Nancy Bissett
Restoration ecologist, botanist, horticulturist
Nancy graduated from Florida Southern College (summa cum laude), with a BS. degree in horticulture
and botany, June 1980. She and Bill co-founded The Natives in 1982.
Nancy serves as a consultant, designs and installs upland restoration projects, assists on research
projects, monitors and surveys vegetation in central Florida, performs rare plant surveys, and assists and
advises on horticultural operations.
Nancy has developed techniques for restoring many upland communities including scrub, sandhill, and
flatwoods that include site preparation, planting, direct-seeding native groundcovers, and weed control.
She has developed and enacted direct seeding projects for state and local agencies, water management
districts, mitigation banks, mined lands, developers, and corporations. As a botanist she has assisted
with monitoring research projects for The Nature Conservancy, Florida Institute of Phosphate Research,
and others. She has performed various rare plant and vegetation surveys, and also helped federal,
state, and local authorities find and evaluate rare plant communities. As the developer of The Natives
nursery, Nancy has experimented with the propagation and growth of many natives plants, including
grasses, wildflowers, and rare species.
William (Bill) Bissett
Landscape Architect (retired) and Co-Nursery Manager
Bill obtained a Bachelor’s of Landscape Architecture degree from the University of Florida in 1975 and a
State of Florida Registration -#510- as an LA in 1977. Bill and Nancy co-founded The Natives in 1982.
Bill offers site planning for preservation and development, landscape structure design including:
vehicular and pedestrian circulation, entrance design and signage, swimming pools, ponds and
fountains, decks, gazebos, pergolas, seating, and landscape lighting. He also offers environmental golf
course design and consulting.
PROJECTS OF NOTE
BOK TOWER GARDENS- Lake Wales, Florida
RAINBOW SPRINGS STATE PARK – Dunnellon, Florida
SAINT JOHNS RIVER WATER MANAGEMENT DISTRICT- Palatka, Florida
FLORIDA SOUTHERN COLLEGE – Lakeland, Florida
CITY OF BARTOW – Bartow, Florida
CITY OF LAKELAND – Lakeland, Florida
AUDUBON PARK – NEW ORLEANS, LA
AUGUSTA NATIONAL GOLF CLUB – Augusta Georgia
Paul Abel
Restoration Manager
Paul has been working with The Natives
since its inception in 1984, and has gained a
lifetime of knowledge and experience in native plants, plant ecology, and our ecosystems, especially
upland communities.
He manages all restoration projects from site preparation through maintenance. He frequently designs,
but also assembles, calibrates and operates herbicide equipment and has an herbicide application
certification by FDACS for natural areas, aquatics, right-of-way, and commercial landscape maintenance.
He has gained much knowledge through experience on effective herbicides and their rates. Our seed
harvesters and seeding equipment are also managed and often reconfigured by him for maximum
effectiveness.
Through his experience with myriad variations of disturbed communities needing restoration, he has
addressed many difficult situations such as a heavy cover of torpedo and Bermuda grasses and heavy
weed seed banks. On some sites he also installs temporary irrigation systems to aid seed germination
and establishment of containerized plants.
Paul has also managed the installation of commercial and residential landscapes that include seeding,
planting, maintenance, and building hardscapes.
Sarah Kiefer
Office Manager and Co-Nursery Manager
Sarah has been working with The Natives since1989. She
also received a BS degree in biology with a minor in math
from the University of Central Florida in 1996. Through all
these years she has added to that knowledge with firsthand experience in native plants, their ecology,
propagation, and growth characteristics.
Sarah not only manages the office and human resource concerns, but also supervises seed collection,
cutting propagation, seed handling and propagation, and other nursery issues. She works with Bill
Bissett in managing other facets of nursery production and orders.