Join us for the 2025 ELA Season's End Summit

December 4th, 2025 | 8 AM - 3 PM

at New England Botanic Garden.

We will feature 4 great speakers on the theme of ‘Fire and Water’. When managed properly, each has the potential to benefit landscapes and the environment. Dan Wilder will discuss fire on a New England Landscape, Melissa Cullina will introduce a new book on wetland plant ID, Trevor Smith will discuss the green roof project, and Jay Archer will talk about stormwater management.

Registration Details:

• ELA Member $ 129
• Non-Member $ 169
• ELA Member Virtual Registration $ 74
• Non-Member Virtual Registration $ 89

Presentations & Agenda (exact time TBD):

Celebrating and Demystifying New England's Aquatic Plants | Melissa Cullina, Vice President of Plants and Science, Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens  

New England's freshwater aquatic plants are at once incredibly beautiful, diverse, fascinating, and uniquely adapted to their watery environs. However, with derogatory colloquial names like pondweeds, duckweeds, pickerelweeds, and mermaid weeds, their special niche ecological adaptations and features - not to mention the rarity and imperilment of numerous species - have been long underappreciated. A ground-breaking and accessible new field guide will introduce thousands of nature enthusiasts, environmental advocates, lake stewards, and biologists to the importance, ecological significance, and specific diagnostic features of the hundreds of aquatic plants of New England's lakes, ponds, rivers, streams, and estuaries. And – it will also share key diagnostic features of invasive plant species that threaten the integrity of our freshwater aquatic systems. Got paddles? A swimsuit? A passion for conservation? Then this field guide is for you! Join us on an incredible journey to observe, appreciate, evaluate, steward, conserve, and yes – sometimes, control -- the underappreciated plants of New England’s aquatic ecosystems.

Green Roof Bus Shelter Initiative | Trevor Smith, Design & Education Director, ReEarth Studio at Social Impact Collective

In August 2024, the City completed the installation of green roofs on thirty bus shelters along the 28 bus route. The largest installation of its kind in North America, the addition of green roofs to bus shelters along busy and hot streets can help reduce extreme heat, provide direct shade at bus shelters, help reduce flooding from heavy rain, and improve plant pollinator biodiversity. Trevor Smith will take you through the design process as well as the process of getting a project of this scope done. Learn how small, simple steps can have a huge impact on our built environment and how this approach may be exactly what we need to begin to reverse the effects of climate change.

Innovative Stormwater Solutions: Landscape Engineering Beyond Grading and Drainage | Jay Archer, Landscape Ecologist; Landscape Designer; Founder of GJLD

What is more precious than water? Conservation and water quality are one of the most critical environmental issues we face in landscape ecology. We will explore techniques and processes for managing water in the landscape environment. Focusing on residential watersheds, we will consider innovative best management practices to optimize our use and treatment of water in our constructed landscapes. Taking a holistic view, we will examine design, construction, and management practices ranging from physical engineering ( catch basins, piping, dry wells etc.) to soils, topography, and plant selection

Historical and Future Fire: Lessons Learned at Chapin Barrens | Dan Jaffe Wilder, Director of Applied Ecology for the Norcorss Wildlife Foundation. 

​Historically, fire has been an active driver of ecosystems on the eastern seaboard for thousands of years, resulting in some of the region’s most unique natural communities and species. Roughly half of the region’s rare, terrestrial species can be found in these fire-adapted communities. However, landscape fires are significantly less common than they were 500 years ago. Modern wildfires are extinguished as quickly as possible or burn with such intensity that they are difficult to manage, often leading to destruction. Join Dan Jaffe Wilder, the Director of Applied Ecology at Norcross Wildlife Foundation, for a discussion about fire ecology, the history of fire in the region, the effects of fire suppression, and how to put fire back on the landscape in a safe and effective manner.

