Registration online now, or
download the brochure, fill out the form and mail the completed form with payment.
Saturday, February 28, 2015
8:30 am – 2:30 pm
Hood College – Whitaker Campus Center
This exciting half-day program introduces homeowners and business owners to practical steps we can take now to improve our local environment, reduce storm water run off, make our back yards more hospitable to local fauna, and more.
7:30 am
Registration Opens
Whitaker Atrium
8:30 am
Welcoming Remarks & General Session
Whitaker Commons
Green Kids Make and Take Activity Whitaker Commons Atrium
Frederick County Master Gardeners
In past years we’ve had Green Neighbor Forum parents ask if we could include an activity for the next generation of “green” citizens. With thanks to the Frederick County Master Gardeners (FCMG) for organizing and staffing this effort, the Green Neighbor Forum 2015 includes an activity especially geared for kids. The activity will operate on a drop by basis between 10:00 am and 12 noon. All materials (except the labor!) will be supplied by FCMG. Registration is required for both adults and child attendees; fees for children under 12 are complimented. Everyone is invited to stay for lunch!
8:35 am
Keynote Address: The Case for Canopies
Jenny Willoughby
Frederick’s Sustainability Manager opens our program with a focus on tree canopies and their positive impact on storm water runoff, air quality, energy costs, and more. She’ll conclude by providing stats on state, county, and city canopies and bring it home to each Neighborhood Advisory Commission (NAC) while sharing canopy targets.
9:00 am
Focus on 40%: Street Trees and Parks
Tom Rippeon
City of Frederick Arborist Tom Rippeon shares City strategies for achieving a city-wide goal of a 40% canopy by focusing on street trees and parks, including opportunities we have, limiting factors, and steps neighbors can take to plant these important canopy contributors.
9:15 am
Focus on 20%: School Property
Heather Montgomery
Frederick County Public Schools located in both the County and the City offer additional locations to create the tree canopy. Frederick County Watershed Project Manager Heather Montgomery reports what has been accomplished and what is underway, including on City school properties.
9:30 am
Focus on 40%: Residential, Business, and Institutional Property
Jenny Willoughby
Although useful contributors, in the City of Frederick streets, parks, and schools will have only limited impacts in our goal to achieve a 40% canopy. Jennifer concludes our opening segments with a discussion on efforts to expand the tree canopy on provide property, reviewing initiatives underway to document the current canopy, what neighbors, business owners, and other property owners need to pursue to help Frederick reach a 40% canopy, and financial incentive programs from local, state, federal, and private sources to help defray the cost of tree planting and maintenance.
10:00 am
Refreshment break / exhibitor interaction Whitaker Commons Atrium
10:30 am
Breakout Sessions (Sessions 1, 2, and 3 occur in parallel)
Breakout Session 1: HT 131
“Green” Lawns
Dr. Kevin Mathias
Noted University of Maryland turf expert Kevin Mathias shares that grass lawns are not necessarily bad for the environment — and that having a lawn and being a good steward of the environment are not incompatible. The key lies in the details associated with lawn care. We’ll hear practical, specific steps we can take to make our lawns a contributor to the local environment.
Breakout Session 2: Whitaker 220
Canopies and Stream Health
Dr. Drew Ferrier
Center for Coastal and Watershed Studies at Hood College Streamside trees do much more for water quality than simply intercept nutrients found in runoff. Riparian trees stabilize the stream bank, shade and cool the water, and provide food and shelter for a flourishing community of underwater organisms. In this session we will provide examples of these benefits and learn the hows and whys of maintaining a thriving riparian buffer in urban and suburban landscapes.
Breakout Session 3: Meet at Front Desk in Whitaker
Hood College Green Campus BMP Tour
Hood College continues to install many storm water management best management practices (BMPs) on a proactive basis. Rain gardens, bio-swales, filterra inlets, permeable pavement – all are installed on campus. Using supplied maps, attendees are invited to take a hosted 45 minute campus tour to see what the future looks like – today!
11:20 am
Breakout Sessions (Sessions 4, 5, and 6 occur in parallel)
Breakout Session 4: Hodson 131
Bioswales: Current, Planned, and Possible
Reid Christensen / Center for Watershed Protection
Bioswales are road-related rain gardens that, like rain gardens, trap, slow down, and help filter runoff from streets before it seeps into the ground or flows into adjacent storm sewers. These best management practices (BMPs) can have a dramatic positive impact on storm water reduction and water quality improvement, and they can be retrofitted for highways, primary arteries, secondary streets, and even along existing drainage ditches in a yard or park. We’ll get definitions, descriptions, and costs, see examples, and consider how they can be deployed in our neighborhood.
Breakout Session 5: Whitaker 220
Preserving the Current Canopy Dan Yates / Bartlett Trees
One goal we have is to create a 40% tree canopy in Frederick. A second is to retain and strengthen the canopy we have and after new trees are planted. This local expert is well versed in specific do’s and don’ts associated with planting, mulching, watering, trimming, landscaping, and controlling pests associated with trees. He updates us with practical specifics we can put to use immediately.
Breakout Session 6: Meet at Front Desk in Whitaker
Hood College Green Campus BMP Tour
This is a repeat of Session 3. Hood College continues to install many storm water management best management practices (BMPs) on a proactive basis. Rain gardens, bio-swales, filterra inlets, permeable pavement – all are installed on campus. Using supplied maps, attendees are invited to take a hosted 45 minute campus tour to see what the future looks like – today!
