Studying Sundews, a Global Carnivorous Plant Genus Found in Minnesota's Backyard
2022-11-03 19:00 - 20:30 (America/Chicago)
Speaker: Rebekah Mohn, University of Minnesota PhD Candidate
The Zoom presentation is available on the Videos page.
Bio: Rebekah Mohn is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Minnesota in Saint Paul studying chromosome variation in a group of insect-eating plants commonly known as sundews (the genus Drosera).

The University of Minnesota Bell Museum Herbarium: The history, how it is used, and the ongoing work.
2022-12-01 19:00 - 20:30
The recorded Zoom meeting is available on the Video page.
Presenter: Tim Whitfeld, Herbarium Collections Manager, University of Minnesota Bell Museum
Tim will give a brief history of the Bell Museum Herbarium and discuss the way herbarium collections are used by others. He will also go into some of the ongoing work at the Herbarium in the collection including digitizing and the collaboration with researchers and agencies outside the University. Tim will also touch on some of his collecting work in Minnesota and further afield in Papua New Guinea.

Peatland Restoration as a Natural Climate Solution in Minnesota
2023-02-02 19:00 - 20:30
Presenter: Kristen Blann, Lead Freshwater Ecologist with The Nature Conservancy (MN, ND, SD)
The Zoom presentation is available on the Videos page.

Talk Summary: Peatlands cover 6 million acres or more in Minnesota, representing more than 10% of the state by area and an estimated 37% of stored terrestrial carbon. However, drainage of peat soils has caused and continues to drive significant carbon losses to the atmosphere due to oxidation and decomposition. Given the critical role that protecting and restoring peatlands play in the global carbon cycle, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) in Minnesota is working with partners to develop a peatland strategy as part of our overall climate change mitigation efforts. We have attempted to quantify and refine estimates of peatland conservation and restoration by mapping drained, partially drained and intact peatlands and extrapolating initial estimates of GHG (CO2 and CH4) stocks and fluxes from literature, and we are currently implementing GHG monitoring at a large restored peatland in the Sax Zim Bog. The presentation will summarize our initial mapping results, estimates, and feasibility considerations, as well as updates on our strategies and research plans.
Presenter Bio: Kristen Blann (Conservation Biology, UMN, M.S. ‘00, PhD ‘04) is Lead Freshwater Ecologist with The Nature Conservancy in MN, ND, SD. For the past 15+ years, she has provided technical leadership for freshwater and watershed conservation planning at TNC, including development of ecological flow and water level criteria to support sustainable water management and lake classification and conservation portfolios in 4 states. In addition to peatland protection, she is currently working on climate adaptation and protection for wild rice, as well as science, restoration and protection strategies for floodplains, wetlands, and freshwater in MN, ND, and SD. She is based in north central Minnesota where she and her husband raise vegetables, chickens and grass-fed lamb.

State Seed Mixes, Their Evolving Role In Addressing Ecological Challenges
2023-03-02 19:00 - 20:30
Presenter: Dan Shaw, Senior Ecologist/Vegetation Specialist, Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources
The Zoom presentation is available on the Videos page.
Talk Summary: State seed mixes have evolved over the last 20 years to meet statewide needs for restoration and conservation programs. With our increasing environmental challenges these mixes are taking on greater significance and new seed mixes are in development to address emerging conservation challenges. This presentation will cover the history, and current activity with state seed mixes, along with a summary of how seed mix design has been evolving to further support wildlife species and increase the climate resiliency of plantings. Information will also be provided about opportunities to provide input about state seed mixes and fact sheets that are in development to guide their installation and management.
Presenter Bio: Dan Shaw is the Senior Ecologist and Vegetation Specialist with the Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR). His work focuses on plant community restoration, climate mitigation and adaptation, pollinator habitat and invasive species control. He has also taught ecological design and restoration classes at the University of Minnesota for the past 21 years and authored or co-authored and illustrated several publications on ecological restoration and stormwater projects.

