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2025 CPC National Meeting

REGISTRATION IS NOW CLOSED
By Matthew Albrecht Tiny Tim (Geocarpon minimum)

CPC at Missouri Botanical Garden

May 7-10, 2025

 

The Center for Plant Conservation is thrilled to host its 2025 National Meeting May 7-10, at Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis, Missouri. This annual event unites plant conservation professionals, researchers, and advocates to exchange insights, share experiences, and build strategies for advancing rare and endangered plant stewardship.

This year’s theme, Best Practices: Proven Methods & New Perspectives in Rare Plant Conservation, highlights the tried-and-true methodologies and emerging approaches that drive successful conservation efforts. Together, we’ll explore the latest strategies in plant conservation and stewardship, delve into innovative techniques and evolving best practices, and discuss collaborative solutions to address the growing challenges—as well as promising solutions and opportunities—impacting imperiled plants and their ecosystems.

The conference program will feature updates from the CPC National Office on network-wide initiatives, dynamic lightning talks from CPC’s network of Conservation Partners, and presentations centered on both well-established best practices and innovative perspectives in plant conservation. We invite Institutional and Individual Conservation Partners to submit presentation abstracts that align with this year’s theme, Best Practices: Proven Methods & New Perspectives in Rare Plant Conservation, focusing on successful applications of proven strategies, creative solutions to complex challenges, lessons learned from the field, or topics that otherwise adhere to the conference theme.

Conference-goers will also have to opportunity to join a pre-conference workshop hosted by the Missouri Botanical Garden’s Center for Conservation and Sustainable Development and Horticulture Division team on Wednesday, May 7, as well as a post-conference field trip on Saturday, May 10, to Shaw Nature Reserve, Missouri Botanical Garden’s 2,441-acre educational, research, and habitat restoration and reconstruction site. Space for both the workshop and field trip are limited and on a first come, first served basis.

Join us in St. Louis to celebrate the ingenuity, dedication, and partnerships that empower plant conservation efforts and ensure the survival of the world’s rarest plants for generations to come.


___________________________________________________

 

Pre-Conference Workshop: Wednesday, May 7, 1:00 – 5:00 p.m.

Ex situ collections in botanical gardens aim to safeguard imperiled plant species by preserving existing intraspecific variation for future conservation and restoration. However, general guidelines for ex situ plant conservation, when applied in the absence of genetic or genomic information, will perform well in some cases and poorly in others. In 2022, the Missouri Botanical Garden was awarded a National Leadership grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) for a project that aims to develop a model that botanical gardens may broadly adopt to understand and more efficiently conserve multiple forms of intraspecific variation in ex situ living collections. Taking advantage of the increasing availability of genomic data and the ability of botanical gardens to manage living collections as common garden experiments, this model aims to assess neutral and adaptive intraspecific variation in imperiled plant species.

As part of this project, members of the Missouri Botanical Garden’s Center for Conservation and Sustainable Development and Horticulture Division will lead a training workshop intended for those who manage and utilize ex situ collections in plant conservation. The goal of the workshop is to share protocols that can be readily adopted by many botanical gardens to advance their ex situ conservation programs, combining genomic data and common garden experiments. The half-day workshop will consist of short lectures on specific protocols that botanical gardens can follow to assess both neutral and adaptive genomic and phenotypic variation for a species of interest and use the data to design optimized ex situ collections for that plant species. Participants will also learn best practices for tracking maternal lines, propagation, and research in botanical garden collections with Missouri Botanical Garden’s Living Collection Management System (LCMS). The workshop will conclude with a tour of common garden experiments and phenotyping protocols for six imperiled plant species under study at Missouri Botanical Garden’s Oertli Nursery.

Registration fee: $25/person

Registration for the workshop is sold out. Please contact info@saveplants.org if you would like to be added to the waitlist.

For a detailed workshop schedule, please scroll below to the four-day meeting agenda under the “Happenings” section. 

 

Post-conference Field Trip: Saturday, May 10, 8:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

Join a field trip experience to Shaw Nature Reserve, the Missouri Botanical Garden’s 2,441-acre educational, research, and habitat restoration and reconstruction site. Field trip attendees will tour Missouri Botanical Garden’s seed bank and ecological restoration facilities, and take a walking tour of restored prairies, woodlands, and glades with scenic views of the Meramec River Valley. Access to these sites will require moderate hiking and walking.

Registration fee: $85/person

Registration for the field trip is sold out. Please contact info@saveplants.org if you would like to be added to the waitlist.

For a detailed workshop schedule, please scroll below to the four-day meeting agenda under the “Happenings” section. 

 

Board of Trustees Meeting

CPC’s Board of Trustees meeting will take place the Wednesday before the CPC National Meeting on May 7, 2025. Board Members will have the opportunity to join the field trip on Saturday May 10, 2025.

REGISTRATION IS NOW CLOSED

Thank You to Our Sponsors

 

 

 

Important Dates

March 18, 2025

Presentation Abstracts Due & Early Bird Registration Ends

April 18, 2025

Final Day for Registration

May 7-10, 2025

National Meeting Activities Begin

Registration Offerings

In-Person Registration Rates

National Meeting sessions will take place at the Missouri Botanical Garden. Early bird registration is available before March 18, 2025 and costs:

  • $450 for CPC members
  • $525 for Non-members
  • $250 for full time students
  • Add $25 to each category to register for the pre-conference workshop on Wednesday, May 7
  • Add $85 to each category to register for the post-conference field trip on Saturday, May 10
  • Late registrations between March 19 – April 18 will add $50 to all categories

National Meeting registration includes:

  • Two full days of face-to-face networking with top conservation experts
  • Eligibility to present conservation research from your organization  as either a 5-minute lightning talk or poster presentation
  • Lunch during conference sessions on May 8-9
  • Star Award Dinner on the evening of May 8
  • Cocktail reception on May 9
  • Transportation from the AC Hotel St. Louis Central West End to/from the conference venue on May 8-9
  • Networking with fellow attendees through the Whova conference platform
  • Eligibility to compete in the conference photo contest cash prizes
  • Access to the Whova conference platform and recorded meeting content beginning two days before and six months after the meeting

Not a CPC Conservation Partner? Become a member to enjoy discounted meeting registration rates and to submit presentation abstracts.

_______________________________________

Please note that this is an in-person conference with no virtual registration offering. 
Highlights

2025 CPC National Meeting

Keynote Speaker

Allison Miller, Ph.D.

Investigator and Member, Donald Danforth Plant Science Center & Professor of Biology, Saint Louis University

Dr. Allison Miller is a Principal Investigator and Member at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, a Professor of Biology at Saint Louis University, and a Research Associate at the Missouri Botanical Garden. Research carried out by the Miller lab group focuses on perennial plant biology, diversity, and evolution. The overarching aim of this work is to advance fundamental understanding of the genetic and environmental determinants of phenotypic variation in perennial species, with the goal of improving/developing perennial crops that benefit people and the planet.

Originally from the Chicago suburbs, Allison earned BS and MS degrees in Botany from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and Colorado State University respectively, and holds a PhD in Ecology, Evolution, and Population Biology from Washington University in St. Louis. She completed postdoctoral training at the University of Colorado. More information is available on the Miller Lab Website www.perennialplantdiversity.org.

Don't Miss Moments

Pre-conference Workshop

Join the Missouri Botanical Garden’s Center for Conservation and Sustainable Development and Horticulture Division team for a special training workshop intended for those who manage and utilize ex situ collections in plant conservation. The goal of the workshop is to share protocols that can be readily adopted by many botanical gardens to advance their ex situ conservation programs, combining genomic data and common garden experiments. This half-day workshop on Wednesday, May 7, will consist of short lectures on specific protocols that botanical gardens can follow to assess both neutral and adaptive genomic and phenotypic variation for a species of interest and use the data to design optimized ex situ collections for that plant species. Participants will also learn best practices for tracking maternal lines, propagation, and research in botanical garden collections with Missouri Botanical Garden’s Living Collection Management System (LCMS). The workshop will conclude with a tour of common garden experiments and phenotyping protocols for six imperiled plant species under study at Missouri Botanical Garden’s Oertli Nursery.

Registration fee: $25/person

Registration for the workshop is sold out. Please contact info@saveplants.org if you would like to be added to the waitlist.



 

Field Trip to Shaw Nature Reserve

Join CPC and Missouri Botanical Garden on a visit  to shaw Nature Reserve, the Garden’s 2,441-acre educational, research, and habitat restoration and reconstruction site. Field trip attendees will tour Missouri Botanical Garden’s seed bank and ecological restoration facilities, and take a walking tour of restored prairies, woodlands, and glades with scenic views of the Meramec River Valley.

Conference attendees will have the option to join this field trip experience following the National Meeting on Saturday, May 10. Access to these sites will require moderate hiking and walking.

Registration fee: $85/person

Registration for the field trip is sold out. Please contact info@saveplants.org if you would like to be added to the waitlist.

 

Presentations & Networking

National Meeting attendees will enjoy a robust conference program featuring updates from the CPC National Office on network-wide initiatives, dynamic lightning talks from CPC’s network of Conservation Partners, and presentations centered on both well-established best practices and innovative perspectives in plant conservation.

 

Attendees will also have ample opportunities to connect and network with fellow conference-goers over the multi-day conference, including the annual Star Award Dinner and closing cocktail reception.
Information

Happenings

Four Day Meeting Agenda

Pre-Conference Workshop | May 7, 2025 (CST)
12:30 PM
Shuttle Departs Conference Hotel
1:00 PM
Welcome Remarks
1:05 PM
Workshop Overview: Why Study Adaptive and Neutral Genetic and Phenotypic Variation in Botanical Gardens?
1:30 PM
Experimental Design: How to Study Adaptive and Neutral Phenotypic Variation in Botanical Garden Collections
2:00 PM
Experimental Design: How to Study Adaptive and Neutral Genetic Variation in Botanical Garden Collections
2:30 PM
Break
2:45 PM
Optimizing Ex Situ Collection Design in Botanical Garden Collections
3:00 PM
Living Collection Management System (LCMS): Mini-Workshop on Tracking Maternal Lines, Propagation, and Research
3:30 PM
Question and Discussion Session
3:45 PM
Break and Travel to Oertli Nursery
4:00 PM
Tour of Common Garden Experiments and Phenotyping Protocols at Oertli Nursery
5:00 PM
Shuttle Departs Oertli Nursery for Conference Hotel
Conference Day 1 | May 8, 2025 (CST)
7:30 AM
Shuttle Departs Conference Hotel
7:45 AM
Registration and Breakfast
8:45 AM
CPC Welcome Remarks and Conference Orientation
9:05 AM
Missouri Botanical Garden Welcome and Conservation Program Overview
9:40 AM
Break
9:50 AM
Keynote Presentation
10:40 AM
Break
10:50 AM
Lightning Talk Session #1
11:50 AM
CPC Science and Programs Overview
12:30 PM
Lunch
1:30 PM
Special Interest Talk
1:55 PM
Lightning Talk Session #2
2:55 PM
Break
3:10 PM
Lightning Talk Session #3
3:40 PM
Closing Remarks
3:45 PM
Conference Group Photo
4:00 PM
Self-guided Garden Tours
5:00 PM
Poster Session and Cocktail Reception
6:00 PM
Star Award Dinner
6:45 PM
Star Award Presentation Ceremony
8:15 PM
Shuttle Departs Missouri Botanical Garden for Conference Hotel
8:30 PM
Return to Conference Hotel
Conference Day 2 | May 9, 2025 (CST)
7:30 AM
Shuttle Departs Conference Hotel
7:45 AM
Breakfast and Networking
8:45 AM
Welcome Remarks
8:55 AM
Lightning Talk Session #4
9:55 AM
Break
10:10 AM
Special Interest Talk
10:35 AM
Lightning Talk Session #5
11:15 AM
Lunch
12:30 PM
Travel to Bayer Lecture Hall
12:50 PM
Special Interest Talks
1:40 PM
Break
1:55 PM
Lightning Talk Session #6
2:55 PM
Tour of Missouri Botanical Garden Facilities
4:05 PM
Conference Closing Remarks and Photo Contest Announcement
4:30 PM
Cocktail Reception
5:30 PM
Shuttle Departs Missouri Botanical Garden for Conference Hotel
5:45 PM
Return to Conference Hotel
Shaw Nature Reserve Field Trip | May 10, 2025 (CST)
8:15 AM
Shuttle Departs Conference Hotel
9:00 AM
Tours of Shaw Nature Reserve
11:30 AM
Lunch
1:00 PM
Shuttle Departs Shaw Nature Reserve
1:45 PM
Return to Conference Hotel

Who to Contact

For general inquires, registration assistance, or agenda and presentation details, please contact

CPC National Headquarters

Email CPC

Requests for registration refunds will be considered at the discretion of the CPC National Office up until April 18, 2025. 

(760) 796-5686

Travel and Lodging

Travel Information

St. Louis is served by the St. Louis Lambert International Airport, located approximately 25 minutes from our conference hotel, AC Hotel St. Louis Central West End.

All attendees should make their own arrangements to get to and from the hotel/airport. Shuttles from the hotel to the pre-conference workshop, National Meeting sessions, and post-conference field trip are included in the conference registration.

 

Hotel Information

CPC has reserved a block of rooms at AC Hotel St. Louis Central West End (215 York Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63108) for the nights of May 6 – 10 (check out Sunday, May 11). The group rate is $189/night, and availability may be limited.

Hotel valet parking is dynamic pricing at $40-$50, based on occupancy. Prices are subject to change without notice. Offsite parking is located at Argyle Garage across the street from hotel.

The deadline to book a hotel room at the group rate is April 15, 2025. Make your reservations online or contact Danielle Ray at danielle.ray@concordhotels.com.

 

Alternative Accommodations

For those seeking a lower rate, an alternative hotel option is the Courtyard St. Louis Downtown West. Please note that there is no conference room block rate at this hotel and there will be no shuttle transportation provided.

 

Conservation Partners

Presentations

BEFORE March 18, 2025, we invite Institutional and Individual Conservation Partners to submit abstracts with their registration form. We are limiting in-person oral presentations to ONE per institution.

Oral Presentations

We invite one representative per CPC Institutional and Individual Conservation Partners to contribute a 5-minute lightning talk about the rare plant conservation initiatives at their institution. We encourage prospective presenters to submit abstract proposals that align with this year’s meeting theme, Best Practices: Proven Methods & New Perspectives in Rare Plant Conservation, highlighting successful applications of proven strategies, creative solutions to complex challenges, lessons learned from the field, or topics that otherwise adhere to the conference theme. Following each 5-minute lightning talk, presenters will have the opportunity to field questions from attendees.

Conference presentations will be recorded and embedded onto the conference platform shortly after each session for all attendees to view. With your permission, CPC will also catalogue these videos through our CPC Rare Plant Academy platform as an educational resource.

We ask that presenters bring their PowerPoint presentations to the conference on a flash drive as well as email presentations to info@saveplants.org the day before their presentation.

Abstracts for in-person presentations are due by March 18, 2025, and can be submitted at the time of registration.

Not a CPC Conservation Partner? Become a member to enjoy discounted meeting registration rates and to submit presentation abstracts.

Poster Presentations

If you would like to highlight the work of multiple members of your institution or multiple projects, you may give one or more poster presentations in addition to an in-person presentation. Posters will be featured in person only, and should be printed a standard size (3 ft x 4 ft) using a material than can be hung with push pins into a conference poster bulletin board.

Poster session will be subject to interest/number of submissions.

 


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REGISTRATION IS NOW CLOSED

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The Center For Plant Conservation (CPC) is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization (EIN# 22-2527116) dedicated to saving rare plant species from extinction. CPC's National Collection represents more than 2,000 of the world's rarest plants, maintained collectively by its valued network of Participating Institutions.

Center for Plant Conservation National Headquarters 15600 San Pasqual Valley Rd. Escondido, CA 92027-7000

Email: info@saveplants.org; Phone: (760) 796-5686

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