Join the Fringed Campion Chapter for our annual meeting November 4th.  We will meet at Willet Science Center at Mercer University in Macon (directions below) from 10 am to 2 pm.  Bring your native plants and seeds to share at the swap and your own lunch to eat during our social.  We will eat and mingle with Nikki Belmonte, Georgia Native Plant Society’s new executive director, enter our names for the raffle, and sip beverages provided by the chapter.

At noon, we will begin our program with Nikki Belmonte’s keynote address, Growing a Better Landscape in Georgia: Where We Started and Where We’re Going.  Afterward, we will elect our new board of directors and have our business meeting with updates on all of the chapter’s activities and plans for the future.

This is a free event.

Growing a Better Landscape in Georgia: Where We Started and Where We’re Going

A small group of determined native plant devotees formed Georgia Native Plant Society in 1994 to advocate the use and preservation of Georgia’s native plants. They envisioned a statewide organization with local chapters. In 2019, GNPS took a bold step, creating a State Board of Directors that would focus on key state-level partnerships and strategies that would lead to more meaningful change. Now with 8 chapters, a paid staff person, and more than 1,500 members, GNPS is poised to further its mission to promote the conservation and stewardship of Georgia’s native plants and their habitats. Hear from GNPS’s first executive director about how GNPS plans to channel this growth and what success can look like with the power of a chapter network. There will be time for discussion and collaboration; bring your thoughts and ideas for the vision you have for a better landscape in Georgia through the lens of a local native plant advocate.

About Nikki Belmonte

Nikki Belmonte is the first Executive Director of Georgia Native Plant Society. She brings more than a decade of nonprofit leadership experience to the GNPS. Nikki was previously the executive director for Atlanta Audubon (now Georgia Audubon), Keep Roswell Beautiful, and, most recently, the American Birding Association. In these roles, she helped to lead these organizations in membership growth, conservation initiatives, educational programming, and fundraising. Prior to these positions, Nikki worked a variety of roles with the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation from park interpretation to the Commissioner’s office. She spent her earlier years as a teacher-naturalist.

Nikki is a native of Massachusetts, where her love of nature started on hikes along the Charles River and in state parks. She holds a B.S. in wildlife conservation from University of Massachusetts Amherst and a M.S. in environmental education from Antioch University New England. She lives in Roswell, GA with her husband, two children and about a million composting worms. In her free time, Nikki enjoys birding, baseball, and yard work. Her favorite native plant is the eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis).

Directions to Willet Science Center:

Willet Science Center is on the Macon campus of Mercer University, #37 on the campus map found here.  It is listed on Google Maps as “Willet Science Center, Willet Science Center, Macon, GA.”

From I-75, take Exit 136 and turn east onto Mercer University Drive (which becomes Richard Penniman Drive).  Drive past the main entrance on Stadium Drive, under the pedestrian bridge, and turn left at the light on College Street.

Parking is available in the lot behind Willet Science Center, with overflow parking in the lot near the tennis courts (on College) and in the two lots at the top of the hill on College Street (across from #46 on that map).  People will mobility challenges may be dropped at the bottom of the hill at the 4-way stop.