Pinecrest Gardens
FIU School of Environment, Arts & Society
FIU College of Communications, Architecture + The Arts
FIU Libraries
and
FIU Digital Library of the Caribbean

cordially invite you to join us for

FLORIDA IS…
Endangered Species

our monthly Florida is Nature Artist Talk

by

Xavier Cortada

with special guest

Hong Liu, Ph. D.,
Associate Professor
International Center for Tropical Botany
Department of Earth and Environment, AHC5-387
Florida International University

on
Thursday, December 7th, 2017
10:30 am

at
Hibiscus Gallery
Pinecrest Gardens
11000 S.W. 57th Avenue
Pinecrest, FL 33156

305-669-6990

Talk is free with $5 admission to the Gardens.
After the talk, walk the garden and participate in “Florida is Nature.”  

In South Florida alone, we have 82 plants species are presumably or possibly extirpated or extinct (several of them are orchids), and many more are threatened. Counting the number of species is one thing, understanding their ecological connections is another. We understand only a small fraction of the pollination interactions of all our Florida plants.  On the other hand, 1/3 of Florida’s vascular plant species are non-native. The majority of these naturalized plants are introduced to Florida on purpose, by horticultural trade. How are these introduced species being promoted by native and introduced pollinators? Are introduced species a new normal?

About Dr. Liu
Dr. Hong Liu is Associate Professor at the International Center for Tropical Botany and the Department of Earth and Environment, Florida International University, and a Research Associate at the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden. Her  main research interests are plant conservation ecology. Her current research, carried out both in tropical China and the US, addresses important environmental issues such as what are the impacts of climate change on rare and threatened species, how to conserve heavily exploited plant species, and the ecological consequences of invasive pollinators. She is also interested in rare plant restoration, especially endangered orchids. She has published more than 50 peer-reviewed papers and her research in wild orchid conservation in China has been recognized by academic peers world-wide. The journal Science prominently featured her work in China in 2010 (Science 329: 1592-1594). She iscurrently serving on the editorial board of Conservation Biology, a flagship journal in the field of biodiversity conservation.

“Florida Is…” by Xavier Cortada

Through Florida is Nature,”  Pinecrest Gardens artist-in-residence Xavier Cortada portrays Florida’s environment to connect viewers with our state’s natural beauty.  Come see the works on permanent display at the Hibiscus Gallery in Pinecrest Gardens.

You too can participate in “Florida is…”

Help others understand and appreciate Florida’s natural beauty.  Upload an image of your favorite animal, plant or place to www.floridaisnature.com and tell us why we should all care for it and strive to protect it.  We will share it on our website and social media.  We will also ask you to help us spread the word and get others to see that “Florida is… Nature.”

About Florida Is Nature

Conceptualized during Xavier Cortada‘s residency at the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation Artist Residency in Captiva, Florida, “Florida is…” is an evolving body of work that depicts the natural beauty of Florida.  It asks Floridians to define their state by its actual nature, not by things we do and build to displace it.  Some “Florida is…” works hang as public art in public venues, admonishing viewers to find better ways to coexist with nature.

The project invites participants to capture and share their images and perspectives on the project’s online platform.

You can learn more about the artist by visiting www.cortada.com