Flyer for the Transforming the Landscape Symposium.

ReSeeding RI Botanist, Shannon Kingsley to speak at RI Audubon Society Symposium

Transforming The Landscape: Audubon Native Plants and Pollinators Symposium focuses on how to become part of a sustainable community and support our native species by creating beautiful pollinator habitat at home. The keynote speaker Dr. Doug Tallamy, Professor and Chair of the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware is well known for his lauded books on landscaping for wildlife.  The seven other speakers include Shannon Kingsley, the biologist of our ReSeeding RI initiate, which aims to increase the availability of seeds and plants from locally sourced wild native “ecotypic” plant populations. The other speakers are Dr. Steven Alm, Professor of Entomology, and the URI Bee Lab; Lee Ann Freitas, Director, Roger Williams Park Botanical Center; Sally Johnson, Ecoastal Design; Donna Merrill, Founder and President of Pollinator Pathway; Jen West, Coastal Training Program Coordinator, Narragansett Bay Research Reserve and Phoenix Wheeler, Audubon Director of Advocacy.  The symposium will take place on April 20, 2024, from 9am to 4pm, at Rhode Island College in Providence.Flyer for the Transforming the Landscape Symposium.

The symposium offers the opportunity to speak with local garden designers, community organizers, and Rhode Island’s scientific community to discover how your space can grow into a pollinator paradise. Learn about the latest bee research out of the University of Rhode Island, the detrimental effects of neonicotinoid pesticides on wildlife and our waterways, and local efforts to establish a living seed bank for native plants. Leave with knowledge on where to find native plants, ways to communicate with your community about this vital issue, and how to get your garden on the map by joining Audubon’s Pollinator Alliance. RIWPS along with other organizations will be represented at the event.
More details and registration.

Achillea millefolium

Common yarrow (Achillea millefolium)

Asclepias incarnata display

Swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata)

Common boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum)

Coastal Joe-pye weed (Eutrochium dubium)

Lobelia cardinalis display

Cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis)