Topic: Weed or Wildflower?

Leaders: Christine Campe-Price, Friends of New Germany State Park & Liz McDowell, MNPS

Want to help preserve our regional biodiversity? Then bring your work gloves, kneeling pads, favorite weeding tools & some elbow grease to remove unwanted plants from the native plant garden. As you work, you’ll learn how to identify common weeds and why protecting native plants is so critical for wildlife. Meet at the native plant garden near the dam. Please bring your own water bottle, insect spray & sunscreen. In case of rain this activity will be cancelled.

Directions: From I-68 take exit 22 and follow signs for New Germany State Park. Turn left into the park onto McAndrews Hill Road. The program will be held in the native plant garden near parking lot #5.

No registration.

Speaker: Joan Maloof, Executive Director, Old Growth Forest Network.

How would you know if you walked into an old-growth forest? If it were a redwood or sequoia forest you would know right away simply by the size of the trees. But old growth in our eastern forests is not as easy to discern. In this talk Dr. Joan Maloof will discuss the indicators of eastern old-growth forests. She will also describe their biodiversity, including the parasitic plants Conopholis americana (squawroot or bear corn) and Epifagus virginiana (beechdrops). 

The Old Growth Forest Network is a nonprofit organization, founded by Joan Maloof, dedicated to the protection of old-growth, native forests in the United States.

Doors open at 7:00.
Location: Kensington Park Library, 4201 Knowles Ave, Kensington, MD.

The program is free and open to the public. Registration is not required.

Topic: Weed or Wildflower?

Leaders: Christine Campe-Price, Friends of New Germany State Park & Liz McDowell, MNPS

Want to help preserve our regional biodiversity? Then bring your work gloves, kneeling pads, favorite weeding tools & some elbow grease to remove unwanted plants from the native plant garden. As you work, you’ll learn how to identify common weeds and why protecting native plants is so critical for wildlife. Meet at the native plant garden near the dam. Please bring your own water bottle, insect spray & sunscreen. In case of rain this activity will be cancelled.

Directions: From I-68 take exit 22 and follow signs for New Germany State Park. Turn left into the park onto McAndrews Hill Road. The program will be held in the native plant garden near parking lot #5.

No registration.

Topic: Weed or Wildflower?

Leaders: Christine Campe-Price, Friends of New Germany State Park & Liz McDowell, MNPS

Want to help preserve our regional biodiversity? Then bring your work gloves, kneeling pads, favorite weeding tools & some elbow grease to remove unwanted plants from the native plant garden. As you work, you’ll learn how to identify common weeds and why protecting native plants is so critical for wildlife. Meet at the native plant garden near the dam. Please bring your own water bottle, insect spray & sunscreen. In case of rain this activity will be cancelled.

Directions: From I-68 take exit 22 and follow signs for New Germany State Park. Turn left into the park onto McAndrews Hill Road. The program will be held in the native plant garden near parking lot #5.

No registration.

Topic: Weed or Wildflower?

Leaders: Christine Campe-Price, Friends of New Germany State Park & Liz McDowell, MNPS

Want to help preserve our regional biodiversity? Then bring your work gloves, kneeling pads, favorite weeding tools & some elbow grease to remove unwanted plants from the native plant garden. As you work, you’ll learn how to identify common weeds and why protecting native plants is so critical for wildlife. Meet at the native plant garden near the dam. Please bring your own water bottle, insect spray & sunscreen. In case of rain this activity will be cancelled.

Directions: From I-68 take exit 22 and follow signs for New Germany State Park. Turn left into the park onto McAndrews Hill Road. The program will be held in the native plant garden near parking lot #5.

No registration.

Speaker: Marcia Watson, PhD

The Maryland Ornithological Society owns ten sanctuaries, totaling over 2,200 acres, spanning the state from Garrett County in the west to Somerset County on the lower Eastern Shore. All of the sanctuaries are open to the public every day of the year, at no charge. They represent a microcosm of the habitats for birds and other wildlife in Maryland. Drawing on the files of the MOS Sanctuary Committee, historic published accounts, and photos and materials provided by MOS members from across the state, Marcia will describe the MOS Sanctuaries, providing habitat profiles and showing maps and photos of all the sanctuaries, and she will cover some of the challenges that MOS faces in managing the properties. Marcia will conclude with suggestions on how interested individuals can become involved with the sanctuaries.

Marcia Watson is a long-time active member of the Maryland Ornithological Society who is working to foster awareness of the sanctuaries among MOS members and the public. For over 20 years before her retirement Marcia specialized in research dealing with the environmental signals that animals use to coordinate their life cycles with seasonal changes.

Doors open at 7:00.

Location: Kensington Park Library, 4201 Knowles Ave, Kensington, MD.

The program is free and open to the public. Registration is not required.

Topic: Forest Health & Biotechnology 

Speaker: Dr. Susan Offutt, Chief Economist, US Government Accountability Office (retired)

The American chestnut, whitebark pine, and several species of ash in the eastern United States are just a few of the North American tree species that have been functionally lost or are in jeopardy of being lost due to outbreaks of pathogens and insect pests. Biotechnology has the potential to help mitigate threats to North American forests from insects and pathogens through the introduction of pest-resistant traits to forest trees. However, challenges remain: the genetic mechanisms that underlie trees’ resistance to pests are poorly understood, the complexity of tree genomes makes incorporating genetic changes a slow and difficult task, and there is a lack of information on the effects of releasing new genotypes into the environment. Offutt will discuss the findings of a study that she recently chaired by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering & Medicine titled “Forest Health and Biotechnology: Possibilities and Considerations.” The report recommends research and investment to improve the utility of biotechnology as a forest health tool. It is available for a free download at www.nap.edu.

This free program will begin promptly at 7:00 pm; the public is welcome to attend.

Directions: From I-68 take exit 33 (Braddock Rd & Midlothian Rd exit). Follow Braddock Road approximately 1.3 miles to stop sign. Turn left onto Park Avenue. Drive a short distance and turn left, following signs for the Compton Parking Lot.

No registration.

Topic: TBD

Speaker: TBD

Details to follow. This free program will begin promptly at 7:00 pm; the public is welcome to attend.

Directions: From I-68 take exit 33 (Braddock Rd & Midlothian Rd exit). Follow Braddock Road approximately 1.3 miles to stop sign. Turn left onto Park Avenue. Drive a short distance and turn left, following signs for the Compton Parking Lot.

No registration.