December 10, 2015 • 8:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Allegheny Room of The State Museum of Pennsylvania
300 North Street • Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17120
Directions/Parking: http://statemuseumpa.org/visit/directions-parking/

Cost: $210 (includes lunch and a.m. coffee break)
Register here.

This workshop will instruct participants in the skills needed to correctly conduct plant surveys, document findings for the Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program (PNHP), prepare reports to submit to the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) and prepare museum quality plant voucher specimens. The Pennsylvania Conservation Explorer, a new online tool for conservation planning and PNDI environmental review will also be presented. The day will include a mix of classroom instruction, discussion and hands-on activities including a tour of The State Museum of Pennsylvania’s herbarium.

Workshop Instructors

Timothy A. Block, Ph.D. Dr. Timothy A. Block was appointed the John J. Willaman Chair of Botany at the University of Pennsylvania’s Morris Arboretum in 2009 after having served as Director of Botany since 2001. He has been affiliated with the Morris Arboretum for more than 16 years and holds appointments as Adjunct Professor in the Biology Department at Penn, Research Associate at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, and Expert in Botany for the Poison Control Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. He is co-author of The Plants of Pennsylvania: An Illustrated Manual published in 2000 with the second edition published in 2007, Trees of Pennsylvania: A Complete Reference Guide published in 2005, and Aquatic Plants of Pennsylvania: A Complete Reference Guide published by Penn Press in 2011.

John Kunsman, M.S. John has been a botanist with the Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program since 1986. He has had an interest in the botany of Pennsylvania for 40 years, and in his professional work has concentrated on conducting surveys and gathering information about rare species. He received M.S. degrees in Forestry and Botany from Penn State University.

Greg Podniesinski, Ph.D. Greg has been the DCNR Director of the Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program since 2008. Greg has been with the Natural Heritage Program since 1998, first as a plant community ecologist involved in a number of vegetation mapping and plant community classification projects and later as the coordinator for the Natural Heritage Programs ecology, botany and zoology staff, prior to becoming program Director. Greg works out of the Bureau of Forestry’s Conservation Science and Ecological Resources Division in Harrisburg.

Jason Ryndock, M.S. Jason has worked as an Ecological Information Specialist with the Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program since 2012, performing environmental review for the DCNR Bureau of Forestry in Harrisburg. His deep-rooted interests in botany, entomology, and restoration ecology have influenced his research and public outreach. Jason received a M.S. degree in Biology from the University of Mississippi.

Frederick (Bud) Sechler,  Jr., M.S. Bud has worked as an Ecological Information Specialist with the Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program since 2012, performing environmental review for the DCNR Bureau of Forestry in Harrisburg. Before that, he worked as a contract ecologist with NatureServe in 2011, and as an ecologist with the New York Natural Heritage Program from 2007-2011. He started his Natural Heritage career with being part of the Pennsylvania Natural Heritage as a county inventory ecologist, from 2004-2006. Bud has a M.S. in Conservation Biology from Antioch University New England.

Lisa Smith, M.S. Lisa splits her time as Executive Director of the Natural Areas Association and as an independent consultant conducting ecological inventories and rare plant surveys in western PA. She also works as a consultant with the Land Trust Alliance as a facilitator of land protection and stewardship excellence programs throughout western PA, NY and WV. Lisa started her career as a heritage ecologist with the Western PA Conservancy in 1990 and her passion for Pennsylvania’s wild plants and the people who work to protect them has brought her to us as the Coordinator of our Pennsylvania Botany Symposium and Workshops.

Kent Taylor. Kent Taylor is a Natural Resources Program Specialist at the DCNR Bureau of Forestry in Harrisburg. He has 24 years of experience working for state and local governments and non-profit organizations in six U.S. states and three foreign countries. Since 2004, Kent has led numerous projects to automate mapping for web applications in health, environmental protection, natural resources, and recreation.

+ Additional contributions from PA Botanists to be introduced during the day

If you have questions about this workshop please contact us: