5th annual Central Florida Invasive Species Workshop Eventbrite sign-up now live and more

Hi all, Air Potato Mega-Raid update, upcoming 5^th annual workshop and many activities, job opportunities and resources coming up, so read on so you don’t miss out, now with helpful highlighting for Heartland CISMA events:

 

·         Eventbrite sign-up now live! https://heartlandcisma-2015workshop.eventbrite.com: 5^th annual Central Florida Invasive Species Workshop will be Wed., February 25^th  at Circle B Bar. The online signup is live and the poster is attached. Lots of great speakers and activities, including about the latest on Old World climbing fern biocontrols, hot herps in the trade, how to track and trap a tegu, new pesticide regulations in relation to bees, aquatic invasive plants, hands-on exotic plant ID, and always more (including lunch and CEUs). Sign up now! And, if you have a lead on a potential sponsor, let me know. We could use more to help cover lunch.

o   The workshop is scheduled during 2015 National Invasive Species Awareness Week (NISAW) -February 22 – 28, 2015- what will YOU do for NISAW? Let me know!

o   Monthly CISMA call for those who can’t attend the workshop: Wed., Feb. 25^th, 1:30-2:30pm. More information can be found at: http://www.floridainvasives.org/cismas.html

·         Air Potato Mega-Raid quick results: The weather was poor and the volunteers were hardy. At five locations (Highlands Hammock State Park, Lake Audubon, Lake Blue, Lake Kissimmee State Park, and Paynes Creek Historic State Park), 31 participants collected nearly 1,000 lbs of bulbils. Researchers collected them to grow more plants in the lab to raise more biocontrol air potato beetles to release this spring to feed on more of the vegetation. BIG bang for the volunteer effort buck! Thanks to Tabitha Biehl, Shannon Carnevale, Erik Egensteiner, Carla Kappmeyer-Sherwin, Brendan O’Connor, and Bill Parken for getting the Heartland CISMA involved in this central Florida event.

·         Resources for teachers: Green Teacher is holding free webinars that focus on invasive species. The first one is on February 12^th from 7:30pm – 8:30pm. Please contact Green Teacher directly if you have any questions (http://greenteacher.com/contact/).

·         Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council (FLEPPC) Annual Symposium will be held April 8th–10th at the Crowne Plaza Oceanfront in Melbourne, Florida.

o   Deadline for Abstract Submissions:  February 16, 2015.   The Call for Abstracts and preliminary agenda can be viewed here. A student competition with cash prizes will be held in both poster and oral presentation categories.

o   This year’s theme:

o   Annual Florida CISMA session will be held at this conference on Friday, April 10 from 8am to noon. All CISMA members are welcome to the attend the session so please pass the word. In years past we have covered many topics, shared successes/challenges and gotten a lot of work done together during this in-person session.

·         2015 Plant Camp- If you are or know an upper elementary to high school teacher who is interested in a free 1-week training June 15-19 by the UF/IFAS Center for Aquatic Invasive Plants, apply by February 24^th at http://plants.ifas.ufl.edu/education/plant-camp-2015-online-application

·         SAVE THE DATE reminder: Exotic Pet Amnesty Day, May 16^th – This will be held at Osceola Heritage Park in Kissimmee in coordination with Osceola CISMA.

·         Reminder: Free Florida Chapter of The Wildlife Society membership: for new members http://www.fltws.org/renewjoin/

 

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Cheryl Millett Biologist cmillett@tnc.org (863) 635-7506, ext. 205 (Office) (863) 604-3352 (Cell)  (863) 635-6456 (Fax) nature.org Download our Nature Conservancy magazine App FREE for exclusive digital content.

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