Laurel Wilt Conference June 2015
Tuesday June 16th thru Thursday June 18th
Conference Location:
The conference will be held at the Coral Springs Marriott, conveniently located midway between Fort Lauderdale and Boca Raton, just off the Saw grass Expressway (Coral Ridge Drive - Exit 14).
The conference will be held at the Coral Springs Marriott, conveniently located midway between Fort Lauderdale and Boca Raton, just off the Saw grass Expressway (Coral Ridge Drive - Exit 14).
Laurel wilt is one of the most damaging invasive exotic tree diseases to affect forests in North America. Current estimates show that hundreds of millions of trees have died, with multiple significant radiating effects on ecosystem structure and function, endangered species and cultural impacts. The disease continues to expand into new areas affecting diverse resources (sassafras in Louisiana and the swamp bay tree islands of the Everglades, for example). A concerted effort between the research community, agencies, and land and natural resource managers is needed to address this rapidly expanding threat.
In particular, the objectives of this conference are to:
- Increase the understanding of disease dynamics at the landscape level among stakeholders and the research community;
- Enhance awareness about the scale of the economic, ecologic and cultural impacts of the disease among media and agency representatives;
- Outline results of recent and ongoing research on landscape-level solutions for the management of the disease for state, federal and tribal representatives;
- Communicate recent improvements of monitoring methods;
- Review research and technology transfer efforts into the research community;
- Identify gaps of information;
- Promote collaboration for research and management;
- Demonstrate the significance of early detection and disease control; and
- Instill a sense of urgency to support future research, management, prevention and restoration.
For More Information about the Program, Contact:
Jason A. Smith, Associate Professor of Forest Pathology
Co-Director Emerging Threats to Forests Research Team School of Forest Resources and Conservation University of Florida/IFAS Gainesville, FL 352-846-0843 (office) 352-327-1742 (cell) EMAIL: jasons@ufl.edu www.sfrc.ufl.edu/forestpathology www.sfrc.ufl.edu/treehealth
Paloma Carton de Grammont
Project Manager, Emerging Threats to Forest Research Team University of Florida/IFAS School of Forest Resources and Conservation (352)846-0844 (office) EMAIL: palomacgl@ufl.edu | For Registration & Logistics Information, Contact: Beth Miller-Tipton, Director University of Florida/IFAS Office of Conferences & Institutes PO Box 110750 Gainesville, FL 32611-0750 Main Office: 352-392-5930 Phone: 352-294-3581 (direct) Email: bmt@ufl.edu |