12:05 pm
Luncheon Whitaker Campus Commons
Green Leader Challenge Recap and Reminders
Lisa Orr, Frederick County Office of Sustainability and Environmental Resources
Culler Lake GIS Images
Neha Gutpa, Hood College Coastal Studies
Culler Lake Renaissance Update
Peter Brehm, Friends of Baker Park
Changing Behavior — and the Human Mind
Shannon Kundey
We know we should eat a healthier diet, wear our seat belts, and not smoke. We also know we should not litter (including cigarette butts), pick up our pet’s waste, recycle as much as possible, and not over fertilize our yards. However, many of us are inconsistent about being good environmental stewards. Why is this? What is it about the human mind that, in case after case, prevents us from doing the right thing? A Hood College professor and expert in the psychology of change shares insights.
Coastal Studies Raffle Prize Drawing
Biographies
Reid Christenson
Reid is a Water Resources Engineer with the Center for Watershed Protection (CWP). He joined the Center in 2012 and works on a variety of projects including urban stormwater management designs, research on new practices, and strategic watershed planning. A transplant from the Midwest, Dr. Christianson is a Professional Engineer and has over 10 years’ experience in the water resources field. Prior to joining the Center, Reid worked for Iowa State University where he researched the impacts of agricultural best management practices and land use on water quality. Reid and his wife, Laura, enjoy exploring the rich history of Maryland/ Virginia / West Virginia area on the weekends. In his spare time, Reid enjoys projects around the house, anything to do with spreadsheets, and light weight computer programming.
Drew Ferrier
Drew Ferrier is a professor in the department of Biology at Hood College, the Director of the Center for Coastal and Watershed Studies at Hood, and a co-founder of the Society for Ocean Sciences. He also created, directs, and teaches in Hood’s interdisciplinary, place-based undergraduate Coastal Studies program. With his students at Hood and collaborators elsewhere, Drew studies such diverse topics as impacts of invasive crayfish, nuisance algal blooms, and the ecology of cow nose rays in the Chesapeake Bay. Prior to his current positions, he spent several years working and teaching at marine laboratories in Jamaica and the Florida Keys and at St. Mary’s College of Maryland. Drew received his B.A. degree (Biology) from Washington and Jefferson College, a Master’s degree in zoology from Miami University, and a PhD in marine, estuarine, and environmental science from the University of Maryland.
Shannon Kundey
Kundey is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Hood College in Frederick, MD. Long fascinated with the mind, Kundey’s research explores the behavioral processes that give animals (including humans) the ability to organize complex behavior across time and space. Her work has been published in a variety of journals including Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, Learning and Motivation, and Animal Cognition.
J. Kevin Mathias
Mathias is Turf Grass Lecturer and Advisor for the Institute of Applied Agriculture at the University of Maryland in College Park, Maryland. He has a B.S. from the University of Maryland in Agronomy Conservation, a M.S. from the University of Maryland in Agronomy Statistics-Plant Pathology, and a Ph.D. from the University of Maryland in Entomology. Mathias’ major responsibility has been in the area of turf grass instruction in which he currently teaches eight courses per year and advises 20-25 undergraduate students. Over the past 30 years he has advised over 500 students. He has authored laboratory manuals that are used in several classes, such as Insects of Ornamentals and Turf and Turf grass Management. In addition to undergraduate teaching Dr. Mathias is also developing web based training modules for the turf grass professional. He has been acknowledged with several teaching awards, including Excellence in Teaching Award by the Maryland Vocational Agricultural Teachers Association (1986); recipient of the 1991 and 2007 Excellence in Instruction Award from the College of Agriculture Alumni Association; and recipient of the 1997 Gamma Sigma Delta Teaching Award presented by the Maryland-National Capital Area Chapter. Mathias has presented or organized over 200 presentations and workshops since 1979 covering different areas of turf grass management His workshops have covered such topics as spray equipment, GPS applications for turf management operations, online workshops, and insect identification and control programs. He has also worked closely with a number of turf grass associations such as the Maryland Turf Grass Council, The Maryland Turf Grass Association, and regional Golf Course Associations in advising on and coordinating educational meetings.
Jenny Willoughby
Arborist Jenny Willoughby grew up all over the east coast and learned early that she was happiest in the outdoors mingling with the critters. She’s been bitten by hedgehogs, pooped on by foxes, screamed at by macaws, and chased by rogue sea turtles. After nine years of donating her body to science, she opted for a more sedentary communion with nature, a life in the trees. Merging her knowledge of nature with her innate desire to educate, she grows trees because they don’t bite, chase, or poop and they cooperate most of the time. But she’s learned that people can be just as ornery as hedgehogs. Now fter 20 plus years in the field, she knows that you can’t get mad at an alligator that pees on you or an octopus that tries to pull you into the tank. You’ve got to roll up your sleeves, shovel a lot of poop, and every once in a while you’ve got to bite back.
Thank you to the following businesses and organization who generously support the Green Neighbor Forum.
Exhibitors
Center for Coastal and Watershed Studies at Hood College
Frederick County of Office of Sustainability and Environmental Resources
Frederick County Master Gardeners
Friends of Baker Park
Friends of Waterford Park
Potomac Conservancy
Sponsors
Center for Coastal and Watershed Studies at Hood College
Frederick County of Office of Sustainability and Environmental Resources
Friends of Baker Park
Potomac Conservancy
Wegman’s
Registration online now, or
download the brochure, fill out the form and mail the completed form with payment.