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2026 LINEUP—SPEAKERS & WORKSHOPS

LEARN, CREATE, CONNECT

Engage with leading aroid experts through inspiring talks and hands-on workshops tailored for every enthusiast.

Educational expert Speaker Sessions and IAS Engagement Events are always free for event attendees—plan your schedule now, as each session is limited to just 100 attendees.

New this year: Hands‑On Workshops where all materials are included to create something to take home—workshop tickets are required—and only 50 are available for each!

And don’t miss our exclusive members‑only Annual Dinner & Auction fundraiser—always a sell‑out crowd‑pleaser, so grab your tickets early!

GET YOUR TICKETS TODAY!

SATURDAY SCHEDULE | SUNDAY SCHEDULE | MEET OUR PASSIONATE EXPERTS & ENTHUSIASTS | HANDS-ON WORKSHOPS & MEMBER DINNER

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MEET OUR PAST PRESENTERS & HOSTS!

We’re grateful to the incredible speakers, presenters, and workshop leaders who shared their expertise at the 2025 IAS Tropical Plant Expo. From inspiring talks to hands-on workshops and our members-only Dinner & Auction, every session was designed to grow your passion and connect you with the aroid community.

EXPERTS & ENTHUSIASTS

AGRISTARTS - Founded in 1984, AgriStarts is a family-owned wholesale tissue culture company specializing in indoor foliage, edibles, landscape plants, natives, and other specialty varieties. Based in Florida, the company produces starter plants using advanced micropropagation techniques. Its environmentally controlled greenhouses support large-scale, true-to-type production, with operations designed to recapture water and fertilizer. AgriStarts supplies plant material to a wide range of horticultural markets.

DR. MONICA CARLSEN - A Research Scientist at the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. Her research focuses on understanding the diversification of the genus Anthurium. She has been working with this group for 20 years, since she was the recipient of the International Aroid Society’s Dr. Monroe Birdsey Memorial Award for Young Researchers in Araceae in 2003. Dr. Carlsen is also particularly interested in training the next generation of aroid researchers by providing internship opportunities and mentorship to students interested in the family.

LUCAS GARCIA - Lucas Garcia is a devoted horticulturist and has served as the Araceae family curator at the Amazon Spheres greenhouse since 2021. His passion for aroids began soon after he earned his Bachelors of Science in Plant Biology from the University of Washington in 2018. While he is still a relatively new face in the International Aroid Society, he is excited to be more involved and help revitalize the West Coast Chapter. Lucas maintains an Araceae collection of more than 2,000 plants from over 600 accessions. Some of his favorite genera to cultivate include Amorphophallus and Anthurium. Additionally, he designs themed aroid displays, leads educational workshops, and collaborates with other horticulture experts and aroid enthusiasts to acquire new species for The Spheres and share plant materials to advance aroid conservation and research.

LYNN GRIFFITH - Lynn is an expert in the industry, as well as a hands-on consultant and has been a star class speaker for many facets of the industry from Day Lilies to Palm Trees to farms or anything or anywhere you can think of! Throw a dart on the map of the world- he has probably been there! Awards don’t exist for this unique amazing individual. Lynn is unparalleled in his profession and tirelessly and dedicatedly works to help everyone who needs it. We are here to improve and save the agricultural and horticultural communities across the world.

JASON MARK HUGHES - Araceae researcher, enthusiast and curator with a focus on pendent Anthurium species. Jason Hughes has lived for twenty years in Uvita, Costa Rica where he curates exotic species from his trips into habitat. He discovered Monstera cedenoi and was a co-author on the paper describing it.

LESTER KALLUS - Lester Kallus discovered the International Aroid Society in the early days of web surfing and joined in 1997. He attended his first International Aroid Conference at the Missouri Botanical Garden in 1999 and his first Miami Show & Sale in 2001, missing only two since then during the pandemic. Lester has served multiple terms on the IAS Governing Board and has held the roles of president, secretary, treasurer, and committee member. He became layout editor of the IAS Newsletter in 2021 and currently serves as both the managing and layout editor. In 2022, he also took on the role of layout editor for Aroideana.

