Improving Conservation Outcomes for Southeastern Plants
Saving Plants Through Partnerships
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Workshops
Tuesday, October 15
Main Conference
Wednesday, October 16 - Friday, October 18
Workshops | Tuesday, October 15
Main Conference | Wednesday, October 16 – Friday, October 18
Ex Situ Conservation
Conservation horticulture
Seedbanking and micropropagation
Tissue culture and cryogenic storage
Utilizing and updating best practices and guidelines
In Situ Action
Augmentation and reintroduction
Experimental management
Community ecology
Private lands, easements, acquisitions, and right-of-ways
Conservation Planning & Advocacy
Conservation informatics
Data management and sharing
Climate change research and tools
Wildlife Action Plans (States, Territories, Tribal Nations)
Culturally significant, economic, and medicinal species conservation
Environmental justice
Advocacy
Location | Atlanta Botanical Garden
Address | 1345 Piedmont Avenue, Atlanta, Georgia 30309
Nearest Airport | Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport (ATL)
- Transportation
- Parking
- Conference Hotel
- Other Lodging Options
Marta – train, bus
Visit www.itsmarta.com for train and bus schedules.
Download the Breeze 2.0 app or purchase a Breeze ticket at a Marta station ticket kiosk for $2.50. Take a northbound gold or red line train directly from the airport to Arts Center Station for closest access to conference hotel and Atlanta Botanical Garden. Marta Bus Route 27 departs from Arts Center Station and passes Atlanta Botanical Garden.
Fare for additional trips can be purchased at any Marta station or added to your Breeze 2.0 app.
Rideshare
Uber and Lyft are readily available throughout the city.
If you purchased pre-paid parking at Atlanta Botanical Garden, you will receive your parking passes (barcode validations) with your name tag at check in. One barcode is good for one Garden exit. Stick the pass to your parking ticket you took to enter the garage and scan to exit the Garden.
If you are staying at the conference hotel, you will receive a discounted parking rate of $36/night ($39.21/night after tax).
Overnight parking at Atlanta Botanical Garden is prohibited.
Address | 1414 W Peachtree Street NW, Atlanta, GA 30309
Canopy by Hilton Atlanta Midtown is located 2 blocks from the Arts Center MARTA station which originates from the Airport. The hotel is 1 mile from Atlanta Botanical Garden. Walking takes you through beautiful Ansley Park neighborhoods and ride shares are readily available for those not wishing to walk. The Route 27 MARTA bus leaves from the Arts Center MARTA station and stops at Atlanta Botanical Garden
Other Hotels
These hotels are not to be considered a recommendation of Atlanta Botanical Garden. Hotels have indicated they can honor the government lodging rate depending on availability.
The Starling Atlanta Midtown
AC Hotel by Marriott Atlanta Midtown
Atlanta Marriott Suites Midtown
Hyatt Centric Midtown Atlanta
Hampton Inn & Suites Atlanta Midtown
Airbnb
The Midtown Atlanta area boasts many Airbnb options. Search near Piedmont Park and Midtown Atlanta for options closest to Atlanta Botanical Garden
Registration is closed
If you have any questions about your registration, please
email Sarah Norris at snorris@atlantabg.org
Workshops | Tuesday, October 15
Main Conference | Wednesday, October 16 – Friday, October 18
SePPCon 2024 T-Shirts
Designed by the Marketing team at Atlanta Botanical Garden, these shirts boast the classic SePPCon logo and are soft, durable, and long-lasting.
Shirts are available for $20 during registration.
A very limited number of shirts may be available for purchase during the Conference.
SePPCon Tumbler
Each registrant will receive a SePPCon tumbler for free!
These stainless steel tumblers come with a stainless steel straw
and silicone bite guard. You can use it during the conference for your
hot and cold beverages to reduce waste at our gathering.
Workshops
Click on each workshop to see its description.
Lunch will be provided.
Register for workshops at the same time as conference registration.
Conservation Horticulture
Date: Tuesday, October 15, 2024
Time: 8 am – 5 pm
Cost: $200
Cost includes lunch and shuttle to and from Atlanta Botanical Garden in Atlanta, GA to Conservation Safeguarding Nursery in Gainesville, GA for workshop.
Conservation Horticulture is a specialized field of horticulture requiring the fusion of horticultural skills, botanical literacy, and an understanding of the principles of conservation biology. Effective conservation horticulture also requires practitioners to be adept at collections and data management. This workshop will focus on intermediate to advanced concepts in Conservation Horticulture based on the Center for Plant Conservation’s Best Plant Conservation Practices. It will address topics such as population biology and its implications for maternal line tracking, developing protocols for species new to cultivation, effective data management, and practical collections management. As such, there will be both theoretical and practical components, with a lecture presentation and on-site experience at Atlanta Botanical Garden’s Conservation Safeguarding Nursery in Gainesville, GA.
This is an in-person event. Lunch will be provided.
