2026 Conference Program
General Schedule of Events
From keynote presentations to immersive site-specific sessions, view the full lineup of speakers, timing, and specialized learning tracks.
Explore the complete daily lineup, speaker panels, and specialized learning tracks for the 2026 AHTA Annual Conference in San Francisco. Use this information to map out your sessions across our host venues, including the Marriott Union Square, San Francisco Botanical Garden & AIDS Memorial Grove, and Alcatraz.
Already Registered? Book a Local Tour
Make the most of your Bay Area trip. AHTA attendees get an exclusive 10% discount on CA tours, perfect for exploring the city's unique natural beauty pre-conference.
Conference Tracks
To help you maximize your time at the conference, our educational programming is organized into specialized tracks. Each track tags sessions by core professional domains, allowing you to easily curate an itinerary that aligns with your specific clinical focus, research interests, or business objectives.
- Evidence & Credentials: Clinical research, data models, and the professional standards advancing the HT-BC framework.
- Community & Settings: Tailored programming designed for specific environments, including schools, healthcare systems, and justice-involved spaces.
- Methods & Wellness: Hands-on clinical modalities, mindfulness practices, and techniques for cultivating client and practitioner resilience.
Detailed Schedule and Speakers
Thurs., Oct 15, 2026
Fri., Oct 16, 2026
Sat., Oct 17, 2026
Sun., Oct 18, 2026
Welcome to Day 1. Use this schedule to coordinate your arrival, complete registration, and join fellow practitioners and leaders for our evening welcome activities and networking sessions.
Day 1: Board Meeting & Welcome Activities
| Track | Time PST | Activity | Location | Presentation Title or Activity Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| General Logistics | 0815-0845 | Transportation | Marriot to Filoli | Transportation to Filoli |
| General Logistics | 0900-1200 | AHTA Board Meeting | Filoli Gardens | AHTA Board Meeting |
| General Logistics | 1200-1300 | AHTA Board Lunch | Filoli Gardens | AHTA Board Lunch |
| General Logistics | 1300-1600 | AHTA Board Meeting | Filoli Gardens | AHTA Board Meeting |
| General Logistics | 1200-1830 | Registration | Marriot 2nd Floor | Registration Opens |
| General Logistics | 1730-1930 | Welcome Reception | Savoy Room (Marriott) | Welcome Reception Kick Off |
| Methods & Wellness | 1745-1930 | Moth Up | Savoy Room (Marriott) | Moth Up Storytelling Session |
Welcome to Day 2. Use this schedule to plan your day around our opening keynote, explore research-backed lectures and hands-on workshops across our specialized tracks, and connect with peers during our afternoon poster and regional networking sessions.
Day 2: Keynote Address & Educational Sessions
| Track | Time (PST) | Activity | Location | Details | Presenter(s) | Sponsors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Friday, October 16, 2026 | ||||||
| General Logistics | 0730-1700 | Registration | Marriott 2nd Floor | Registration Open | ||
| General Logistics | 0730-0900 | Breakfast | 2nd Floor Pre-function | Breakfast TBD | ||
| General Logistics | 0830-0850 | Conference Opening | Ballroom | Conference Opening Welcome | Horticultural Therapy Institute (HTI) | |
| Methods & Wellness | 0850-0950 | Keynote | Ballroom | Keynote Address | Jennifer Jewell | |
| General Logistics | 1000-1600 | Headshots | Cable Car | Professional Headshots | Riva Mental Health | |
| Community & Settings | 1000-1050 | Lecture | Sutter I | Beyond the Garden Wall: Designing Deeper Connections Between Children and Healing Gardens | Kayte Kitchen | |
| Evidence & Credentials | 1000-1050 | Lecture | Sutter II | Research on Behavioral Driving Mechanisms and Dynamic Model Construction in the Implementation Process of Programs of Horticultural Therapy | Binxia Xue | |