BROOKE LOPEMAN - Brooke Lopeman is Chair of the IAS Website Committee and serves on several others. She started growing aroids indoors in downtown Chicago after her partner got her hooked, and quickly became interested in understanding their native habitats to best care for them—that curiosity led her to the IAS! When not digging into spreadsheets in her day job, Brooke enjoys helping grow the society and supporting IAS’s mission through behind-the-scenes work and efforts to preserve its resources.

CASS MARION - Cass is a passionate aroid lover with a soft spot for Anthuriums—her favorite being her fabulous Red Crystallinum. She’s currently working on her own hybrids in hopes of one day seeing her creations in collections around the world. New to the International Aroid Society, Cass is excited to dive deeper, connect with fellow enthusiasts, and travel the world to see (and help protect) these plants in their natural habitats.

DREW MARTINEZ - Drew Martinez is the founder of Carnivero, a carnivorous and tropical plants nursery based in Austin, TX. With a background in optical physics and biology from Stanford University, Drew brings a science-driven approach to horticulture. His interest in carnivorous plants and other amazing botanicals spans 3 decades and has included field work studying wild subjects and traveling to learn from growers around the world. At Carnivero, he focuses on cultivating rare plants through tissue culture and responsible practices, with the goal of making unique species more accessible while helping to conserve their wild counterparts.

MARIE NOCK - Marie and her husband Steve owned and operated Ree Gardens for fifty years. They were primarily collectors of rare and unusual tropical plants but enjoyed propagating and hybridizing as well, so their customers were able to find plants that weren’t otherwise available. Both were charter members of the International Aroid Society.

BILL ROTOLANTE - William “Bill” Rotolante is a lifelong member of the International Aroid Society (IAS), serving in numerous leadership roles, including Events Chair, Vice President, and currently President. A second-generation nurseryman from South Florida, Bill owns Silver Krome Gardens Inc., one of North America's largest producers of rare Aroids. His nursery houses many plants in the IAS collection and has raised thousands of dollars for the IAS charitable contribution fund. Bill’s expertise in Anthurium breeding was featured in the Aroidiana publication. Beyond the IAS, he has served as President of the Miami-Dade Chapter of the Florida Nursery, Growers and Landscape Association (FNGLA), a Farm Bureau Board Member, and on the Young Nurseryman’s Advisory Board for Farm Credit of Florida. His passion for Aroids has made him a leader in his industry as he tries to foster this same love in the newer generations of Aroid enthusiasts.

DAVID RULAND - David Ruland, Greenhouse Manager, has been employed at the Atlanta Botanical Garden for over 26 years. Originally working in the Tropical Conservatory for a number of years, he has been looking after the Greenhouse Collections since 2010. He has an affinity for Tropical Conifers, Ferns, Gesneriads and first and especially foremost, the Aroids.

Barry Schwarts is a longtime International Aroid Society member and supporter with 50+ years as a collector, breeder, and propagator of rare and unusual aroids and foliage.

LIANA STRODE - Liana Strode is the founder of Salad Beard Farms in Apopka, Florida, which grew from her love of rare and variegated plants and the joy of sharing them with others. An IAS volunteer and dedicated member of this year’s Event Committee, she’ll be conducting interviews for the International Aroid Society at the Tropical Plant Expo—speaking with experts, growers, fellow plant lovers, and more. Follow the International Aroid Society and Salad Beard Farms to catch interviews and highlights from the Tropical Plant Expo!

TYLER THRASHER - With an undying love for nature and its respective curiosities, there are few things Tyler’s brain isn’t obsessing over. Between his pursuits to crystallize the world, opalize everything, and hunt down some of the realm’s most unique plants, his passion to combine art and science every step of the way is his fire and fuel. Chances are if you catch Tyler at a party, he’ll talk your ear off about exploring caves, growing minerals in his lab, playing Dungeons and Dragons, hybridizing new plants, electronic music, the importance of self compassion, and just how amazingly beautiful and mysterious this whole wide universe is. Tyler has a wide range of projects under his belt including but not limited to crystallizing insects, creating some of the world’s first and only opalized insects and flowers, hybridizing plants and creating new cultivars, capturing the natural world through illustration, creating a series of scientific and strange alchemy inspired toys, and a few published books including “Th

ROBERT WAINBLAT - Robert Wainblat is based in Boston, Massachusetts, and has been growing aroids for over six years, with a particular focus on Alocasia. He joined the International Aroid Society Board of directors in 2022 and is the creator of Aroidpedia, an online resource dedicated to aroid research, history, and cultivation. Outside the aroid world he is passionate about photography, data visualization, and baking.