Introduction to Remote Sensing Data for Natural Resource Conservation
Date: Tuesday, October 15, 2024
Time: 8 am – 12 pm
Cost: $150
This workshop will serve as an introduction to remote sensing using drones and satellites to include mission planning, data collection and analysis, and relevant case uses. To use remote sensing technology to meet field goals, you first need to understand how to obtain quality data and process it into usable information. For drones, attendees will be introduced to mission planning, data capture, processing software for drone imagery (Pix4dMapper), and working with drone imagery in GIS. For satellites, the attendees will be introduced to several data sources and provided with a technical overview of how these various satellite products and related analyses can be applied to conservation efforts.
Participants will learn the technical capabilities and limitations of remote sensing data, and how selecting the right tool for the job is key to obtaining the right data for a project. This workshop offers participants the chance to learn about a range of techniques and tools to take the next steps on their own.
The course is designed for anyone with moderate computer skills and an interest in using drone imagery to help answer complex questions. The course principles and techniques are not overly complicated, simply new to most people. Many disciplines can benefit from this course, which has direct applications for engineering, geography, agriculture, forestry, land-use planning, and natural resource management. Anyone interested in learning to collect remotely sensed images and process data is encouraged to attend.
No previous drone experience required, although basic flying experience and knowledge of regulations is helpful. Data will be shared with students prior to class to follow along in GIS. ArcGIS Pro will be used by the instructor.
This class is in-person. Lunch will be provided.
Curating a Conservation Seed Bank
Date: Tuesday, October 15, 2024
Time: 1 pm – 5 pm
Cost: $150
A well-curated conservation seed bank can offer a wealth of genetic diversity with an array of applications to support a species’ survival in the wild. The Center for Plant Conservation’s best practices guide practitioners through the theory and application of seedbanking as a conservation strategy at a high level, but curation details are left for institutions to adapt to their individual needs. Therefore, this workshop will highlight in-depth how leading institutions from across the southeast are approaching collection management to ensure that their conservation seed bank collections are of the highest value. After a review of CPC collection standards, topics of discussion will include:
Species requirements: evaluating seed storage behavior and germination requirements
Seed reception: accepting material into collection, processing and shipping
Viability tests: selecting test type and troubleshooting
Experimental design: selecting number of maternal lines and seeds to test
The goal of this workshop is to help participants make more informed management decisions with sometimes limited resources (e.g. seeds, time, or equipment).
This is an in-person event. Lunch will be provided
Demystifying IUCN Red List and NatureServe Conservation Status Assessments of Extinction Risk
Date: Tuesday, October 15, 2024
Time: 1 pm – 5 pm
Cost: $150
Learn the what, how, and why of extinction risk assessments, specifically those developed with IUCN Red List and NatureServe methodologies. We will review the methods to estimate extinction risk at a high level and compare the resulting categories, e.g. NatureServe Global Ranks (G1-G5) and IUCN Red List Categories (CR, EN, VU, NR, LC); and discuss what it means when they conflict. Both systems have significant implications for conservation; the workshop will cover some important examples. Participants should expect to gain confidence to find, interpret, and utilize extinction risk summaries, especially in your own line of work. Please bring a laptop to the workshop.
Discussion will include topics such as: What are extinction risk assessments, specifically those by IUCN and NatureServe methodologies? What do the resulting categories and ranks relative extinction risk mean and how are they used? At a high level, how do you assess extinction risk using NatureServe and IUCN methods? How do they differ and what does it mean when they do? How can you use extinction risk assessments?
This is an in-person event. Lunch will be provided.
Keynote Speakers
Dr. Reed Noss
Reed Noss has broad-ranging interests in ecology, biogeography, and conservation. His recent research topics include regional conservation planning; fire ecology; ecosystem conservation and restoration; road ecology; and vulnerability of species and ecosystems to climate change. His most recent books are Forgotten Grasslands of the South: Natural History and Conservation (Island Press, 2012) and Fire Ecology of Florida and the Southeastern Coastal Plain (University Press of Florida, 2018).
Dr. Kayri Havens
Rare plants are facing a multitude of threats, from habitat loss and invasive species to climate change and more. Effectively conserving these species requires maintaining collections ex situ, understanding their biology and ecological interactions, addressing threats in situ, and confronting plant conservation capacity issues. We will discuss both science and policy approaches Chicago Botanic Garden is taking to improve plant conservation and restoration efforts.
Dr. Jared Margulies
Jared Margulies is an Assistant Professor of Political Ecology in the Department of Geography and the Environment at the University of Alabama. His first book, The Cactus Hunters: Desire and Extinction in the Illicit Succulent Trade, was published in 2023 (University of Minnesota Press). Jared is a 2024 National Geographic Explorer whose current work is focused on the impact of illegal wildlife trades in plants ranging from the Venus flytrap to the transnational trade in in South African succulents. He will discuss how responding to the conservation impacts of wildlife trade requires attention to socio-ecological justice.