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Join us for a presentation about Maryland's 2025-2035 State Wildlife Action Plan (SWAP) by Mimi Sanford (SWAP Coordinator) and Gwenda Brewer (Science Program Manager) from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. SWAP's are wonderful conservation guiding tools used by states. Maryland's third SWAP identifies species of greatest conservation need and the habitats critical to their survival — including coastal plain wetlands, vernal pools, riparian forests, and rare plant communities. The new SWAP includes increased coverage of plant species in the conservation strategy. This talk will explore how plant species were incorporated into this SWAP, as well as the habitats and threats to these species identified during the plan revision process. Priority conservation actions needed to protect and restore species and habitats will also be discussed. This is an opportunity to deepen your understanding of the statewide conservation strategy and how local habitat restoration connects to Maryland's broader SWAP goals. We will discuss how the SWAP guides funding, partnership, and on-the-ground conservation — and what role community scientists and restoration volunteers play in advancing its vision. Bring your questions and join the conversation.
Speakers:
Mimi Sanford serves as the State Wildlife Action Plan (SWAP) coordinator in the Natural Heritage Program at the Department of Natural Resources. She has a masters degree in community planning from the University of Maryland and has previously worked in the fields of urban planning, community engagement, and environmental justice. Though not a trained scientist herself, Mimi has enjoyed learning about wildlife conservation on the job and applying skills from previous jobs to the coordination of Maryland's SWAP.
Dr. Gwen Brewer is the Science Program Manager for the Natural Heritage Program in the Wildlife and Heritage Service, Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Annapolis. In this capacity, she supervises statewide staff carrying out monitoring, research, habitat restoration, and conservation planning for rare species, rare plant communities, and nongame animals. Gwen represents the state in several regional bird conservation partnerships and teaches in the Master Naturalist program. She holds M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Ecology from the University of Minnesota and a B.S. in Zoology from Michigan State University. Before coming to the DNR in 2002, Gwen was a professor at Frostburg State University for 11 years, where she taught ecology, ornithology, conservation biology, and tropical ecology and conservation in addition to advising graduate students. She currently serves on the Friends of Jug Bay Board; the Rainforest Trust Advisory Council; and the Women for Conservation Board.
YOU MUST REGISTER IN ORDER TO RECEIVE THE ZOOM LINK
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.
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 program is free and open to the public.
This will be recorded and available on our Webinars page.
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Note that if you donate through the event registration, and subsequently cancel, the donation will temporarily appear as a credit. It will take time for the donation to be reinstituted to your account. Donations and membership dues are non-refundable.
Speaker: Sean Sipple
During this optional virtual session associated with the Sedge (Carex) Identification Workshop on June 27th at the Adkins Arboretum, we will go over the most essential botanical terms and techniques used to identify sedges (Carex spp.) in dichotomous keys. This session is encouraged for people less familiar with botanical terminology, or people less familiar with sedges in particular. This session will be open to the general public, not just for workshop participants. However, If you would like to attend the June 27th workshop you will have to register online for the 25 slots available.
About the Speaker
Sean is a Senior Environmental Scientist with over 22 years of experience. He co-leads the NRT and oversees CRI’s water quality and biomonitoring studies in non-tidal and tidal habitats, with broad expertise in natural resources disciplines such as rare, threatened, and endangered species and habitat surveys, waters of the U.S. (including wetlands) delineations, and mitigation monitoring. Sean conducts, reviews, and assembles complex natural resource studies related to residential, commercial, transportation, and utility projects, both private and public. He holds numerous accredited certifications, including Senior Professional Wetland Scientist, Professional Wetland Delineator, Benthic Macroinvertebrate Taxonomy, Fish Taxonomy, Fish Crew Leader, Qualified Bog Turtle Surveyor, and Small Whorled Pogonia. He is well-recognized for his technical expertise and regularly provides professional training to natural resource professionals in the region in wetland delineation, plant identification, and other technical disciplines.
Webinar Recordings page and on the MNPS YouTube channel
Program Resources and Handouts
