2026 Annual Fall Conference Speakers
Dr. Elizabeth McCarty
Forest Health Outreach Specialist
Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources
University of Georgia, Tifton Campus
Dr. McCarty received her M.S. in Biology from the University of South Alabama in 2007 and Ph.D. in Entomology from the University of Tennessee in 2016. She is the Forest Health Specialist and Associate Professor with the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources at the University of Georgia and started the Forest Health Lab on the Tifton Campus in 2016. Her areas of specialization include forest entomology, aquatic entomology, insecticide use in trees, and environmental risk of insecticides. She has active outreach relationships with UGA Extension, Georgia Forestry Commission, forestry companies, National Park Service, US Forest Service, and forestry and natural resource agencies in many states. Her outreach areas include forest insects, insecticide use, pollinator habitat in urban forests, and integrated pest management in forests.
Lisa Giencke
Senior Research Associate
Plant Ecology Lab at the Jones Center at
Ichauway in southwest Georgia
She has a B.A. in Biology from the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill and an M.S. in Environmental and Forest Biology from the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry. Lisa has been at the Jones Center since 2011.
Her research interests focus on plant diversity in the longleaf pine ecosystem, including patterns of diversity, fire effects, conservation of rare species, and restoration.
Nia Wellendorf
Nia and Shane Wellendorf have created a native plant paradise on their 3-acre suburban lot near Tallahassee, Florida. Starting in 2018, they mowed less, removed invasive non-native plants, planted many species of forbs, grasses, shrubs, and trees, and created space for birds and bats to thrive. They created a meadow in their front yard and support a wetland in the back yard. Nearly all of the traditional landscaping has been converted to native, and the bees and butterflies flock to blooms of different colors and shapes as the seasons turn. They have tended this space for their own enjoyment and for wildlife benefit for more than eight years now, and in 2025 earned the Native Garden of Excellence award from the Florida Native Plant Society for a homeowner-created native landscape. In this presentation, Nia will share the techniques they used in various spaces of their yard, to establish and maintain their native plant paradise.
Nia Wellendorf works as an aquatic ecologist for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection in Tallahassee. She has been an active member of the Magnolia Chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society for more than 20 years, and is the current chapter president. Nia enjoys community outreach for native plants and spending time outside with her family.