The 65th annual Southern Forest Health Work Conference will be held 4-6 August 2026 (Tuesday – Thursday) on Jekyll Island, Georgia!
We have chosen the Jekyll Island Club Resort for our meeting. Although meeting registration is not yet open, I encourage you to make your hotel reservation as soon as possible. We have a block of 50 rooms (Monday night), 70 rooms (Tuesday and Wednesday nights), and 60 rooms (Thursday night) set aside for the group until July 13, 2026, so make your reservations by this date. Don’t miss out on the special pricing!
Travel Days: The entire meeting will be held on Tuesday-Thursday, making Monday and Friday travel days. The opening business meeting and plenary session will begin after lunch on Tuesday. A full day of concurrent sessions, the closing business meeting, and awards banquet are scheduled for Thursday. Depending on your travel plans, you may want to reserve a room for Monday night even if you haven’t needed to do this for past meetings.
Meeting Hotel Details
Date: 4-6 August 2026
Place: Jekyll Island Club Resort
Address: 371 Riverview Drive, Jekyll Island, Georgia
Reserve by Phone: 888-445-3179; mention the 65th Annual Southern Forest Health Work Conference or group code 4216796. Use this booking method to avoid a one-night room deposit charge on your credit card.
Reserve Online: Jekyll Island Club Resort Booking (using this booking method will apply a one-night room deposit charge to your credit card)
Room Rates: $189.00 per night plus taxes/fees for 1-2 occupants, $219.00 per night plus taxes/fees for 3 occupants, and $249.00 per night plus taxes/fees for 4 occupants.
Valid for the nights of 3-6 August, 2026 with an additional 3 days pre- and post-conference, depending on availability. Book by July 13, 2026.
Complimentary self-parking is available at the hotel. Visit the website for Hotel Information.
The booking website will show the room rate plus fees, BUT this is not the actual number because our group resort fee is only $20/night (not $45/night)! After booking you will receive a confirmation email with the actual cost plus the resort fee [for example, for 1-2 occupants – per night: $189.00 + $20.00 (resort fee) = $209.00. Then add $7.00 (other fees) + $27.86 (taxes) = $243.86 total/night].
IMPORTANT: To avoid a one-night room deposit charge when booking, use the room reservation phone number (888-445-3179), or contact the group room coordinator, Brianna McVey, directly (912-635-5191).
Remember, this low rate is valid only until July 13, 2026, and only for the limited number of rooms in our group block. Make your reservation right away!
Program
The 2026 SFHWC Program Co-Chairs, Simone Lim-Hing (s.limhing@ncsu.edu), Kristy McAndrew (kmm1280@msstate.edu), and Elizabeth McCarty (elizabeth.mccarty@uga.edu), invite you to contribute session topic suggestions and volunteer to be a session moderator.
The theme of the 2026 SFHWC will be “Forest Health: Rooted in Collaboration”
The Program Co-Chairs welcome and encourage topic suggestions and submissions that highlight collaborative forest health endeavors, stakeholder involvement, and cross-disciplinary projects. Proposed sessions can be submitted through the google form link below.
Please consider contributing to this year’s SFHWC! Your participation is vital for the success of the meeting. Please provide your topic suggestions and/or indicate your willingness to moderate a session by contacting the Program Co-Chairs by March 31, 2026.
Graduate Student Session
The SFHWC 2026 Graduate Student Session will be held during the morning of Wednesday, August 5. Please see the above link for presentation submission details – only 14 spots are available! Titles, authors, affiliations, and abstracts (REQUIRED; 350-word limit) should be sent to Ashley Schulz (as5112@msstate.edu) by Friday, June 5.
Poster Session
The poster session and reception will be held on Wednesday, August 5. The deadline for poster title submissions is Friday, June 5. Please send your title, authors, and affiliations to Forest Palmer (jpalme5@clemson.edu), and use the following format:
John Doe1, Jane Doe2, and Jean Doe3. 1State University, 2State Agency, and 3USDA-FS-Research Station. Studies of southern pine pests and diseases.
Posters should be no larger than 4’ x 4’. Mounting materials will be provided. Posters can be set up starting Tuesday, August 4 and will be displayed throughout the meeting.
Open Sessions
There will be 2 open sessions with no defined topic for those wishing to make a presentation at SFHWC. Please complete the talk submission form with your title, name(s), and affiliation(s) by Friday, June 5!
Time slots will be approximately 15 minutes, including questions.
A.D. Hopkins Award & Roger F. Anderson Award
Nominations for the 2026 A.D. Hopkins Award, which recognizes outstanding record of service to Southern forest health, should be sent to Kamal Gandhi (kjgandhi@uga.edu) by Friday, June 26.
The 2026 Roger F. Anderson Award will be presented to an outstanding graduate student in Southern forest health; send nominations to Caterina Villari (cvillari@uga.edu) by Friday, June 12.
Please see the included links for detailed information on nomination submissions.
SFHWC Food Drive
We will be collecting food and donations again for a local food bank. Cash, checks, and non-perishable food items can be dropped off at the registration table. Please be generous towards those in need. More details coming soon!
Photo Salon
Contact Brittany Barnes (brittanybarnes8@gmail.com) with any questions or pictures that you would like to submit to the 2026 SFHWC Photo Salon. Please see the included link for submission details. Only digital submissions will be accepted, and they must be received by Friday, June 26.
Field Trip
This year’s field trip is at Turkey Mountain Urban Wilderness Area. One of the managers over River Parks Authority (owner of Turkey Mountain) will talk about the difficulties of managing the natural resources as well as the community that heavily uses this publicly available forest. Also leading the tour will be at least one member of the fire mitigation team and Dieter Rudolph (Forest Health Specialist with the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry). The tour will last from 1:30-3:00 PM on July 16. Lunch is not part of the tour, so be sure to eat before or have plans to eat after the tour. There will be two 15-passenger vans for transportation. Any additional participants can drive themselves, as there is plenty of available parking.
Frustrana Cup
The Frustrana Cup will begin at 4:00 PM on July 17 at NEFF Brewing. Be prepared for an exciting cornhole tournament! Let Abby Ratcliff (arratcli@ncsu.edu) know if you have any questions.