WEBINAR – Natural Heritage Know-How: An Intro to FNAI

The Florida Natural Areas Inventory (FNAI) is the state’s Natural Heritage Program and part of the NatureServe Network. As a Network member, they work hard to manage a spatial database of current information on Florida’s rarest species, including the over 500 species of native plants that are tracked as rare in the state. Their conservation projects are based on partnerships with several state and federal agencies and are designed to monitor populations of rare plant species, determine the current status of such species and their habitats, document ecological changes to natural communities over time, survey for invasive species, review proposed land acquisitions for Florida Forever and much, much more. This talk gives a brief overview on FNAI’s history and role in Florida as well as review some of their more botanically/ecologically-themed projects currently underway. Additionally, the presentation discusses ways in which you as citizen conservationists can contribute to their mission to catalogue and preserve the state’s biodiversity.

Hanna has been a research scientist and botanist for FNAI since 2021 where she works to assess the conservation status of Florida’s rare plants in order to inform the most urgent research and management needs for these species. She also acts as the Florida Plant Rescue Coordinator, a project led by the Center for Plant Conservation, to seed bank the state’s most at-risk plant species. Before coming to FNAI, Hanna worked as the plant conservation program biologist at the Lake Wales Ridge State Forest in Polk County. She received her bachelor’s in plant science and master’s in landscape ecology with a focus on developing species distribution models to discover new rare plant populations.