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The following succulent experts and personalities will present an interesting -- and fun -- variety of information relevant to cacti and succulent hobbyists. Descriptions of their presentations will also be posted soon.
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  Susan Amoy
Susan Amoy grew up in Honolulu, Hawaii, and currently resides north of New York City. She has bachelor's and master's degrees in the visual arts, and has lectured at many societies on the topic of bonsai. She has been growing succulents for over 30 years and practicing bonsai for 15 years.
Amoy is a member of CSSA, CSS of Connecticut and Friends of Bonsai of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Her extensive greenhouse and outside pens are devoted to succulent bonsai, bonsai with tropical plants and traditional bonsai using temperate species.
 Chuck Hanson
After receiving his master's degree from Ohio State University in 1960, Chuck Hanson worked for the Maryland Division of Game and Inland Fisheries, Ohio Division of Wildlife and U.S. Forest Service in various field positions. From 1969 to 1978, he served as curator of birds and mammals at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.
In 1978, Hanson launched his Arid Lands nursery, which specialized in the sexual propagation of rare succulent plants. In conjunction with the business, he made numerous trips to Mexico, South Africa, Namibia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Thailand and Madagascar in search of succulents.
Hanson founded and managed Orchid Renaissance from 2005 to 2008. He is now living in Ecuador and starting field studies of orchid pollination ecology.
 Dan Mahr
Dan Mahr grew up in southern California, where he achieved undergraduate degrees in zoology and a doctorate in biological control. Mahr now serves in the Department of Entomology at the University of Wisconsin -- Madison, where he specializes in biological control and pest management in fruit crops.
Mahr has grown succulent plants for nearly 50 years. He has been a member of CSSA for 30 years and on its board since 1997. He chairs several committees and previously served as CSSA president.
Mahr enjoys numerous succulents, but his primary research interest is succulent trees. He and his wife, Susan, love to travel and have visited over 25 countries, many during expeditions to view cacti and succulents in nature.
 Mike Massara
Mike Massara operates Out Of Africa Plants with his wife, Maureen. He likes to tell everyone she runs the business, and he plays in the greenhouse! The two live in Naples, Florida, where they moved from Ohio in 2008.
Massara has been interested in succulents since he was a teenager, and built his first greenhouse in his early 20s. Propagating these plants and visiting the countries in which they are endemic has always been a great enjoyment.
Massara has traveled extensively in Africa with expeditions to South Africa, Namibia, Tanzania, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique, Ethiopia, Somalia and Madagascar.
Wendell (Woody) Minnich
Woody Minnich has been in the cactus hobby for some 40 years. He is a life member of seven clubs, as well as CSSA, where he has served as president and in other positions of leadership.
Minnich is known for his extensive field work studying primarily the cactus family. He has traveled throughout the United States, Mexico, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, Africa, Yemen and Socotra. Minnich is also known for his entertaining presentations, which feature outstanding photography and educational commentary.
Minnich's nursery, Cactus Data Plants, was started in 1975. It specializes in show specimens and rare cacti and other succulents. Woody and his wife, Kathy, live in the beautiful mountains south of Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Armand Randrianasolo
Armand Randrianasolo is an associate curator and taxonomic researcher at Missouri Botanical Garden. In addition to pursuing his taxonomic research interests, Dr. Randrianasolo has been instrumental in promoting the idea of sustainability and conservation within MBG and has been a leader in the development of the institution's community-based sustainable development program in Madagascar.
Born and raised in Vatomandry, Madagascar, Randrianasolo holds a bachelor's degree in biology from the University of Antananarivo-Madagascar, and master's and doctorate degrees from the University of Missouri-St. Louis.
Randrianasolo is a specialist in Malagasy Anacardiaceae and past executive secretary of the Madagascar Plant Specialist Group for the Species Survival Commission of IUCN.
Rob Wallace
Rob Wallace holds a doctorate degree in botany from Rutgers University. He is a biology professor at Iowa State University, where he teaches courses in evolution, plant taxonomy and systematics, economic botany and biogeography.
Wallace is internationally known for applying laboratory methods using DNA variation to determine the evolutionary relationships among various plant groups. He has conducted field research on succulents in the American Southwest, Mexico, Chile, Peru and South Africa.
Wallace has served on the research committee of the Cactus and Succulent Society of America and is a long-time member of the International Organization for Succulent Plant Study, the Botanical Society of America and American Society of Plant Taxonomists.
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