Events

Join us for an inspiring evening at the Carriage House at Knoxville Botanical Gardens with Homegrown National Park's Krista De Cooke where we'll learn more about the organization's story and the positive, collective impact we can all make, individually. This event will be in-person and simulcast live via Zoom. Light refreshments will be provided for those attending in person. Register here.

In this talk, Krista will highlight the urgent biodiversity crisis and why it matters to every one of us. She will share the story of Homegrown National Park™, a grassroots movement co-founded by Doug Tallamy, and how it is mobilizing people across the country to restore habitat and build healthy ecosystems right in their own yards and communities.

Krista will introduce the HNP Biodiversity Map, a tool that allows individuals and organizations to register their native plantings and visualize the growing impact of collective action. She will also guide the audience through practical steps anyone can take, from planting keystone species to removing invasives, to contribute meaningfully to ecosystem health.

Her talk is designed to be both inspiring and actionable, showing how simple changes at the individual level can scale into powerful, nationwide transformation. Audiences will leave with a clear understanding of the role private landowners play in reversing biodiversity loss and how they can be part of a movement to regenerate nature where they live.

About the speaker:
Krista De Cooke, MS, MBA
Strategic Partnership & Science Lead, Homegrown National Park™

Krista combines her expertise in ecology and business to drive ecosystem regeneration and biodiversity conservation. She works with diverse partners to promote the planting of native species on private lands, expanding the Homegrown National Park movement and empowering communities to take action for biodiversity.