2026 Annual Meeting
March 7 @ 8:00 am – 4:00 pm
Ecologies in Flux: Restoration, Resilience, and Disease in a Changing Landscape
Ecological disruption is no longer abstract or remote. It is unfolding daily in our yards, parks, and landscapes, manifesting itself in storms of unprecedented intensity that alter forests overnight and diseases spreading rapidly through degraded habitats. Traditional landscape management methods—rigid, manicured, heavily dependent on constant intervention—have proven insufficient in responding to the pace and scale of change. This symposium engages directly with these evolving conditions, drawing together three distinct but complementary perspectives rooted in ecological landscape design, infectious disease ecology, and arboretum management and horticulture. Each speaker brings practical wisdom and conceptual depth, highlighting strategies to enhance resilience, sustain biodiversity, and creatively adapt to environmental uncertainty.
At the heart of this gathering is an exploration of critical intersections: between human intention and ecological spontaneity, biodiversity and community health, and catastrophic events and innovative recovery. Larry Weaner will advocate for design approaches that embrace the inherent dynamism and unpredictability of natural systems, showing how ecological principles can guide the creation of self-sustaining, adaptive landscapes. Dr. James Shepherd will illuminate the often-overlooked relationship between biodiversity loss and human health, explaining how restoring balanced ecosystems can reduce the spread of infectious diseases. Lastly, Kathleen Salisbury’s experience managing the Ambler Arboretum through catastrophic storm damage provides a compelling case study in how horticultural expertise and creative leadership can transform ecological devastation into powerful educational opportunities and model landscape restoration projects. Together, these speakers challenge us to deepen our ecological literacy and cultivate practical, adaptable responses to the environmental disruptions shaping our era.
All In-Person tickets include a Zoom link.
All tickets include early access to the conference videos.
Tickets are for members only and you must be logged in to purchase.
Tickets will not be available any other way.
Lunch is included.
Vegetarian and Gluten-free options available.
Bagels, muffins, and coffee will be available at registration
TICKETS WILL GO ON SALE IN 2026
This symposium is designed for attendees at all levels of experience and expertise, from enthusiastic beginners to seasoned professionals. Throughout the day, participants will have opportunities during breaks to connect with organizations actively shaping environmental awareness and action, such as Dark Sky International New Jersey, Jersey-Friendly Yards, FoHVOS New Jersey Invasive Species Strike Team, The Nature of Reading Bookshop, and Garden State Gardens. These interactions will provide valuable resources, deepen community ties, and further enrich the day’s discussions.
8:00 AM
Doors Open on Site
Coffee, tea, bagels, and muffins
8:50 AM
Zoom Stream Begins
9:00 AM
Programming Starts, President’s Welcome
Kazys Varnelis, NPSNJ President
9:10 AM
Planning for the Unplanned: Integrating Ecological Restoration Techniques and Landscape Design
Presented by Larry Weaner, LWDA
Using native plants is increasingly accepted in landscape architecture and design. Knowing how to incorporate and work with the ecological patterns and processes associated with these plants, however, is less well understood. Explore ways of integrating ecological restoration techniques and traditional design aesthetics to achieve beautiful, diverse landscapes for varied situations—from small gardens to large, multi-acre projects. Meadows, old fields, and woodland projects are shown in detail, from conceptual stage to full establishment and management, illustrating the exciting results that can be achieved when ecological restoration is combined with the visual art of landscape design.
Biography:
Larry Weaner, FAPLD, founded Larry Weaner Landscape Associates in 1982 and New Directions in the American Landscape in 1990. His nationally recognized work combines horticulture, landscape design, and ecological restoration, and spans more than twenty U.S. states and the U.K. He has been profiled in national publications. His book, Garden Revolution: How Our Landscapes Can Be a Source of Environmental Change (Timber Press 2016), coauthored by Tom Christopher, received an American Horticultural Society (AHS) Book Award in 2017. In 2021 he received the AHS “Landscape Design Award” and the Association of Professional Landscape Designers (APLD) “Award of Distinction.
10:10 AM
Break
10:45 AM
Why are tick-transmitted infections spreading? Biodiversity and Infectious Diseases
Presented by Dr. James Shepard
A dense, biodiverse native‑plant garden might seem like a haven for ticks—and thus disease—but long‑term ecological patterns in the Notheastsuggest a different story. James Shepherd will explore how human land use—suburban expansion, species invasions, and habitat fragmentation—has reshaped disease ecology and fueled the rise of Lyme disease and other zoonoses. He will explain how invasive plants like Japanese barberry create ideal microhabitats for ticks and their hosts and examine the “dilution effect,” where declining biodiversity amplifies pathogen transmission. Finally, he will present strategies for using native plantings and connected habitat networks to suppress vector‑borne disease.
Biography:
Dr Shepherd is an Infectious Disease physician at Yale University School of Medicine and Yale New Haven Hospital, specializing in Tuberculosis and other Mycobacterial infections. He teaches Climate Change, Biodiversity Loss and other global processes changing the world of infectious disease. He is also a farmer and owns Smokedown Farm in northwest Connecticut where raising sheep and cows includes improving the health of both livestock and the environment. The farm was the biggest grower of hops in Connecticut but is now transitioning to native and novel fruit as a more environmentally sensitive crop.
Dr Shepherd has experience as a molecular and cell biologist, a physician, and a public health specialist. He has worked in Nigeria, Botswana, India, and Bangladesh implementing national HIV and TB treatment programs and COVID treatment in refugee camps for both the US Government and the World Health Organization.
11:45 AM
Lunch & Socializing
(lunch is included for all attendees who purchase tickets by February 16)
1:15 PM
Annual Meeting
Plant of the Year Voting, Year in Review, Elections, & Door Prizes
1:45 PM
Break
2:00 PM
Silver Linings & Lemonade: Creative Responses to a Catastrophic Storm
Presented by Kathleen V. Salisbury
In September of 2021, an EF 2 tornado catastrophically damaged the 187-acre Ambler Arboretum of Temple University. After losing more than 500 trees in their horticultural collection and hundreds more in the natural spaces, Kathy was faced with the question; how do you respond to an event that has destroyed your living laboratory in minutes? After a brief history of the Ambler Arboretum, Kathy will discuss what has been learned during the process of recovery that continues to this day including planting, tree resilience, and spontaneous vegetative regeneration. She will also share her future vision for a natural space that has been changed forever, a subject with obvious relevance in this tumultuous era of climate change.
Biography:
Kathleen Salisbury is a passionate horticulturist and educator. Since she was young exploring the pine barrens of her southern NJ home, Kathy has been fascinated and delighted by the natural world around her. Never losing that passion, Kathy earned a BS in Ornamental Horticulture and Environmental Design from Delaware Valley University, and an MS in Public Horticulture Management from the University of Delaware where she was a Longwood Fellow. After more than two decades in various horticultural and educational roles from adjunct professor to zoo horticulturist, Kathy is an award-winning educator and public horticulture leader. With her goal in life to get people as excited about the natural world as she continues to be, she recently earned her MEd in Adult Education and Lifelong Learning from Penn State. Currently, Kathy is the Director of the Ambler Arboretum of Temple University, where she is also an adjunct instructor teaching woody plant identification and landscape management. A past-president of the Native Plant Society of NJ, Kathy now spends her volunteer time supporting the Perkiomen Watershed Conservancy in her adopted home state of Pennsylvania. When not teaching, studying or learning Kathy is outdoors as much as possible tending to her flock of happy hens, kayaking, snowboarding or hiking depending on the season.
3:00 PM
Concluding Remarks