The Oaks of the Americas Conservation Network (OACN) is an interdisciplinary consortium of oak experts from universities, botanic gardens, arboreta, conservation NGOs, and industry and government agencies aiming to address the research and conservation needs for oaks in the Western Hemisphere. In the short time since its founding in 2016, OACN has been able to make important progress on a number of projects and initiatives focused on oaks in the Americas. Here is a review of some of the work OACN has completed in 2017:

The Morton Arboretum and the Botanic Garden at the Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla hosted a Rare Mexican Oak Taxonomy Workshop, which brought together key stakeholders and experts on Mexican oaks to discuss taxonomy and conservation.

An acorn from a specimen of Quercus insignis growing in Hackfalls Arboretum in New Zealand germinated earlier this year.

In January 2011, I made a quick visit to several natural areas in Palm Beach County, Florida while on a business trip and had my first experience with the varied oak habitats of the South Florida coast. In January 2017, I had the chance to relive the experience and revisit three of those spots – the High Ridge Scrub, Juno Dunes, and Frenchman’s Forest Natural Areas.