Plant Germplasm Center, The Nature Conservancy, U.S. Forest Service, West Virginia University, and Wild Ones.Vendors: Fouke Woodworking, Heart by Nature Retreats, McDonald & Woodward Publishing, Naturally Native Nursery, Ohio Prairie Nursery, Pike County Farm, and Scioto Gardens.

Ohio Botanical Symposium
The Ohio Botanical Symposium was first held in 2001 by the Ohio Division of Natural Areas and Preserves to bring botanists, naturalists, and nature enthusiasts together to network, provide professional enrichment and view posters and displays on Ohio’s native flora, natural areas and rare plants. The Nature Conservancy joined as a co-sponsor of the symposium in 2003 and the Ohio State University Herbarium joined as a co-sponsor in 2006. This year we are proud to have the Cleveland Museum of Natural History as a new co-sponsor. In addition to at least six presentations, attendees have a chance to visit with exhibitors and vendors. Exhibitors include non-profit environmental and conservation groups, park districts, federal and state agencies, and universities. In the past, vendors have included book sellers, nature craftsmen and nature education/lodging. The symposium has attracted leading experts in the fields of botany and conservation including Jim Amon Ph. D., Jim Bissell Ph. D, Fred Case, Allison Cusick, Michael Homoya, Anton Reznicek, Ph. D., and Ed Voss, Ph. D. Last year, the symposium was held at the Fawcett Center on The Ohio State University campus. For the second year in a row, a near capacity crowd came to hear experts from Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio on a variety of topics relating to Ohio’s flora and natural communities. We look forward to meeting you at the 2009 Ohio Botanical Symposium