Washington is home to roughly fifty plant species that are classified as either imperiled or critically imperiled—the most vulnerable designations. In this talk, I will provide updates from the 2025 field season on how some of Washington’s rarest plants are doing, with a special focus on the species that are most vulnerable to extinction. I will also discuss the most effective conservation management activities that are needed to reduce extinction risk. Conservation progress relies on collaboration, so please join us for this presentation and help us build community awareness on some of Washington’s greatest conservation challenges of our times.

Jesse Miller has worked as a botanist and ecologist in the Pacific Northwest, California, and beyond since he graduated from the Evergreen State College in 2006. He completed his PhD in plant ecology at UW Madison in 2016. After teaching at Stanford for four years, Jesse spent served as the Lead State Botanist for the Washington Department of Natural Resources from 2023-2025. He now teaches in the Masters in Environmental Studies program at his alma mater, The Evergreen State College. Jesse’s research interests include the impacts of shifting fire regimes on biodiversity, and the conservation ecology of rare plants and lichens.

Attend in person: 
Lord Mansion Coach House
211 21st Avenue SW, Olympia, WA

Attend via Zoom:
Please register in advance at the 
Zoom webinar registration link