Herbicide drift (trespass) has been an economic and ecological concern for decades. However in recent years, there have been dramatic increases in the use of many popular herbicides in an effort to combat herbicide-resistant weeds. Widespread injuries to wild and cultivated plants have been reported since these increases in herbicide use began. Prairie Rivers Network's Tree and Plant Health Monitoring Program has studied the impacts of drift for 7 years. This presentation will discuss the summary of 6 years of findings, such as the long term impacts of herbicide drift to trees, plants, and ecosystem health in our new report "Hidden in Plain Sight".

Kim Erndt-Pitcher, director of ecological health, has worked for Prairie Rivers Network for over 15 years. She leads the organization's biodiversity and pesticide programs. Before coming to PRN she was a crew member and environmental educator at Living Lands and Waters based in Moline, Illinois, and a technician with the USGS in Kansas City, Missouri. She has spent most of her career working to promote and advocate for the protection of biodiversity and the integrity of natural systems. Kim received a M.S. Biology with a focus on Ecotoxicology from the University of Central Missouri, and was a National Science Foundation IGERT Fellow in Watershed Science and Technology at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.