Gil Nelson's BIO

Gil Nelson is a writer, naturalist, and educator who works in Tallahassee, Florida and lives in southwest Georgia. He writes, speaks, edits, and consults on botany, natural history, ecology, outdoor recreation, and environmental science topics, especially as they relate to Florida and the southeastern United States.

His single author books include Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers (currently in press) and East Gulf Coastal Plain Wildflowers, both published by Globe-Pequot/Falcon Press, Florida's Best Native Landscape Plants, published by University Press of Florida, and Ferns of Florida, Shrubs and Woody Vines of Florida, Trees of Florida, Exploring Wild Northwest Florida, and Exploring Wild North Florida, all of which have been published by Pineapple Press. He is co-author of the National Audubon Society Field Guide to Florida (Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1998) and the National Audubon Society Field Guide to the Southeast (Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1999), and a contributor to Florida Wetland Plants: An Identification Manual (University of Florida, Institute for Food and Agricultural Sciences).

In 1999 he coordinated the layout and design and served as primary photographer for Field Guide to the Rare Plants of Florida, published by the Florida Natural Areas Inventory, an agency for which he frequently conducts rare plant surveys and for whom he has developed a database management system for reporting and tracking exotic pest plants.

He has written for a number of national and regional periodicals including Backpacker Magazine, Blue Ridge Country, Florida Wildlife, Georgia Journal, Louisiana Conservationist, Nature Photographer, and Tennessee Conservationist, and has written several feature articles for The Tallahassee Democrat.

Nelson is past editor of Sabal Minor, the bimonthly newsletter of the Florida Native Plant Society. His memberships include American Horticultural Society, Florida Native Plant Society (FNPS), Georgia Botanical Society, Georgia Native Plant Society, Southern Appalachian Botanical Society, and St. Marks Refuge Association. He has served on the board and is a past president of the St. Marks Refuge Association, and is a frequent field trip leader for the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge. He has served as member at large on the FNPS board of directors, as president of the local Tallahassee Chapter of FNPS, and in 2005 was named an FNPS Mentor, one of the Society's highest recognitions. He has made talks to and led field trips for a variety of groups including numerous FNPS chapters, as well as the Florida Museum of History, Sierra Club, Audubon Society, Florida Trail Association, St. Vincent Island National Wildlife Refuge, Georgia Botanical Society, the Georgia Conservancy, and Mounts Botanical Garden.

Nelson is a field botanist and holds a research associate appointment at the Robert K. Godfrey Herbarium in the Department of Biological Sciences at Florida State University, where he has taught graduate courses in ecosystems of Florida and assisted in the development of the herbarium's online database. He also teaches computer programming and relational database design and programming and GIS and is particularly interested in the design and maintenance of botanical/biological database management systems. He consulted in the initial design and development of the online database at Godfrey Herbarium and maintains PanFlora, an extensive database of the vascular flora of the Florida panhandle. In September 2006 the board of the Tall Timbers Research Station & Land Conservancy named him a Beadel Fellow and enlisted his assistance with refining and re-designing the database management system for the station's research herbarium.

Nelson holds BS, MS and PhD degrees from Florida State University and worked as a professional educator for 30 years. He currently resides near the community of Beachton in southwest Georgia.