[PCA] SAVE THE DATE // RSVP by Jan.10: Plant Conservation Alliance e-Meeting (Jan. 12; 2-4pm ET), with invited speaker Dr. Alan Weakley of the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill

Tue Jan 4 10:10:17 CST 2022

Please save the date for our first Plant Conservation Alliance general meeting for the year 2022! Held remotely and open to all -- on Wednesday, January 12, 2022, from 2:00 - 4:00 pm ET. Join us in welcoming Dr. Alan Weakley, Director of the UNC-CH Herbarium (NCU), North Carolina Botanical Garden and Adjunct Associate Professor.

***PLEASE RSVP TO ATTEND THIS MEETING – SEE BELOW***

What will you learn?

Dr. Weakley will discuss biodiversity patterns in the Southeastern United States, and the implications those patterns have for past, present, and future biodiversity resilience.  He’ll also discuss the “Flora of the Southeastern United States Project”, and how innovative ways of developing floristic information can empower citizen science and public engagement in documentation and conservation of the region’s floristic diversity, and provide land managers and conservation professionals with better information on which to base management decisions. The Project is developing an interlinked set of floras (with flexible formatting and content), wildflower guides, and apps, all based on a standard and modern taxonomy, and integrated with management-relevant information such as Wetland Status, Coefficients of Conservatism / Floristic Quality Index, Grasslandiness Index, and conservation ranks (GRanks, SRanks, and Province-Ranks).  This platform provides a new foundation for the inventory and management of the region’s critical biodiversity.

About our Speaker:

Alan Weakley is a plant taxonomist, community ecologist, and conservationist specializing in the Southeastern United States. He holds a B.A. from UNC-Chapel Hill and a Ph.D. from Duke University.  He has worked as botanist and ecologist for the N.C. Natural Heritage Program, and as regional and chief ecologist for The Nature Conservancy and NatureServe. He has worked cooperatively with most federal and state land-managing agencies in the southeastern U.S.  He is currently Director of the UNC Herbarium, a department of the N.C. Botanical Garden, and teaches as adjunct faculty at UNC-Chapel Hill and at the Highlands Biological Station.

Alan is author of the Flora of the Southeastern United States and its app version, FloraQuest, and co-author (with Chris Ludwig and Johnny Townsend) of the Flora of Virginia and the Flora of Virginia App, which have received awards including the Thomas Jefferson Award for Conservation. He is also co-author (along with Laura Cotterman and Damon Waitt) of Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast.
He has also released an app, FloraQuest, co-developed with Michael Lee and Rudy Nash, covering the Southeastern United States flora. He has authored over 100 journal articles and book chapters, and is in high demand as a speaker on plant taxonomy, community classification and mapping, biogeography, and biodiversity conservation. He is active with the Flora of North America project and the United States National Vegetation Classification, serves as an advisor to the N.C. Natural Heritage Program and N.C. Plant Conservation Program, and is a co-founder of the Carolina Vegetation Survey. As a trustee and board member of public and private conservation granting agencies and foundations, he has helped oversee $400,000,000 of land conservation grants in the Southeastern United States.

***TO ATTEND THIS MEETING, PLEASE***

RSVP by COB Monday, January 10 to margaret_park at fws.gov<mailto:margaret_park at fws.gov>

The meeting login details will be shared with all respondents via calendar invite and email by Tuesday January 11.

This meeting will be hosted using Microsoft Teams. You will be able to join the meeting from the web or via the Microsoft Teams app<https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fteams.microsoft.com%2Fdownloads&data=04%7C01%7Cmargaret_park%40fws.gov%7Ca190159d43e2453c983308d9cf91e669%7C0693b5ba4b184d7b9341f32f400a5494%7C0%7C0%7C637769047803889538%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&sdata=ASM95k8rdBtuqp3rSsd%2BXpo%2Fay%2F8945I28qh7XvNOXE%3D&reserved=0>.

***Information about the presentation is also available on our PCA Meetings page<https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.plantconservationalliance.org%2Fmeetings&data=04%7C01%7Cmargaret_park%40fws.gov%7C54f9b4f4003947effea408d8d7735348%7C0693b5ba4b184d7b9341f32f400a5494%7C0%7C0%7C637496237609173683%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=3JO0zuDuvM4Tr2IcMqzNgOkIXDKae2ykZVGwvBlsWbU%3D&reserved=0>.***

The PCA general meetings are open to everyone and follow this format:

>Updates on PCA Activities - learn about and get engaged in the Plant Conservation Alliance

>Invited Speaker – a topical presentation to explore any of the six focal areas identified in the PCA National Framework for Progress<https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.blm.gov%2Fsites%2Fblm.gov%2Ffiles%2Fprograms_natural-resources_native-plant-communities_national-seed-strategy_pca_Framework_6.11.2020.pdf&data=04%7C01%7Cmargaret_park%40fws.gov%7Ca190159d43e2453c983308d9cf91e669%7C0693b5ba4b184d7b9341f32f400a5494%7C0%7C0%7C637769047803889538%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&sdata=z37dvLCHuHHfd%2F%2Bs1ihmlQ9iHjV3XBLmRDk9VG65BLE%3D&reserved=0>: collaborative conservation; education; restoration; research and development; sustainability; and information sharing

>Native Plants Roundtable - all participants are encouraged to share information on national native plant events and activities

— This meeting is brought to you by the Plant Conservation Alliance Speaker Organizing Team— Gary Krupnick (Smithsonian Institution) / Ray Mims (U.S. Botanic Garden) / Krissa Skogen (Chicago Botanic Garden) / Maggie Park (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service) / David Lincicome (Tennessee Dept of Environment & Conservation) / Andrea Williams (California Native Plant Society)
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