Restoring Ecosystem Functionality and Biodiversity in Minnesota’s Changing Climate
2023-04-06 19:00 - 20:30
Presenter: Heather Holm, biologist, pollinator conservationist, and award-winning author
The Zoom presentation is available on the Videos page.
Talk Summary: Four unique biomes converge within Minnesota along a southwest to northeast continuum. Prior to Euro-American settlement, the four contiguous biomes included prairie grassland in southwest and west, tallgrass aspen parkland in the northwest, boreal forest in the northeast, and a mixture of oak savanna, oak woodland, and deciduous forest sandwiched in the middle of these western and eastern biomes. These landscapes have since been radically altered and, with the climate warming, what does the future have in store for Minnesota’s landscape and remaining biome fragments? The presentation will look into the past to understand these biomes at the time of Euro-American settlement, and discuss how Native Americans managed and influenced the composition of the biomes with the regular use of fire. Pivoting to look into the future using projected climate modeling, Heather will address the ecological conditions today, focusing on oak ecosystems and grasslands, then paint a picture of what a functional, biodiverse, and resilient landscape may look like in the future, and what actions are needed to achieve these outcomes.
About the Presenter: Heather is the author of four books: Pollinators of Native Plants (2014), Bees (2017), Wasps (2021), and Common Native Bees of the Eastern United States (2022). Both Bees and Wasps have won multiple book awards including the American Horticultural Society Book Award (2018 and 2022 respectively). Heather’s expertise includes the interactions between native pollinators and native plants, and the natural history and biology of native bees and predatory wasps. Her work has been featured in the New York Times, Minneapolis Star Tribune, and many local publications. Heather is also an accomplished photographer and her pollinator photos are frequently featured in print and electronic publications.

Minnesota’s North Shore
2023-05-04 19:00 - 20:30 | Dakota Lodge, 1200 Stassen Lane, West St. Paul, MN, 55118, United States
Presenter: Chel Anderson, retired botanist & plant ecologist.
A hybrid in-person (Dakota Lodge) and on-line Zoom meeting. The recorded Zoom presentation is available on the Videos page.

7:00 PM Meeting starts, doors will open sometime after 6:30 PM
This will be our first in-person meeting for the plant society in over three years and we hope some of you are able to join us once again! For those who are unable to be there, the option of viewing the presentation through Zoom will continue to take place.
Talk Summary: Northeastern Minnesota straddles the extreme edges of two major North American biomes: the Eastern Deciduous Forest and the Boreal Forest. At this crossroads we find the Lake Superior watershed and MN North Shore. A whirlwind tour of this place—from origins and climate to the diversity and relationships of lands, communities of plants and animals and waters, including Lake Superior— will give you an introduction to one of Minnesota‘s marvel-filled landscapes just as winter relinquishes its firm grip.
About the Presenter: Chel has lived and worked in northeastern Minnesota since 1974. She began her career with the USFS on the Superior National Forest, then transitioned to a consulting botanist, forest and plant ecologist. Before retiring to the rest of her life in 2019, she thrived for a couple of decades as a lead plant ecologist and botanist with the Minnesota Biological Survey. She is co-author with Adelheid Fischer of, North Shore—A Natural History of Minnesota’s Superior Coast.
Other Plant Society Business
Board Member Elections: We will have an in-person vote at the May meeting. Those who are current members of the society will be able to vote. The board of directors has suggested the following slate:
John Arthur (Incumbent)
Jennifer Kamm (Incumbent)
David Remucal (Incumbent)

Discussion on Welby Smith’s newly published book, Ferns and Lycophytes of Minnesota
2023-10-05 19:00 - 20:30 | Dakota Lodge, 1200 Stassen Lane, West St. Paul, MN, 55118, United States
Presenter: Welby Smith, State Botanist with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
The recorded presentation is available on the Videos page.

