2024 Fall Meeting Speakers

Kelley Hanada Contact: [email protected]

Title: Getting Starting with Native Seeds: The basics of seed collecting, storage, and treatment

Kelley Hanada of Stone Mountain Propagation Project, GNPS

Growing plants from seed is an act of faith but can also be shrouded in mystery. Join GNPS’ Stone Mountain Propagation Project to learn the basics about starting plants from seeds. This presentation will cover when to collect seed, proper cleaning and storage, and different treatment techniques that improve germination. The goal is to give participants enough information to be confident on how to separate the chaff from the seed when growing native plants for their home garden.

Kelley Hanada is the nursery manager at Georgia Native Plant Society’s Stone Mountain Propagation Project. At SMPP, Kelley leads volunteer work days, coordinates with the propagation committee, and facilitates plant sales to GNPS partners. In addition to working at SMPP, Kelley is the horticulture technician at Woodlands Garden in Decatur, GA. Kelley was inspired to join the green industry after volunteering with the Extension agency in 2018. He recently completed his associates degree in horticulture after working in the logistics industry for 13 years.

Tonya McDaniel Contact: [email protected]

Title: Coastal Plains: Building Strong Roots for Native Plants,

Tonya McDaniel, Waters Agricultural Laboratories, Inc

Tonya McDaniel is a senior agronomist at Water Agriculture Laboratories, Inc., in Camilla, GA. Her career spans two decades, during which she has helped develop effective fertilizer programs for row crops grown in the Southeastern United States. Her love of agriculture began at an early age on her family’s row crop and cattle farm in rural Southwest Georgia. It is this time on the farm with her dad and brother that inspired her to become an agronomist and become committed to improving crop yield and soil health through the utilization of advanced farming methods and agriculture technology.

Tonya attended Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College and received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Georgia College of Agriculture and Environmental Science, 1992. It should be no surprise that she enjoys being outside working in her yard, planting herbs and wildflowers. She loves to cook and often experiments with recipes for meals with family and friends. Tonya lives in Camilla, Ga with her husband, Rusty and daughter, Elizabeth, and pets, Bale, Smelly, & Riley. The McDaniel’s are an agriculture family working to do their part to help feed more of the world’s population.

NancyAnne Conner Contact: [email protected]

Title: Roadside Pollinator Areas

NancyAnne Conner, Conservation Regional Manager, Region III, Georgia Soil and Water Conservation Commission

NancyAnne Conner is the Conservation Regional Manager for Region III with Georgia Soil and Water Conservation Commission. Her office covers 34 counties reaching from the coast all the way up to Augusta, Georgia. The office covers a wide variety of topics from erosion and sediment complaints to outreach in schools. Education is a major focus for the Region. We feel it is our job to teach the importance of soil and water conservation, as well as the importance of pollinators and the role they play in everyone’s day to day lives.