| Community & Settings | 1000-1050 | Workshop (45 Minutes) | Sutter III | Rooted in Resilience: Therapeutic Horticulture as a Pathway to Student Well Being and Belonging | Elizabeth Diehl | |
| Community & Settings | 1000-1050 | Panel | Ballroom | Growing Inside: Prison Gardens Offer Healing and Reconnection | Faryn Hart, Isa Pena, Sol Mercado | |
| General Logistics | 1050-1100 | Break | N/A | Short Break | ||
| Community & Settings | 1100-1150 | Lecture | Sutter I | Improving Quality in a Therapeutic Gardening Program for ICU Employees | Seth Lemmons | |
| Community & Settings | 1100-1150 | Lecture | Sutter II | Seeds of Healing: Veterans, Sunflowers, and the Power of Community | Collie Turner, John Pilat | |
| Community & Settings | 1100-1150 | Workshop (45 Minutes) | Sutter III | Growing Resilience Behind the Gate | Gunjan Koul & Paul Mallory | |
| Community & Settings | 1100-1150 | Panel | Ballroom | Horticultural Therapy/Therapeutic Horticulture in Cooperative Extension: A Multi-State Panel | Gayle Gratop |
| Track | Time (PST) | Activity | Location | Details | Presenter(s) | Sponsors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General Logistics | 1150-1250 | Lunch | 2nd floor Pre-function | Lunch Break | ||
| Evidence & Credentials | 1210-1255 | Meeting/Awards | Ballroom | AHTA Meeting and Awards | ||
| Evidence & Credentials | 1300-1350 | Lecture | Sutter I | Horticulture in Pediatrics: Applications, Evidence and the Future | Andrew Ziegler | |
| Methods & Wellness | 1300-1350 | Workshop (45 Minutes) | Sutter II | Inner Ecosystems: Cultivating Resilience Through Therapeutic Nature Practices | Antoinette Vasseur | |
| Community & Settings | 1300-1350 | Lecture | Sutter III | Growing together: Building Sustainable Mixed-Needs Therapeutic Horticulture Communities | Katie Andrews | |
| Evidence & Credentials | 1300-1700 | Poster Session | Ballroom | Posters | Various | |
| Methods & Wellness | 1300-1700 | Special Event | Cable Car | Plants and Paws | Ball Horticultural Company | |
| General Logistics | 1350-1400 | Break | N/A | Short Break | ||
| Community & Settings | 1400-1450 | Lecture | Sutter I | Healing Landscapes in Times of War: Therapeutic Gardens for Recovery and Resilience in Ukraine | Yuliya Rashkovska | |
| Community & Settings | 1400-1450 | Lecture | Sutter II | Growing Resilience: Cultivating Horticultural Therapy in a School Community | Rebecca Reimer | |
| Evidence & Credentials | 1400-1450 | Workshop (45 Minutes) | Sutter III | The Evidence Base for AHTA Therapeutic Garden Characteristics | Teresia Hazen, Meghan McKieran | |
| Community & Settings | 1400-1450 | Panel | Ballroom | From clinics to parks: Building resilience through nature prescriptions for children and families | Shakiba Ghasemi Assl | |
| General Logistics | 1450-1500 | Break | N/A | Short Break | ||
| Community & Settings | 1500-1550 | Lecture | Sutter I | Bridges and Blooms: a Land Together Pilot at San Quentin | Calliope Correia | |
| Evidence & Credentials | 1500-1550 | Lecture | Sutter II | Creating Evidence-Based Publications | Arushi Sinha-phd | |
| Community & Settings | 1500-1550 | Workshop (45 Minutes) | Sutter III | Cultivating job skills and growing resilience through gardening | Lara Fahnstock | |
| Community & Settings | 1500-1550 | Panel | Ballroom | Engaging the Healthcare Community though Therapeutic Horticulture | Jennifer Smith-Sims | |
| General Logistics | 1600-1700 | Networking | Ballroom | Regional Group Meetings/networking |
Welcome to Day 3. Use this schedule to navigate our interactive morning workshops, experience our guided tour of the San Francisco Botanical Garden, and join us at the AIDS Memorial Grove for our outdoor closing ceremony.
Day 3: Experiential Workshops & Closing Ceremony
| Track | Time (PST) | Activity | Location | Details | Presenter(s) | Sponsors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General Logistics | 0730-1200 | Registration | Golden Gate Gardens Park | Registration Open | ||
| General Logistics | 0800-0900 | Transportation | Lobby | Transportation to GGGP | ||
| General Logistics | 0910-0930 | Opening - Day 2 | Auditorium - stage | Day 2 Opening and Welcome | ||
| Community & Settings | 0930-1020 | Keynote | Auditorium - stage | Keynote Address | GGGP ED | |
| General Logistics | 1030-1450 | Headshots | Back Garden Area | Professional Headshots Open | Riva Mental Health | |
| Evidence & Credentials | 1030-1200 | Workshop | Auditorium - stage | Credentialing the Profession of Horticultural Therapy | Lana Dreyfuss | |
| Evidence & Credentials | 1030-1200 | Workshop | Rec Room | THAD Global: Using the Therapeutic Horticulture Activities Database to Support Culturally Responsive Programming | Hsiang-Hua Chen, Leah Diehl | |
| Methods & Wellness | 1030-1200 | Workshop | Garden Room | Soiled in Beauty: Tending the Inner Garden of Resilience | Stephanie Ramirez |
| Track | Time (PST) | Activity | Location | Details | Presenter(s) | Sponsors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Methods & Wellness | 1200-1300 | Lunch / Screening | Auditorium - stage | Lunch & Film Screening | ||
| Methods & Wellness | 1300-1430 | Workshop | Auditorium - stage | "Letting Go:" A mindful journey into seed-saving. | ||
| Methods & Wellness | 1300-1350 | Workshop (45 Minutes) | Rec Room | Every Body Breathes! How breathwork enhances the practitioner, client and profession of HT | Colleen Griffin | |
| Community & Settings | 1300-1350 | Lecture | Garden Room | Exploring Cultures through Therapeutic Horticulture | Marisol Clarke | |
| General Logistics | 1350-1400 | Break | N/A | Short Break | ||
| Methods & Wellness | 1400-1450 | Lecture | Rec Room | Nature Sure is Awesome-Exploring Awe and It�s Uses in HT Practice | Matthew J. Wichrowski | |
| Community & Settings | 1400-1450 | Workshop (45 Minutes) | Garden Room | Lessons From A Leaky Greenhouse - Growing HT Programs in Diverse Nonprofit Organizations | Jeanne Schultz | |
| Community & Settings | 1500-1550 | Tour | SFBG | San Francisco Botanical Garden Tour | ||
| General Logistics | 1600-1650 | Closing Ceremony | AIDS Memorial Gardens | Closing Ceremony | ||
| General Logistics | 1730-1800 | Transportation | Marriott Lobby | Bus back to Marriott |
Welcome to Day 4. Use this schedule to coordinate your ferry departure to Alcatraz Island, where we will wrap up our conference experience with an exclusive on-site presentation and a private tour of the island's historic gardens.
Day 4: Historic Alcatraz Garden Tour
| Track | Time (PST) | Activity | Location | Details | Presenter(s) | Sponsors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General Logistics | 0900-0930 | Transportation | Marriott Lobby | Transportation to Ferry | ||
| General Logistics | 0940-1020 | Ferry Ride | Pier 33 | Ferry Ride to Alcatraz | ||
| Community & Settings | 1100-1200 | Presentation | Alcatraz | On-site Presentation | ||
| Community & Settings | 1200-1300 | Garden Tour | Alcatraz | Historic Gardens of Alcatraz Tour |
Meet the Speakers
Connect with the therapists, researchers, and advocates driving innovation in our field. From clinical pioneers to grassroots leaders, discover the experts shaping this year's program and view our full presenter lineup.
Register Now!
Join us at the AHTA Annual Conference for workshops, expert-led sessions, and experiential learning opportunities designed to equip you with the tangible tools necessary to strengthen resilience within your community and allied health profession.