Please join us for the upcoming monthly meeting with our presenter, Welby Smith, who will discuss his newly published book, Ferns and Lycophytes of Minnesota. Welby will share some interesting stories about ferns and discuss the book itself and the key people behind this great new resource!
Terrace Horticultural Books (Kent Petterson) will have Welby’s new book available for sale at the meeting, so this will give folks an opportunity to both purchase the book and support a local business. The cost for Welby’s book will be $40 (tax included). Kent from THB will be able to accept payment by credit card, cash, and check.
The following is a book review of Welby’s book by Kent.
Book Review: Ferns and Lycophytes Of Minnesota
A new flora for Minnesota from State Botanist, Welby Smith, has been added to his impressive list of work on plants in Minnesota. Ferns and Lycophytes of Minnesota is the first new field guide on ferns, (more on Lycophytes a bit later) in over 40 years. The book is published by the University of Minnesota (ISBN978-1-5179-1466-0) @ $39.95. Editors have repeated the format of Smith’s 2018 Sedges and Rushes of Minnesota, for this updated flora that incorporates rapidly advancing DNA understandings of these plants.
A previous flora, Ferns of Minnesota by Rolla Tryon was last updated in 1980. An aborted attempt at an update by Warren Wagner of the University of Michigan in partnership with Smith ended in 2000 with the death of Wagner.
With this new flora, Welby Smith has not gone alone with this addition to the Minnesota Biological Survey. Support from the Minnesota DNR, specimen photography by Richard Haug, and also help from a long list of contributors produced this fine addition to our flora. A new complete field guide of appropriate size and heft to species identification. Two pages for each species showing a distribution map, in several cases color illustrations by Smith that are actually photos that look like water color paintings, and color specimen ID photos by Haug for 80 fern species, plus 8 orders of 20 Lycophyte species.
Per Welby Smith, “At the beginning of each chapter is a page showing a collage, then the chapter is broken up into genera. At the start of each genus “subchapter” is a page showing 2-dimensional images of a leaf of each species. All the images on the order and genus pages are photographs that I took. Using photo editing software I placed the images side-by-side to show the differences – in typical field-guide style. Every image in the book is a photograph. For each species in the book, there is a page of field photos. That is, photos of the species in their natural habitat. Rick Haug took maybe 90 percent of these field photos (He’s the best field photographer I have ever seen.) A number of other people including myself took the rest of the photos.”
You will learn a lot about these plants and find ID help for sure in this clear and well written book. There is no doubt, Welby Smith is a giant in his field. His flora work with books on Orchids, Trees & Shrubs, Grasses and Sedges, and now Ferns and Lycophytes, together represent 40 years of field work and research. This book is a must have for any plant enthusiast.
Kent Petterson
Terrace Horticultural Books

Minnesota's Peatlands: Climate Change, Carbon, and Cool Plants
2023-11-02 19:00 - 20:30 | Dakota Lodge, 1200 Stassen Lane, West St. Paul, MN, 55118, United States
Presenter: Laura Reuling, Research Scientist, University of Minnesota
The recorded program is available on the Video page.

Laura Reuling is a researcher scientist at the University of Minnesota in the silviculture program. Her research explores applied questions about forest ecology, forest stand dynamics, and regeneration. Current projects include exploring stand development and forest composition in peatland forests, forest response to fire in northern Minnesota, and the impacts of biochar as a soil additive on seedling survival and growth.

MN PlantWatch
2024-02-01 19:00 - 20:30
Presented by: Angela Miner and Deanna Leigh.
The recorded Zoom presentation is available on the Video page.
MN PlantWatch is a new community science initiative that supports the conservation of Minnesota’s rare native plants. Volunteers search for plants in their natural habitats, collect important data about species location, population health and potential threats, and contribute to conservation seed banking. We will share stories and accomplishments from the 2023 inaugural field season. Learn what it is like to volunteer, future goals for the program and how you might become involved.
Angela Miner is the Conservation Botanist for the University of Minnesota’s Landscape Arboretum (UMLA). She works with the UMLA’s Plant Conservation Program to conserve, research, and bank seed for MN’s rare plant species. She holds a degree in Conservation Biology from the University of Minnesota, has worked with habitat management and restoration with The Nature Conservancy, and began working with the MN PlantWatch program in the spring of 2023.
Deanna Leigh is a Community Science Program Coordinator with the DNR’s Minnesota Biological Survey. She holds a BS in Environmental Studies from Trinity Western University and a MS in Environmental Science from Western Washington University. She pursued various natural resources and field research opportunities across North America before returning to her home state of Minnesota in 2017 for a position with DNR Parks and Trails. She joined MN PlantWatch in April 2023 and is thrilled to be working with rare species.

Comparing the impacts of patch-burn grazing on vegetation in two northern tallgrass prairies
2024-03-07 19:00 - 20:30 | Dakota Lodge, 1200 Stassen Lane, West St. Paul, MN, 55118, United States
Presenter: Fred Harris, plant ecologist, MN DNR (retired)
The recorded Zoom presentation is available on the Video page.

