2023 Indiana Invasive Species Conference Recap

The conference this year was truly inspiring, and it was so wonderful to be able to connect and learn with all the attendees. And speaking of attendees, we had a record number this year of 250! We are truly thankful for all our conference sponsors (below) and for our conference committee. A special shout-out to the Hamilton County Invasives Partnership for working so closely with the conference committee, helping on conference day, and providing some stellar field trips in the Noblesville area! It truly was a team effort.

Lunch was provided by Juniper Spoon, coffee by Wood Warbler Coffee.

Bob Easter, Niches Land Trust, discussing invasive grass management

Hamilton County Invasives Partnership representing!

Bob Bruner, Purdue University Extension, discussing Asian jumping worms

Check out all those silent auction items!

Silent auction item donated by HIP, including Native Nectar, a collaboration between HIP and Bier Brewery

Jake Brinkman, IDEM, received SICIM’s Volunteer of the Year Award

Hamilton County Parks and HIP presented and conducted a field trip on using GIS to map invasive species

All of the amazing Weed Wrangler Awards!

Indiana Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts (IASWCD) were awarded SICIM’s Partner of the Year Award

Ray Chattin and Les Zimmerman (not pictured) were awarded the SICIM President’s Award by Will Drews

Dawn Slack, SICIM’s Indiana Invasives Initiative Project Coordinator, addressing attendees and getting them inspired!

Silent auction donation from Blazing Stars CISMA and Bartholomew County SWCD

Teena Ligman, SICIM Board Secretary, selling SICIM tshirts

Sign at Nonie Werbe Krauss Nature Preserve, a CILTI property and one of the field trips

David Gorden, Mark M. Holeman Landscaping, discussing landscape design with native plants for HOAs

Lenny Farlee, Purdue Extension, dropping all his knowledge on equipment and herbicide application methods

Large equipment demonstration by Stantec

Many presentations were given throughout the morning, along with concurrent sessions in 3 tracks: research, CISMA development, and land management. Participants heard from natural resources professionals, land managers, landscape architects, and more. We heard state updates from Eric Bitner, Indiana Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, and Anthony Sipes, Indiana State Parks Natural Resources Manager, and learned about jumping worms from Bob Bruner with Purdue University Extension. Continuing education credits were offered again this year for anyone interested.

Field trip experiences were diverse, and participants had a variety of options to choose from. From watching a large equipment demonstration with Stantec to a visit with Central Indiana Land Trust staff at Nonie Werbe Krauss Nature Preserve to visiting a private landowner’s property to learn about progress on invasive removal and native plant installation, we tried to cover it all! Our goal every year is to provide relevant content to all: professionals, private landowners, CISMA members, and citizens of Indiana.

We also held our first silent auction that had some amazing items donated! All proceeds of the conference go directly to Indiana CISMAs through small grants, reimbursements, and other support. We hope that all who joined us had a great time learning, networking, and sharing their knowledge and experience. It is always wonderful and inspiring to hear from everyone how they are working to manage invasive species, restore and protect habitat, and working together to increase the efficiency of all of our efforts across the state.

If you would like to know more details about what was offered, visit our conference page. The 2024 conference committee is already hard at work planning for next year, and details on the date and location for the next conference will be shared as we plan. Thank you all for everything you do to protect, restore, and conserve our natural areas! We hope to see you next year!