Speakers

Alexander Dietrick

“Towards a comprehensive phylogeny of Tropical African Drosera: A target enrichment approach”

Alexander Dietrick (USA) is a masters student in Ecology, Evolution, & Systematics at the University of Munich (LMU) where he’s working on the taxonomy & systematics of African Drosera under the supervision of PD Dr. Andreas Fleis…

Damien Jouen

Damien is an experienced carnivorous plant grower with extensive field research experience in remote locations. He specializes in Drosera species of the Petiolaris complex and in Genlisea. He has previously given talks on these su…

Olivia Murrell

“Critical Carnivores: The conservation potential of ex situ collections of Nepenthes”

Olivia Murrell is a PhD candidate at Manchester Metropolitan University and a Conservation Scholar at Chester Zoo. Her research focuses on ex situ Nepenthes collections and their management. She is expected to present her study re…

Robert Cantley

“The Role of ex-situ Breeding  and Tissue Culture in the  Conservation of Carnivorous Plants”

Robert Cantley is an engineer and physicist by profession, but has worked with Nepenthes all his adult life and has founded three companies propagating Nepenthes between 1981 and the present day. He is Managing Director and founde…

Philip Esseen

“Nepenthes Action Planning in the Philippines”

Phil Esseen is Head of Plants at Chester Zoo. He has worked with plants all his life, with previous roles as a Botany graduate, Landscape Architect, Nature Conservation officer and Parks Manager. Chester Zoo holds the UK National …

Thilo Krueger

“Solving the mystery of pollination in antennae-flowered Utricularia”

Thilo Krueger is a PhD student at Curtin University (Perth, Western Australia) researching carnivorous plants. He is particularly interested in their ecology, taxonomy, and conservation, primarily studying them by field research t…

Dr. Mathias Scharmann

“What Genomics Reveals About the Evolution of Carnivorous Plants”

Dr. Mathias Scharmann is a botanist with a passion for understanding how plants evolve, adapt, and diversify. His work combines molecular genetics, genomics, and computational approaches. After studying biology in Würzburg and con…

Meridith Griffith

“The Pinguiculas of Ecuador”

Meredith Griffith lives in Portland, Oregon in the US, where he has been growing carnivorous plants since the mid-1990s.  In recent years, he has been traveling to Colombia and Ecuador to hike the Andes.

Dr. Richard Moore

“Genetics, Hybridization, and Conservation of Several Sarracenia species Endemic to the Southeastern United States”

Dr. Richard Moore has been a faculty member at Miami University,Ohio, for 20 years where he has developed a research program in evolutionary and conservation genetics. He has studied extensively the genetic population structure of…

Megan Keyser

“Genetics, Hybridization, and Conservation of Several Sarracenia species Endemic to the Southeastern United States”

Megan Keyser is a master’s graduate student in Botany at Miami University, Ohio, with a focus on plant conservation. She is expected to receive her M.S. degree in August 2026.

Dr. Vivian Negron-Ortiz

“Genetics, Hybridization, and Conservation of Several Sarracenia species Endemic to the Southeastern United States”

Dr. Vivian Negron-Ortiz is a botanist with the US Fish and Wildlife Service, Florida, focusing for the past 19 years on protection and preservation of federally listed plant species and their habitats and at-risk petitioned specie…

James Haig Streeter

“The Carnivorous Plant Tree of Life”

James Haig Streeter is an award-winning landscape architect, lifelong carnivorous plant enthusiast, field explorer, and documenter of wild carnivorous plant habitats. Over the past few decades, he has tracked carnivorous plants ac…