Plant of the Month: The genus Phemeranthus “Everything you ever wanted to know about Phemeranthus, but…”
Talk Summary: MN Biological Survey has long term projects to monitor the effects of management on the prairie in two of the earliest and largest patch-burn grazing projects in Minnesota: at Chippewa Prairie and at Hole in the Mountain WMA. This presentation will review patch-burn grazing management, differences in results related to different cattle densities, and overall conclusions regarding the importance of monitoring, adaptive management and research in prairie management.
Presenter Bio: Fred Harris is a plant ecologist who worked for the Minnesota Biological Survey from 1992 to 2024 (just recently retired). He conducted surveys to document what remains of significant natural areas and rare plant populations in 27 counties in Minnesota – mostly in the prairie region but also the Big Woods and a portion of the Blufflands. Since 2010, he has also coordinated several projects to monitor the effects of cattle grazing management in Minnesota prairies. Prior to working for the DNR, he spent a year with The Nature Conservancy and completed a PhD thesis on the physiological ecology of several species of Phemeranthus.

Smokey the Beaver: how beaver dams keep riparian corridors green during droughts and wildfires
2024-04-04 19:00 - 20:30 | Dakota Lodge, 1200 Stassen Lane, West St. Paul, MN, 55118, United States
The recorded presentation is available on the Video page.
7:00 PM Meeting starts, doors will open at 6:30 PM
Talk Summary: Beaver dams and beaver mimicry (e.g. Beaver Dam Analogs) are gaining popularity as a low‐cost, nature-based strategy to build climate resiliency at the landscape scale. Beavers slow and store water in their ponds, canals, and the surrounding soil during wet periods which can then be accessed by riparian vegetation during droughts. As a result, the well-watered vegetation in beaver-dammed riparian corridors is less flammable. My research has shown that these beaver-influenced patches of the landscape stay green and can serve as fire refugia, preserving intact, mature riparian habitat – even during fires here in the Great Lakes Region. Perhaps instead of relying solely on human engineering and management to create and maintain drought and fire‐resistant waterways and riparian zones, we could benefit from partnering with beaver’s ecosystem engineering to achieve the same goals at a lower cost.
Presenter Bio: Emily Fairfax is an Assistant Professor of Geography at the University of Minnesota and an affiliate faculty member at the Saint Anthony Falls Laboratory. Dr. Fairfax double majored in Chemistry and Physics as an undergraduate at Carleton College, then went on to earn a PhD in Geological Sciences with an emphasis in Hydrologic Sciences from the University of Colorado Boulder. She uses a combination of remote sensing, modeling, and field work to understand how beaver ecosystem engineering can create drought and fire-resistant patches in the landscape under a changing climate. Her research has been featured internationally in National Geographic, the New York Times, the LA Times, BBC, Vox, and others. When Dr. Fairfax says she can talk about beavers all day, she’s not kidding.

Collaborating to Conserving Native Characeae in Minnesota Lakes
2024-05-02 19:00 - 20:30
This will be an on-line Zoom meeting only. MNNPS members, check your email for instructions.
7:00 PM Meeting starts
Program: Collaborating to Conserving Native Characeae in Minnesota Lakes
Talk Abstract
The Characeae, a family comprised of large, morphologically complex, freshwater green algae are among the closest living relatives of the first land plants. Commonly known as “stoneworts”, they are essential components of lakes throughout Minnesota, yet their preservation is hindered by a lack of expertise in identification. The 2015 discovery of “starry stonewort”, the only known invasive member of this family, in a Minnesota lake underscores the importance of studying the distribution, diversity, and ecological roles of native Characeae. Through collaboration among the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, and the New York Botanical Garden, our project aims to enhance knowledge and proficiency in Characeae identification and ecology. Employing field surveys, microscopic analyses, and phylogenetic studies, our team has identified numerous native Characeae species and monitored the spread of the invasive. Our collaborative initiative seeks to integrate Characeae sampling into routine lake surveys, train surveyors in Characeae identification, and establish baseline data on Characeae communities statewide. Conducting surveys across 650 waterbodies statewide and intensive searches in lakes within the Leech Lake Reservation, our project will inform lake management strategies, aid in prioritizing lakes for conservation efforts, and facilitate monitoring of changes in lake habitats, thereby bolstering the conservation of Minnesota’s lake ecosystems. In this presentation, we provide a preliminary update of our project.
Presenters
Donna J. Perleberg, Research Scientist II, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Brainerd, MN
Kate A. Hagsten, Plant Program Director, Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe Division of Resource Management, Cass Lake, MN
Melinda Neville, Earth Systems Science Program Director, Leech Lake Tribal College, Cass Lake, MN
Leanna Goose, Research Student, Leech Lake Tribal College, Cass Lake, MN
Kenneth G. Karol, Ph.D., Associate Curator, The Lewis B. and Dorothy Cullman Program for Molecular Systematics, New York Botanical Garden, The Bronx, NY