CEU Information:

• NOFA - 4 Credits

• More coming soon

About Your Speakers:

• Dan Jaffe Wilder | Director of Applied Ecology for the Norcross Wildlife Foundation
• ​Dan Jaffe Wilder is an ecologist, horticulturist, and botanist with over fifteen years’ experience working with native plants and their associated ecology. His work has ranged from classrooms to nurseries to botanical gardens to wildlife refuges, specializing in native plant ecology, propagation, wildlife habitat construction, and native edible landscapes. Dan is currently the Director of Applied Ecology for the Norcross Wildlife Foundation, whose mission is to protect, enhance, and expand wildlife through conservation, education, and support. A prolific photographer and author, Dan’s book Native Plants for New England Gardens was released in 2018.

• Melissa Cullina | Vice President of Plants and Science, Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens + President, New England Botanical Society
• Melissa is a botanist and conservation biologist leading the development of Coastal Maine Botanical Garden’s conservation research program to identify and anticipate climate change impacts to plants, understand changes and patterns in Maine’s wild plant biodiversity, and support and protect native plant biodiversity in a changing climate. Formerly serving as the Director of Education at the Gardens and a botanist with the Massachusetts Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program, Cullina specializes in aquatic plants, coastal botany, and rare species conservation. Cullina is the first author of The Vascular Plants of Massachusetts: A County Checklist, First Revision (2011), is presently President of the New England Botanical Society, and has served on the editorial board of the botanical journal, Rhodora, and as chair of the Conservation Committee of the board of trustees of Maine Audubon. Melissa holds an MS degree in botany and plant pathology from the University of Maine, where she researched seed ecophysiology and germination in sweet-fern (Comptonia peregrina)

• ​​Trevor Smith | Design & Education Director, ReEarth Studio at Social Impact Collective
• Trevor Smith is the Design and Education Director for the ReEarth studio at Social Impact Collective in Boston. Trevor is also the host of the "Peace, Love, and Pollinators" podcast, "Tuesdays with Trevor," and "The Hivemind."  Trevor is an award-winning landscape designer specializing in green infrastructure, native plant design, habitat creation, and the implementation of ecological design principles. He holds several landscape certifications, including MCH, NOFA AOLCP, LEED GA, and Pollinator Steward. Trevor is also a past President of the Ecological Landscape Alliance and a current board member.

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• Jay Archer | Landscape Ecologist; Landscape Designer; Founder of GJLD

• Jay Archer is one of the East Coast’s leading advocates for ecological landscaping, native plants, and organic land care. He has lectured extensively at institutions including the New York Botanical Garden, the Cary Institute for Ecosystem Studies, the Native Plant Center, the Connecticut Association for Wetland Scientists, and the Ecological Landscape Alliance. His topics span rain gardens, stormwater management, wetland restoration, and sustainable planting design. As founder and principal of Green Jay Landscape Design, Jay works with homeowners, schools, and communities to create landscapes that are aesthetically compelling, ecologically functional, and economically sensible. His designs integrate biodiversity, habitat creation, and climate resilience with client priorities, resulting in landscapes that endure. Jay believes every landscape—no matter its scale—has the potential to improve the environment. His approach combines careful analysis of site conditions with forward-looking design strategies, ensuring that plantings, materials, and maintenance practices contribute to both beauty and ecological health. 

Sponsorship Opportunities:

Interested in sponsoring the Ecological Plant Conference? We offer three different sponsorship levels. All sponsors receive a table to exhibit at the conference if desired. Please continue to ticket selection for sponsorship.

Bronze Sponsors ($750) receive two complimentary registrations to attend the conference. Sponsor logos will be displayed on the event webpage, included in communications to attendees, social media posts, and displayed throughout the day during breaks between sessions.

Silver Sponsors ($1500) will receive all Bronze Sponsorship benefits, including two complimentary registrations to attend the conference. Additionally, Silver Sponsors will receive one free banner ad in an upcoming ELA Bulletin. Sponsor logos will be displayed on the event webpage, included in communications to attendees, social media posts, and displayed throughout the day during breaks between sessions.

Gold Sponsors ($2500) will receive all Silver Sponsorship benefits. Additionally, Gold Sponsors will receive a one-year complimentary company-level membership and an opportunity to address the audience during the conference. Sponsor logos will be displayed on the event webpage, included in communications to attendees, social media posts, and displayed throughout the day during breaks between sessions.

Thank You to Our 2025 Sponsors: