Wednesday, September 23, 7:30 pm
Speaker: Nick Jensen, PhD, CNPS Conservation Program Director
Register to attend
In the past couple of years, CNPS has been an integral part of efforts to save vast acreage that is home to globally important biodiversity. These actions range from local advocacy at the project level to efforts to save vast tracts of federal public lands via presidential action. Today, conservation advocacy takes place at the crossroads between federal threats to plants and habitats and an increasingly challenging policy landscape at the state level.
In his talk, Nick will review current efforts of the CNPS Conservation Program, including advocacy on key projects and state and federal policies. He will also discuss recent and forthcoming additions to the resources available to CNPS advocates, including the Conservation Toolkit, Advocacy Corps, and Important Plant Areas. He will emphasize actions that each of us can take toward conserving California’s irreplaceable flora and habitats, with the goal of charting a positive path forward in these challenging times.
Nick Jensen currently serves as the Conservation Program Director for the California Native Plant Society. In this position, he oversees the conservation work of staff and volunteer advocates statewide, including litigation, coalition participation, media relations, and supervision of a team of conservation professionals. Nick earned his BS in Environmental Horticulture at UC Davis and completed his PhD in botany at California Botanic Garden/Claremont Graduate University, where he produced the first Flora of Tejon Ranch. He has worked as a botanist or ecologist for the U.S. Forest Service, UC Davis, the Chicago Botanic Garden, and the private consulting industry, and he has taught botany courses for CNPS, California Botanic Garden, the Jepson Herbarium, and the Theodore Payne Foundation.
—Edi Wipf, Programs Committee Chair, CNPS East Bay Chapter, programs@ebcnps.org