Euphorbia: how to make sense of the large genus of 2000+ species, and the common members in Minnesota
2024-10-03 19:00 - 20:30 | Dakota Lodge, 1200 Stassen Lane, West St. Paul, MN, 55118, United States
The recorded presentation is available on the Videos page.
Presenter: Dr. Ya Yang – Associate Professor, Curator – University of Minnesota Herbarium
Speaker Bio: Dr. Ya Yang grew up in Beijing, China, where she did her undergraduate degree at the Peking University, Beijing, China. She then moved on to do her Ph.D. at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, focusing on the systematics of Euphorbia subgenus Chamaesyce. During that time she also co-authored treatments for the genus Euphorbia in Flora of North America. Currently, Dr. Yang is an associate professor at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, and a curator at the University of Minnesota Herbarium. Her research focuses on the evolution of plant lineages using morphology, biochemistry, and gene sequences, using plants in the order Caryophyllales and Euphorbia. She teaches General Botany at the University of Minnesota.

A Seed’s Journey: Can the Seed Rain and Seed Bank Supply Missing Diversity to Restored Prairies?
2024-11-07 19:00 - 20:30 | Dakota Lodge, 1200 Stassen Lane, West St. Paul, MN, 55118, United States
The recorded presentation is available on the Videos page.
Presenter: Dr. Katherine Wynne, Plant Ecologist Midwest Natural Resources Saint Paul, Minnesota.
Speaker Bio: Dr. Katherine Wynne graduated with a Ph.D. in Plant Biology and Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior from Michigan State University in 2024 and a B.A. in Biology from Kalamazoo College in 2017. Since 2016, she has developed, led, and collaborated on plant-focused research projects at the population and community level. These projects include working with rare Lake Michigan dune plants and restored and remnant tallgrass prairie plant communities in Texas, Oklahoma, and Missouri.

Oak Origins: From Acorns to Species and the Tree of Life
2024-12-05 19:00 - 20:30
The recorded presentation is available on the Videos page.
Presenter: Andrew Hipp – Author of Oak Origins
Program: Andrew will discuss his new book: Oak Origins, From Acorns to Species and the Tree of Life. From ancient acorns to future forests, the story of how oaks evolved and the many ways they shape our world.
The following is a link to The University of Chicago Press to view Andrew’s book.
https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/O/bo236998258.html

Rare Plant Conservation in Wisconsin
2025-02-06 19:00 - 20:30
The recorded presentation is available on the Videos page.
Presenter: Kevin Doyle – Botanist with the Bureau of Natural Heritage Conservation Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
Program: Rare Plant Conservation in Wisconsin
This talk will provide an overview of different types of rare plant conservation projects the Wisconsin DNR is working with, including status assessments, hand pollination, outplantings, assisted migration, and citizen science.
Speaker Bio: Kevin Doyle is a botanist with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. He received a bachelor’s degree in conservation biology from UW-Madison and a master’s in plant biology from the University of Texas at Austin. In his role as DNR botanist for the last 12 years he has conducted botanical and ecological surveys across Wisconsin, working in almost every county in the state. He focuses on rare plants in particular and started the Rare Plant Monitoring Program in 2013 to train volunteers to search for and collect data on rare plant populations to inform conservation efforts.

From Data to Diversity: Modernizing Minnesota's Native Plant Community System
2025-03-06 19:00 - 20:30 | Dakota Lodge, 1200 Stassen Lane, West St. Paul, MN, 55118, United States
The recorded presentation is on the Videos page.
Presenter: Alaina Berger, NPC Classification Coordinator, Division of Ecological and Water Resources, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
Program: From Data to Diversity: Modernizing Minnesota’s Native Plant Community System
Minnesota DNR’s Native Plant Community Classification is a dynamic tool for conservation, vegetation management, and land-use planning, evolving with new data and user experiences. This talk will highlight ongoing efforts to integrate two decades of vegetation data and address knowledge gaps in various plant communities across Minnesota.
Speaker Bio: Alaina Berger is an experienced Forest Ecologist with a passion for understanding and preserving forest ecosystems. With a BS degree in Environmental Science and a Master of Science in Forest Ecology at the University of Minnesota, she has dedicated over 30 years to studying plant communities and how they respond to changes in their environment. Alaina has worked on various projects, from mapping natural habitats to developing guidelines for forest management. Her past research has focused on understory flora response to forest stand structure and disturbance from management activities. Alaina has extensive experience with the Native Plant Community Classification, including 12 years in various roles at the MNDNR, where she was part of the initial launch of the Native Plant Classification. Currently, she serves as the Native Plant Classification Revision Coordinator with the Minnesota Biological Survey (MBS) at the DNR. She coordinates a 3-year project to modernize the DNR Native Plant Community Classification system. Her work is driven by a deep commitment to maintaining the health and diversity of Minnesota’s natural landscapes.

A Dozen of My Favorite Minnesota Plant Stories
2025-04-03 19:00 - 20:30
The recorded presentation is available on the Videos page.
7:00 PM Meeting starts
MN PlantWatch Update by Angela Miner, Conservation Botanist with the MN Landscape Arboretum.
Program: A Dozen of My Favorite Minnesota Plant Stories
Presenter: Dr. Stephen Saupe, Emeritus Professor (Plant Taxonomy, Secondary Metabolism of Plants and Fungi) – St. John’s University

Lessons Learned in Protecting and Restoring Biodiversity
2025-05-12 19:00 - 20:30 | Dakota Lodge, 1200 Stassen Lane, West St. Paul, MN, 55118, United States
Note: This meeting is rescheduled from Thursday, May 1 to Monday, May 12 and will be a hybrid meeting both in-person at Dakota Lodge and on-line through Zoom. MNNPS members, check your email for instructions.
Presenters: Bonnie Harper-Lore & Gary Lore
Program: LESSONS LEARNED IN PROTECTING AND RESTORING BIODIVERSITY, a new book by 85 scientists, educators, practitioners, policymakers and citizen scientists, published 9.13.24 by Cambridge Scholars Press.
Gary Lore and Bonnie Harper-Lore collected a network of conservation stories, written in the authors’ own voices to share with the next generation, when time and money will continue to be short to solve conservation problems, impacted by climate change, development, invasives and public policy.
Readers, including students, professionals and advocates can build on these lessons learned at the local, state, federal, and international levels. Some 52 disciplines are represented because it takes a multidisciplinary approach to do conservation work. These are the actions we took to get it done.
Gary K. Lore holds a BA in environmental ethics, economics, and communications from Metro State University, Minnesota. The majority of his career was in integrated vegetation management for the Colorado Department of Highways, followed by consulting in the midwest. Gary spent 12 years as a federal public affairs officer. Over time he edited and wrote features and columns for Colorado Streamside Quarterly, Trout magazine, “Outdoor Lore”, Minnesota Vietnam Veterans Quarterly, The Metropolitan (Editor) and more. Gary grew up on the prairie of the Nebraska sand hills.
Bonnie L. Harper-Lore holds a MS from the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she focused on preservation, restoration and management of native plant communities. As a restoration ecologist she spent 20 years with State and federal roadside programs, providing technical transfer, research oversight and policy support to 50 State Departments of Transportation. During that time, she served as editor of a quarterly newsletter, Greener Roadsides. She also co-authored Roadside Use of Native Plants, Roadside Weed Management and Vegetation Management, an Ecoregional Approach. Bonnie grew up in the driftless area of Wisconsin with a goat prairie behind the barn.

Red Lake Wildlife Management Area History and Habitat Management
2025-10-09 19:00 - 20:30
The recorded presentation is available on the Videos page.
Presenters: Charlie Tucker– Manager at Red Lake Wildlife Management Area
Program: Charlie will discuss the settlement history of the Red Lake WMA area, and how it relates to current land ownership. He will also talk about using Native Plant Community information to manage for a variety of forest habitats. Ongoing WMA habitat management projects will be discussed.
Bio: Charlie Tucker grew up in Saint Paul before pursuing an undergraduate degree in wildlife ecology from UW-Madison. He worked for various conservation entities before attaining a Master of Science in biology from Missouri State University. His project focused on the breeding ecology of ornate box turtles where he was fortunate to conduct research on large remnant sand prairies in the driftless area of Illinois. After working for the US Fish and Wildlife Service for a couple years, he returned to Minnesota as the assistant wildlife manager at Red Lake WMA. For the last two years he has been the manager at Red Lake WMA, the largest Wildlife Management Area in Minnesota.

