2024 Natural Areas Conference

2024 Natural Areas Conference (NAC24): Where Science Meets Stewardship

Manhattan Convention Center | October 7-10, 2024 | Manhattan, Kansas


For the past 50 years, NAA's Natural Areas Conference has gathered federal, tribal, state, regional, and local natural areas practitioners from nonprofit organizations, private industry, and academic institutions to foster communication and collaboration that can lead to progress in connection to challenges in the management of natural areas.

Manhattan, Kansas is nestled in the heart of the scenic Flint Hills, a globally significant remnant of the once vast tallgrass prairie ecosystem. Managing ecologically significant landscapes for the protection of biodiversity is a specialized segment of conservation and ecological science that includes management strategies to avert the permanent loss of or degradation of rare species and to preserve the unique functions of natural communities.




Thank you to our partners who make the 2024 Natural Areas Conference possible



NAC24 Partner Advisory Committee

Jenn Alley, Visit Manhattan
Sara Baer, Ph.D., Kansas Biological Survey & Center for Ecological Research
Carol Baldwin, Great Plains Fire Science Exchange
Lori Bammerlin, Great Plains Fire Science Exchange
John Blair, Ph.D., Kansas State University & Konza Prairie Biological Station
Anthony Capizzo, The Nature Conservancy - Kansas
Matthew Garrett, Johnson County Park & Recreation District


















In-Kind Sponsors



Exhibitors





Sponsor and exhibitor options are still available! Contact Holli Redekop for more information. 

Lisa Smith

Opening Plenary Speaker
Lisa Smith
Executive Director, Natural Areas Association

Sunny Fleming

Keynote Speaker
Sunny Fleming

Director of Environment, Conservation, & Natural Resources Solutions at Esri


Sara Baer

Opening Plenary Speaker
Sara Baer, Ph.D.
State Biologist and Director, Kansas Biological Survey & Center for Ecological Research

Professor, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas

John Blair

Opening Plenary Speaker
John Blair, Ph.D.
Director, Konza Prairie Biological Station

Distinguished Professor, Division of Biology, Kansas State University

Kelly Kindscher

Opening Plenary Speaker
Kelly Kindscher, Ph.D.
Senior Scientist, Kansas Biological Survey & Center for Ecological Research

Rex Buchanan

Moderator
Rex Buchanan
Director Emeritus of the Kansas Geological Survey

Jon P. Beckmann

Panelist
Jon P. Beckmann, Ph.D.
Wildlife Supervisor, Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks

Tony Capizzo

Panelist
Tony Capizzo
Flint Hills Initiative Manager, The Nature Conservancy

Panelist
Andrew Davis
Cow-Calf Producer, Davis Family Ranch

Michael Disney

Panelist
Mike Disney
State Coordinator for the Partners for Fish and Wildlife (PFW) Program in Kansas

Jane Koger

Panelist
Jane Koger
Owner, Homestead Ranch


David Kraft

Panelist
David Kraft
Technical Coordinator, Kansas Grazing Lands Coalition

Dean Krehbiel

Panelist
Dean Krehbiel
Natural Resource Conservation Service

Roger W. Wells

Panelist
Roger W. Wells
Tallgrass Legacy Alliance




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Join the people who protect and manage our natural areas.