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Speaker: Jorge Bogantes Montero
YOU MUST REGISTER IN ORDER TO RECEIVE THE ZOOM LINK
Zoom opens at 7:00PM for pre-program board update and member Q&A. Presentations begin at 7:30PM and generally run until 8:45PM.
The Anacostia River once had extensive tidal emergent wetlands dominated by Wild Rice (Zizania aquatica), an essential plant in this aquatic ecosystem. Centuries of habitat destruction and neglect deeply changed the riparian landscape of this river in the nation’s capital. For more than two decades, the Anacostia Watershed Society (AWS) has embarked on an ecosystem restoration journey to try to recover these amazing tidal marshlands, but in a very different River in the 21st century. Since 2020, wild rice has been thriving and even expanding in acreage as a result of our restoration efforts in what is a true restoration success story. Every summer, with the blooming of wild rice and more wildlife sightings, we grow more hopeful and treasure the recovery of a riverine ecosystem in the middle of a major city.
Jorge Bogantes Montero is a Natural Resources Specialist at the Anacostia Watershed Society in Bladensburg, MD. He leads ecological restoration efforts on public parklands in the Anacostia River watershed (in both DC and MD), including wetland restoration, tree plantings, meadow creation, SAV propagation, mussel propagation, wildlife monitoring, and invasive plant management. Mr. Bogantes Montero has a Bachelor's degree in Natural Resource Management and Protection from the Universidad Estatal a Distancia in San Jose, Costa Rica, his native country. Before moving to the U.S., Jorge worked in his country in issues related to tropical biodiversity conservation.
The program is free and open to the public.
We can accommodate the first 300 people who enter the Zoom meeting at the meeting time. After you register, you will receive a registration confirmation email with a link to the Zoom meeting. Registering does not guarantee a space in the Zoom meeting.
This will be recorded and available on our Webinars page.
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Native Plants in Baltimore from Forests to Gardens: “A good member of a plant community”
Speakers: Katie Lauter & Sarah D'Adamo
Co-sponsor: The University of Maryland Extension with host Lisa Kuder,
In-person Option at CMREC (University of Maryland Extension Central Maryland Research and Education Center) 4240 Folly Quarter Road Ellicott City, MD 21042
Zoom Option: YOU MUST REGISTER IN ORDER TO RECEIVE THE ZOOM LINK
In recent years, Baltimore has quietly emerged as a leading US city for conservation stewardship across its forested and vacant to greened land. Local environmental land trust Baltimore Green Space (BGS) is a leading organization in these conservation efforts, which highlight the existing conservation value in the city’s green spaces while at the same time working to expand it through partnership-based community outreach, resourcing, education and stewardship cultivation. This talk will highlight some examples of this work and its impacts for conservation education and land enhancements in the urban setting, as well as for programming community-based work with native plant ecosystems from forests and their edges to more landscaped meadow patches and pollinator gardens in pocket parks and community gardens.
During the talk you will learn about the BGS forest stewardship network’s strategies for increasing and protecting native plantings from enhancing native plantings along forest edges, protecting rare species, and invasive species management. Presenters will share data on stewardship success increasing native species and decreasing invasive species. They will also showcase the Pollinator Power! Project that focuses on native landscaping through the resources of protected green spaces and communities of stewards across the city.
Presenters will highlight particular species that succeed in urban environments and work across the growing season’s increasingly erratic conditions under climate change to provide conservation value. Across these examples, they will reflect on the importance of native plant education and engagement in urban communities and the possible advocacy implications of what they've learned about how to be good members of native plant communities in these settings.
About our Speakers: Katie Lautar took the helm of Baltimore Green Space as its Executive Director after seven years working as our Program Director. Born and raised in Baltimore, she came to this work through her love of Baltimore, nature, and communities. Katie has more than 16 years of experience in community organizing, designing non-profit programs, and creating educational programs. She earned a Master's Degree in Environmental Education from Lesley University, while living outdoors in different bio-regions. She earned her Bachelor's degree at Goucher College in Elementary Education with a Minor in Peace Studies. She directed youth development and education programs at Strong City Baltimore and is a founder of the 2640 Cooperative. She also has considerable experience in consensus building models and collaborative program development.
Sarah D'Adamo leads the programming and site support related to green space preservation in the city as well as garden stewardship. Sarah grew up in Catonsville and then spent many years living and working abroad before returning to the area and claiming Baltimore city as her home in 2015. As part of her career in secondary and postsecondary education, often working with international students, Sarah completed a PhD in Cultural Studies in 2022 that focused on higher education as social infrastructure in the US and Canada. This long-term interest in infrastructure also extends into urban ecology, botany, local agriculture, mutual aid and land-based history and rehabilitation. Sarah has become an active member of Baltimore's urban agriculture community since 2019. She has been a core member of two green spaces preserved by Baltimore Green Space, Hidden Harvest Farm in the Greenmount West neighborhood and Ash Street Garden in Hampden. Through those spaces Sarah has pursued community organizing and partnership-based community led development, food distribution, ecological education and youth outreach in the city. You can often find Sarah in one of these gardens or at another of the city's farms, or walking in the city's forests, trails, and along the Jones Falls, where she is an avid birder.
Webinar Recordings page and on the MNPS YouTube channel
Program Resources and Handouts
