Bay Area Carnivorous Plant Society

The Bay Area Carnivorous Plant Society (BACPS) began in 1988 as an informal get-together between friends and enthusiasts of carnivorous plants. Chuck Powell II, Peter D’Amato, Joe Mazrimas and Judith Finn held meetings in their homes, California Carnivores, and at UC Botanical Garden. By 1992, Wayland Lee created the first BACPS logo, Geoff Wong drafted the first newsletter, BACPS held its first formal meeting, the first bylaws were created, and a schedule was established to hold four seasonal meetings annually.

Later that same year and with 60 members in attendance, the board was created and Carl Wong was elected the first President, with Chuck Powell as Vice President, Larry Logoteta as Secretary, and Joe Mazrimas as Treasurer. And in 1998, Peter D’Amato wrote the quintessential carnivorous plant grower’s guide, The Savage Garden, which to this day, inspires the many luminaries who have and will eventually cultivate, research, explore, and document some of the most fascinating members of the plant kingdom.

2026 Board

President Kat Cascone

Having spent the last three years as Treasurer of BACPS, I am very well versed in how our club functions—from planning meetings, managing finances, the monumental effort that is the annual Show & Sale, fostering community and much more—and meeting many of you while manning the BACPS merch & raffle table at our events. Hope to see you all soon!

Vice President Laurence Frabotta

A lifelong passion for all things nature was clear when, to the prompt, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” in the third grade, our Vice-President, Laurence Frabotta replied, “An Ologist!” It was clear, he was destined to become a scientist of some sort and like many grade schoolers, he killed his fair share of “death cube” Venus Flytraps.

As a college student at CSU Long Beach, Laurence aspired to become a physician, but was swayed by biological research, studying phylogenetics and taxonomy, while keeping a small collection of African sundews, cacti, and succulents. Graduate studies and postdoctoral work took him and his wife, Colleen—a fellow biologist and BACPS member—to several places across the country before returning to California in 2019. California’s mild climate reignited his interest in growing plants, particularly carnivores.

After joining BACPS, a gift of Pinguicula leaf pulls in 2021 sparked a passion for Mexican Pinguicula, including growing, breeding, trading, and curating a hybrid and cultivar database, with plans to study the molecular phylogenetics of the Pinguicula moranensis complex with students at San Francisco State University, where he has taught as a Senior Lecturer of Biology. He also brings extensive regional and national nonprofit board experience to BACPS, especially in strategic planning, education, outreach, fundraising, and resource development.

Treasurer Christina Engler

Christina lives in Union City with her husband Noah and her pet rats Betty, Daisy, and Annie. When she isn’t caring for her many Mexican Pinguiculas or doing her job as a technical program manager in semiconductors, she can usually be found feeding stray animals or playing puzzle games. She has been involved with BACPS for a few years and is excited to be on the board!

Secretary Emily Abramson

After volunteering for Peter D’Amato at the early California Carnivores “polytunnel days” — and earning my keep in B‑monster movies — I’ve kept a lifelong, if travel‑sized, collection of carnivorous plants. Since resettling in the Bay Area, I’ve gradually increased my involvement with BACPS: from post‑Show clean‑up to two years as the Show Bouncer, proudly distributing People’s Choice ballots and preventing any (nonexistent) plant‑related fistfights. I’m excited to bring my Biotech Operations background to the board to help streamline our Annual Show & Sale and preserve our processes for future members — and, honestly, to have an even better excuse to nerd out about these incredible plants.

Board Advisors

Grunt Stephen Davis

I saw my first carnivorous plant in the wild while canoeing on a lake in the Adirondack Mountains in upstate New York. It was probably Drosera anglica and it was perched on a stick reflecting perfectly on the water beneath it. I was awed but didn’t yet know that I had started on a long and wonderful journey. Years later I was in Napa and found this little nursery called California Carnivores conveniently located next to a winery. There I met Peter D’Amato who talked me into my first Sarracenia and Drosera capensis. To this day D. capensis is one of my favorite plants.

Not long after that I stumbled on a sale that the BACPS was holding and started making friends. The BACPS and the carnivorous plant community was a warm and sharing group where I met and friended many people that happily coached me on growing these plants. I started to get involved with the BACPS in small ways but attended every meeting. As time went on I got more involved., I helped a little with the ICPS conference in San Francisco in 2000. I entered a couple of plants in the first “Show” that Geoff Wong organized at California Carnivores. I got very involved the following year with the show as we grew it from a few 8-foot tables into what was for years the largest carnivorous plant show and sale in the USA complete with ribbons, prizes, and vendors.

Somewhere in this I became BACPS Vice President for a year or two and then President for a few years. During that time I focused on communications and moved us from a printed newsletter sent in the mail to an email newsletter. This was something that was much harder than I expected. Years later I worked on getting us represented on Facebook and other social media. I was almost always on the board and continued to be heavily involved in the Show and Sale. I was lucky to have worked on the committee for the 2018 ICPS conference and the second hosted by the BACPS.

