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Registration is Open!

The Fall 2026 meeting of the Lake Wales Ridge Ecosystem Working Group will be held October 6, 2026. The theme of the meeting will be Science to Conservation. Come hear about the actions being implemented as a result of collaborative research. Illuminating the unique ways that researchers and managers come together to ensure real time science-based management is being applied to our beautiful landscapes. More information including event registration can be found here.

The event starts at 9:00 and will take place in the Magnolia meeting room at Bok Tower Gardens in Lake Wales, FL.

General agenda:

• 9:00 am

Registration/ check-in

• 9:20-9:30

Welcome and Announcements

• 9:30-10:10

The Science Behind FDOT Wildlife Crossings, with Ridge examples – Brent Setchell & Nicole Monies, Florida Department of Transportation

• 10:10-10:50

Florida Scrub-jay Translocations - Dr. Raoul Boughton, Lead Ecologist for The Mosaic Company

• 10:50 - 11:30

Florida grasshopper sparrow conservation breeding and releases – Adrienne Doyle Fitzwilliam, Assistant Research Scientist with Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission

• 11:30-1:00

Lunch

• 1:00 - 1:40

Regional Landscape Connectivity – Dr. Tom Hoctor, Director of the Center for Landscape Conservation Planning at the University of Florida

• 1:40-1:50

Break

• 1:50-2:30

Elac: An Emerging Disease Threat to Native Lizards - Shivam Shukla

• 2:30 - 4:00

Networking/Leave at your own pace/Explore the gardens

If you were unable to attend the previous meeting, selected presentations will be posted on our Meeting Archives page. 

Check back on this page for future events and announcements!