George D. Gann
Executive Director
gann@regionalconservation.org
A native of South Florida, USA, George earned a B.A. with distinction in Environmental Conservation and International Affairs from the University of Colorado in 1984. That same year he co-founded IRC, with whom he conducted a five-month study tour of the Brazilian Amazon in 1985. In 1986, he founded Ecohorizons, Inc., a private environmental consulting and contracting firm based in Miami, Florida, and from 1986 to 1995 he conducted more than 200 projects comprising floristic inventories, rare species surveys, the preparation of management plans for public and private conservation areas, and the implementation of ecological restoration projects in both the public and private sectors.
In 1994, George proposed the Floristic Inventory of South Florida (FISF) and in 1995 became executive director of IRC. At IRC, he has both conducted extensive field research and managed large multi-facetted research and conservation projects such as the FISF, the Floristic Assessment of Puerto Rico, and Natives for Your Neighborhood, a web-based resource for native plant gardening and restoration in urban and suburban areas. Since 1987, he has published nearly 100 articles, technical reports, websites, and the book Rare Plants of South Florida: Their History, Conservation, and Restoration, a 1056 page volume that received positive reviews in the journal Ecological Restoration.
George has given numerous presentations to both the general public and technical audiences at venues including Yale University, the University of East London, and Seoul National University (Republic of Korea). He has been active in several professional societies, including a 10 year term on the board of the Florida Native Plant Society. He currently serves on the board of the Tropical Audubon Society and as Chair of the Board of the Society for Ecological Restoration International (SER), for whom he previously served as Chair (1997-1999). He has received several awards for his work, including the Conservation Colleague Award from The Nature Conservancy, as well as the John Rieger Award for service and the Golden Trowel Award for special service to the Chair of the Board of Directors from SER. |