Fire behavior and tree mortality, by Dr. Lee Frelich
2025-11-12 19:00 - 20:30
The recorded presentation is available on the Video page.
Presenter: Dr. Lee Frelich – Director of the Center for Forest Ecology, University of Minnesota
Presenter Biography: Lee Frelich is Director of the University of Minnesota Center for Forest Ecology. He has authored 200 publications with 275 coauthors from 25 countries. He is listed among the top 1% of all scientists in the world (Ecology and Environment category) by the Web of Science. His research has been featured in the news media 500 times, including The New York Times, Newsweek and Washington Post. Current research interests include large-scale fire and wind, earthworm invasion, and climate change in temperate and boreal forests.

An Evening of Q&A with Ron Bowen, founder of Prairie Restorations, Inc.
2025-12-18 19:00 - 20:30
The recorded presentation is available on the Videos page.
Presenter: Ron Bowen – founder of Prairie Restorations, Inc.
Program: Spend an evening participating in a Q&A with special guest Ron Bowen, founder of Prairie Restorations, Inc.
Presenter Biography: Ron began dreaming of and creating what would become Prairie Restorations, Inc. (PRI) in the early 1970s after finishing a forestry degree at the University of Minnesota. His first restorations were created while working as a gardener for Bruce Dayton of the famed Dayton family. PRI was incorporated in 1977 as Ron and his brother John moved the business up to the Anoka Sandplain and ramped up seed and plant production. Over time, PRI has grown to be a leader in the ecological restoration movement, continuing to do meaningful projects and inspiring others to do the important work of restoring native plant communities.
We will be exploring the early days, with stories of challenges and successes, hear about some of Ron’s favorite plants, and what is in store for the future of Ron and PRI.

Active augmentation and recovery of rare species and native orchids – what we’re learning so far
2026-02-12 19:00 - 20:30
The recorded presentation is available on the Video page.
Presenter: Dr. David Remucal – Curator of Endangered Plants, Adjunct Professor University of Minnesota
Biography: The Plant Conservation Program works to promote the conservation of rare and native plant species of Minnesota, reaching region and nation-wide. Our focus is on individual species preservation, with a focus on applied research and ex situ conservation. We manage a long-term seed bank for rare plants and native orchids. As part of this work, we research the propagation of all of these species, with special attention to the complex propagation and ecology of terrestrial orchids. Our goal is to create a rigorously scientifically-supported set of guidelines and protocols for preserving and restoring some of the most complex species which are not currently restoration material as well as develop the infrastructure to support restoration efforts with these plants with field protocols and scaled-up production of the plants. As climate change and human manipulation of the environment progresses, this work becomes increasingly vital and must extend beyond pure basic research to application.

Peat Keepers: Healing Minnesota’s Carbon-Rich Landscapes
2026-03-12 19:00 - 20:30
Note date change: Thursday, March 12. This will be online through Zoom only. MNNPS members, check your email for instructions.
Presenter: Meredith Cornett – MNDNR Peatland Resilience Project Planner
Program: Peat Keepers: Healing Minnesota’s Carbon-Rich Landscapes
Description: With more peatlands than any other state in the US outside Alaska, Minnesota has a role to play in sustaining and restoring peatlands as part of a multifaceted climate mitigation strategy. The state’s Climate Action Framework recognizes the power of peatlands, naming the restoration of partially drained peatlands as an important strategy for climate mitigation. The 2023 Minnesota Legislature created the MNDNR’s Peatland Protection and Restoration Demonstration Project as a first step toward implementing the Climate Action Framework’s peatland strategy. We will dive into peatland restoration work being planned for the DNR’s Winter Road Lake Peatland Scientific and Natural Area in Lake of the Woods County, including our approach to monitoring pre-restoration conditions for vegetation, hydrology and greenhouse gases. For more information about the project: https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/wetlands/peatland-resilience-initiative.html
Biography: Meredith Cornett is the Peatland Resilience Project Planner at Minnesota’s Department of Natural Resources (MNDNR), a role she has held since January 2024. She has come full circle in returning to the DNR, where she began her professional career in conservation as a Community Forest Ecologist in the Twin Cities Metro Area. For nearly two decades, Meredith served as Director of Science for The Nature Conservancy in Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota. Over the years, she has also enjoyed working with students and faculty at the University of Minnesota through an adjunct appointment in the Conservation Sciences Graduate Program. She lives with her family in Fredenberg Township, where they harvest sunlight, tend beehives, protect pine seedlings from deer browsing, and coexist with human and other neighbors.