RON WEEKS - Ron's interest in aroids ignited when he began work at Fantastic Garden in 1972. Two youngsters of that time, Ron and Gary Antosh, instigated the adults to create the International Aroid Society. GIANT leaf aroids are his favorite.

HANDS-ON & AFTER HOURS

MEMBERS DINNER & AUCTION | SATURDAY 7PM–11PM | FIU GRAHAM CENTER BALLROOMS Experience the IAS’s most anticipated evening—featuring a tropical dinner menu, lively paddle auction, and exceptional, one-of-a-kind aroids and other plants generously donated by members, vendors, and supporters of IAS. Along with these plants, bid on unique items including a one-of-one print and a signed copy of Deni Bown’s new book, Aroids: Plants of the Arum Family, 3rd Edition. Throughout the evening, hear from leading experts as they share their work with aroids in world-class botanical collections. —GET YOUR TICKETS TODAY!

MEMBERS DINNER & AUCTION | SATURDAY 7PM–11PM | FIU GRAHAM CENTER BALLROOMS Join us for an exclusive conversation, Collections Under Glass: A Discussion of the Aroids at Botanical Gardens, with botanical garden experts David Ruland (Atlanta Botanical Garden) and Lucas Garcia (Amazon Spheres). They’ll share insights on cultivating, curating, and caring for aroids in specialty collections. | Plus: enjoy a tropical dinner and live auction of rare aroids.—GET YOUR TICKETS TODAY!

MEMBERS DINNER & AUCTION | SATURDAY 7PM–11PM | FIU GRAHAM CENTER BALLROOMS Experience the IAS’s most anticipated evening—featuring a tropical dinner menu, lively paddle auction, and exceptional, one-of-a-kind aroids and other plants generously donated by members, vendors, and supporters of IAS. Along with these plants, bid on unique items including a one-of-one print and a signed copy of Deni Bown’s new book, Aroids: Plants of the Arum Family, 3rd Edition. Throughout the evening, hear from leading experts as they share their work with aroids in world-class botanical collections. —GET YOUR TICKETS TODAY!

MEMBERS DINNER & AUCTION | SATURDAY 7PM–11PM | FIU GRAHAM CENTER BALLROOMS Join us for an exclusive conversation, Collections Under Glass: A Discussion of the Aroids at Botanical Gardens, with botanical garden experts David Ruland (Atlanta Botanical Garden) and Lucas Garcia (Amazon Spheres). They’ll share insights on cultivating, curating, and caring for aroids in specialty collections. | Plus: enjoy a tropical dinner and live auction of rare aroids.—GET YOUR TICKETS TODAY!

MOONBEAM FLORA WORKSHOP: CREATE YOUR OWN GLOW IN THE DARK FLOWER | SUNDAY 12:20PM-1:50PM | Join Tyler Thrasher for a hands-on session where you’ll craft your own glow-in-the-dark dried flora, explore phosphorescence, and leave with a luminous botanical creation—GET YOUR TICKETS TODAY!

MOUNTING AROIDS FOR VERTICAL GROWING | SUNDAY 3PM-4PM | Join IAS President Bill Rotolante for a step-by-step workshop to mount aroids for vertical display—perfect for home, patio, or yard. Receive a plant and plaque, learn his techniques, and take home your finished piece—GET YOUR TICKETS TODAY!

INTRODUCTION TO TISSUE CULTURE WITH AGRISTARTS | SATURDAY 1PM-3PM | Join Karina and Yessinia from AgriStarts for a beginner-friendly session on tissue culture (micropropagation). Learn how to take an explant, transfer it to growth media, and demystify the plant cloning process—GET YOUR TICKETS TODAY!