Conservation Forum

The Whitney and Anna Harris Conservation Forum offers a unique opportunity for the public to engage with leading experts in conservation and discuss critical environmental challenges affecting our communities. The evening typically features presentations from two or more speakers, a dinner break provided by the Harris Center, and concludes with an interactive Q&A session.

This event is completely free to the public, made possible by the vision of Whitney and Anna Harris, who believed in the importance of connecting the public and students with cutting-edge conservation knowledge. Our long-standing partnerships with the Saint Louis Zoo and Missouri Botanical Garden further enrich the forum’s impact.

Join us on November 12th, 2026, for Bringing Them Back: Successes and Challenges in Species Reintroduction at the Saint Louis Zoo.

Featured Experts

John Bender, PhD
Pacific Bird Conservation

Can we rewild the Mariana Islands? Using avian seed dispersers and conservation translocations to restore ecosystem function

John is the executive director of Pacific Bird Conservation and a graduate of the University of Missouri–St. Louis, where his work was supported by the partnership between the Whitney R. Harris World Ecology Center and the Saint Louis Zoo. He leads community-engaged conservation across the Mariana Islands, advancing species recovery and ethical bird translocations that establish safety-net populations on predator-free sanctuary islands, work that earned his team the Association of Zoos and Aquariums' 2025 North American Conservation Award. He approaches conservation as much through people as through birds, building the trust, local leadership, and long-term partnerships needed to turn good science into lasting action on the ground.

Laura Toro, PhD
Missouri Botanical Garden

Harnessing ecological knowledge to support tropical forests

Laura is a scientist at the Center for Conservation and Sustainable Development at the Missouri Botanical Garden, where she studies how to recover degraded tropical forests in cost-effective ways. Combining experimental field and lab work with large-scale synthesis, her research examines the belowground and aboveground barriers to restoring biodiversity in the tropics, with particular attention to plant functional traits, natural regeneration, and the economics of restoration strategies. She lead-organizes the Monitoring Restoration Effectiveness working group and works closely with restoration practitioners, land managers, policymakers, and nonprofits to translate that science into practice on the ground.

Justin Elden
St. Louis Zoo

Tentative title: Recovering the Ozark Hellbender

Justin is Curator of Herpetology and Aquatics at the Saint Louis Zoo, where he oversees the Charles H. Hoessle Herpetarium and its amphibian and reptile breeding programs. He is a leader in the Zoo's landmark Ozark hellbender recovery effort, a partnership with the Missouri Department of Conservation that has bred and released more than 10,000 of these endangered giant salamanders back into their native Ozark streams. His work connects zoo-based husbandry with hands-on field reintroduction, helping return imperiled amphibians to the wild and highlighting the freshwater and cave ecosystems they depend on.

This event occurred September 26, 2023 at the Saint Louis Zoo.