For over 50 years, CNPS has protected our native plants and celebrated California’s wild gardens. During those decades, the human population has doubled and conservation in California has been dramatically transformed. Against all odds, a dedicated community of plant lovers, using a growing diversity of conservation tools, has somehow managed to save most of the plants and places that make California special. As we look to the future, we see continued population growth, as well as new threats, and wonder how to save California for the future. Dan Gluesenkamp will speak about plants, places, and projects, and will engage in a discussion of how to learn and work together to make a real and lasting difference. Dan Gluesenkamp is Executive Director of CNPS and works with CNPS staff and chapters to protect, understand, and celebrate California’s native flora. Dan earned his PhD at UC Berkeley studying the ecology of native and invasive thistles. He previously worked as Executive Director of the Calflora Database, and as Director of Habitat Protection and Restoration for Audubon Canyon Ranch’s 30 preserves. He is a co-founder of the California Invasive Plant Council and of the Bay Area Early Detection Network (BAEDN), and in 2009 discovered a presumed-extinct Franciscan manzanita plant growing on a traffic island near the Golden Gate Bridge.