A few years ago I became President again just in time for COVID. This was a very challenging time for the BACPS and I’m proud of how the team that we put together not only got the club through the pandemic, but we made it a better and much more active organization than it has ever been. Now we had speakers from all over the world presenting research and sharing adventures with our members and Zoom attendees from around the globe. When restrictions started to be lifted we navigated around the challenges of holding a show and sale that required everyone to sign waivers, wear masks and for the first time be entirely outdoors. None of our old haunts could host us anymore so we found new places to meet and met more often in “pop-up” meetings as well as more formal and traditional ones.

When it comes to my collection, I guess my focus is on Sarracenia, Drosera, and Pinguicula. However, I don’t have a favorite plant anymore and I grow almost all the genera. I have really enjoyed giving presentations to schools, clubs, and libraries around the Bay Area. I sell plants and have almost always had a table at the show and sale which has often been staffed by my wife and daughter. My favorite contribution to the carnivorous plant community was having been with Dr. Barry Rice when he solved the 100-year-old mystery of the pollinator of the Darlingtonia. I like to say that I navigated and financed the expedition which means I drove and paid for the gas.

Show Wizard James Fong

James has been growing carnivorous plants in the Bay Area for over 15 years. He enjoys filling every space in the house with carnivorous plants. He grows most genera of carnivorous plants and loves experimenting with new cultivation techniques. He also enjoys finding carnivorous plants in their natural habitats. Some fun things he has found are Drosera rotundifolia in Alaska, Pinguicula involuta in Peru, and Drosophyllum lusitanicum in Portugal. James believes it is essential for hobbyists to understand the value of these unique organisms in their natural habitats and that we must all play a part in educating the public to ensure their conservation.

James started going to BACPS meetings when he was in middle school and has enjoyed playing a larger role in the community. He was Vice President from 2020 through 2022. As Vice President, James was tasked with running the annual show and sale as well as coordinating meetings. When everything shut down due to COVID, we had to make big changes to how BACPS operated. We started hosting our meetings virtually and ended up doing a BIG virtual show and sale! As things started opening back up, we transitioned back to having in person meetings. We also moved the Show and Sale to Saint Joseph Notre Dame High School where it’s mostly outdoors and is more spacious than our previous venue. This way we could host more vendors as well as more attendees with the ever growing Bay Area carnivorous plant community. Every year the BACPS Annual Show and Sale gets bigger and better and he is excited to see how this event continues to grow!

Jeff Kung At Large

I was first introduced to carnivorous plants as a child, like many have, from seeing a Venus flytrap at the local grocery store and hardware store. I tried several times to grow Venus flytraps as a boy but failed miserably every time. So I never went back to growing them again until the middle of 2021. I was bored, cooped up in isolation due to the pandemic so I looked up YouTube videos on keeping houseplants. I thought that would be as fun pandemic hobby to take up. Then I stumbled on California Carnivore’s video on taking care of Venus flytraps and I was instantly hooked.

When I learned what their growing needs were, I thought to myself, I can do this! So fast forward to 2021, I got my first Venus flytraps and sundews from California Carnivores and yes, indeed! They are easy to care for as long as its understood what their needs are. OH!!! Water them with only distilled or reverse osmosis water. And OH!!! They need to sit in a tray of this distilled or RO water. And OH!!! They can grow outside year round and they go dormant in winter. Knowing all this, I’ve collected over 80 cultivars of Venus flytraps, mostly from California Carnivores, and they’re all doing great in my yard!

Now I keep over 125 temperate plants outside (mostly Venus flytraps with some Sarracenia and pygmy Drosera) and two indoor Ikea cabinets worth of Nepenthes, Pinguicula, and Drosera. I also grow a handful of Cephalotus on my desk. I made a video about how I grow these amazing plants on my desk for the International Carnivorous Plant Society’s 2024 World Carnivorous Plant Day! You can see my video here: https://youtu.be/BWBFRSVB5Q0?si=L-rXKvWrA_mjakjH

At around the same time as my carnivorous plant revival occurred, I discovered the BACPS online and naturally joined right away. For the past two Show and Sales, I was a volunteer registering plant entries to the Show and I fell in love with energy and excitement from so many people coming to this show. And now I’m part of the BACPS Board helping out where I can and spreading the word about how awesome carnivorous plants are!

I’m also very active on Instagram posting pictures of my plants every day (@pinecone.jeff.carnivores). I try to include some facts or learnings I’ve made about these plants in my posts as well as promote plants and equipment from my favorite vendors.

For my day job, I’m a video game designer and I’ve been doing that for about 29 years. I’ve made games for Lucasarts, Sega, Electronic Arts, Zynga, and now I’m at Survios making Virtual Reality shooters.

Minister of Whimsy Kathryn Churchill

I went to my first BACPS Show & Sale back in 2014 on a whim. I got a bunch of temperates, and like Kat Cascone, made all the rookie mistakes – these are houseplants right? I definitely let them dry out between waterings on a very shaded balcony, fertilized them, and sent them to a sad end.

Fast forward to 2018, I begin an obsessive houseplant journey that brought me to the plant shops on 92 in Half Moon Bay, with a cute little stumble into Predatory Plants. I mostly collect and cross pingicula with a few dews and utrics throughout, and pretend to keep but actually murder a rotating door of nepenthes.

I served as BACPS Secretary from 2022 – 2025 and now serve as an advisor, helping with marketing, events, and member support initiatives.