2025 Fall Meeting Speakers
Jim Ozier Contact:
Title: Plant Conservation Efforts on Georgia Power Rights-of-Way
Jim Ozier is a wildlife biologist for Georgia Power Company whose primary responsibilities include stewardship efforts for plants and terrestrial wildlife on company lands and rights-of-way; ensuring compliance with applicable laws, policies, and license articles; and engaging with internal and external partners to optimize conservation results. Prior to that, he was a Wildlife Biologist and Program Manager for Georgia DNR Wildlife Conservation Section working primarily with statewide management of wildlife such as bald eagles, red-cockaded woodpeckers, gopher tortoises, and bats. Jim is a lifelong Georgia resident with degrees from West Georgia College and the University of Georgia, and now resides in Barnesville.
Jeffery Butler, Agronomist Manager, Georgia Department of Transportation
Title: Getting Started with Native Plants/Conservation Areas on Roadsides.
Lisa Kruse, Senior Botanist, GA Dept. of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Division, Wildlife Conservation Section
Title: Sharing Spaces: Homes for Plants and Pollinators in our Developed Landscapes.
Lisa is the lead Botanist with the Georgia Dept. of Natural Resources (GA DNR), a role she took on in 2019 after serving as a GA DNR Wildlife Biologist since 2006. Our botany team supports the GA DNR mission for conservation of Georgia’s wildlife through survey and monitoring of Georgia’s rare flora, habitat restoration and management, collaboration with botanical gardens and research institutions, and outreach and education. Lisa’s primary experience is in rare plant restoration ecology.
Katie O’Shields
Title: Sharing Spaces: Homes for Plants and Pollinators in our Developed Landscapes.
“Katie O’Shields is a Wildlife Biologist working with the GA DNR’s Wildlife Conservation Section. She manages environmental review for the western half of the state and works with GDOT to preserve Environmentally Sensitive Areas (ESAs) along GA ROWs. She studied Forest Entomology and Ecology at the University of Georgia and has been working with DNR for the past two years.”