2026 KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

CAMILLE DUNGY

Award winning poet, acclaimed essayist and critic.  Dungy is the author of  Soil: The Story of a Black Mother’s Garden.

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DR. ABIGAIL DERBY LEWIS

Scientist and Conservation leader with over 20 years of experience in landscape-scale conservation, climate resilience, and ecological restoration. She currently serves as Executive Director of Citizens for Conservation

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PROGRAM

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EXHIBIT HALL

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Day 1
09 Feb 2027
Day 2
10 Feb 2027

Taking Landscapes to the Next Level: From Leveraging Ecosystem Services to Changing Cultural Norms 

With increasing development and diminishing natural areas, our landscapes have become the final frontier for environmental improvement.  Learn the latest strategies to take any landscape to the next level. Enhancing...
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Kim Eierman

The Pollinator Victory Garden: Winning the War on Pollinator Decline 

Countless pollinator species have suffered dramatic declines in recent years. It’s a serious problem for all of us since pollinators are responsible for the reproduction of 80% of all flowering...
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Kim Eierman

A New Garden Ethic 

In a time of massive climate disruption, how and for whom we garden matters more than ever.  Our built landscapes reflect the dominant beliefs of our society—they are too often...
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Benjamin Vogt

Plant Sociability 101 

How we shop for plants is backward. The primary metric we should be gardening by is plant behavior, or, how they move around and reproduce. Taking a little time to...
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Benjamin Vogt

Diversity, Resilience, and Hope for the Future

Ecological restoration can feel both incredibly rewarding and hopeless at the same time.  Despite the amazing work we’re all doing, it can feel like challenges are mounting faster than we...
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Chris Helzer

Native Bees and the Plants that Support Them 

Missouri is home to more than 460 species of native bees. Native bees rarely sting and keep the food web going by pollinating plants that provide food to humans as...
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Bill White

Fall Forward with Native Perennials

At the end of winter, it’s appealing to think about spring flowers and the warmth of summer. It’s also an opportunity to think about giving your landscape and the wildlife around you...
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Shannon Currey

Gardening for Birds

Session description coming soon.
Alan Branhagen

Dragonflies and Damselflies: The Garden’s Frequent Fliers

Discover the fascinating and bizarre lives of these fliers–with plenty of group fun and lively interaction during the presentation. From their unusual life cycle of transformation, mystifying migratory habits, and...
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Cindy Crosby

The Tallgrass Prairie: Grocery Store, Apothecary and Love Charm Shop

Throughout Illinois’ history, people have used the prairie as a grocery store, pharmacy, art supply shop and even a place to find love potions. Discover the intriguing stories behind these...
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Cindy Crosby

Native Plants of the Midwest: Vines

Explore the woody vines found in the Midwest and how you can utilize them in the home landscape. Vines can conform to tight spaces and cover structures to cool and...
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Alan Branhagen