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quinta nights mansion forest smithNative plant communities are the foundation of healthy wildlife populations, functional ecosystems, and sustainable land use. On Thursday, December 5 at 6 p.m., Quinta Mazatlán will host Director of the Texas Natives Seeds Program, Forrest S. Smith, for Nights at the Mansion speaker series. Forrest will present his research and work within the Texas Native Seeds Program.

Forrest S. Smith is the Dan L Duncan Endowed Director of the Texas Natives Seeds Program located at the Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute in Kingsville within the Texas A&M University-Kingsville (TAMUK) campus. He earned a degree in Range and Wildlife Management from Texas A&M University-Kingsville in 2003. Forrest has worked with CKWRI since 2001 and has led the native plant conservation and restoration programs there since 2008.

Forrest has published numerous scientific and popular works, and notably, his editorial in the journal Ecological Restoration titled Texas Today: A Sea of the Wrong Grasses remains one of the top 10 read most-read articles of the journal since it was published in 2010. In November 2019, Texas A&M Press released the book A Photographic Guide to the Plants of the South Texas Sandsheet which was co-authored by Forrest.

Forrest is a frequent speaker on native plant restoration and conservation, including giving invited talks at the 2015 World Conference on Ecological Restoration in the UK, and a keynote address at the 2019 Wildlife Society Annual Meeting in Reno, NV. Under his direction, in 2019, the TNS Program was awarded both the Texas Environmental Excellence Award for Agriculture and The Wildlife Society’s Group Achievement Award.

Nights at the Mansion speaker series presents noteworthy speakers and scholars to present lectures related to our global environment, local cuisine and the arts and culture. The program takes place on Thursday evenings through May 2020. The program fee is $3 per person and no advance reservation is required.

Quinta Mazatlán is located at 600 Sunset Drive in McAllen, one block south of La Plaza Mall on 10th Street. For more information, contact Quinta Mazatlán at (956) 681-3370 or visit www.quintamazatlan.com or the Facebook events page facebook.com/McAllenQuintaMazatlan.

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