2011 Environmental Lecture Series

This year’s participants include representatives from Chesapeake Climate Action Network, NOAA, Eastern Shore Land Conservancy, Environmental Protection Agency, South River Federation, Maryland Department of Natural Resources, and Solar Decathlon Project.

Lectures will be held on the first and third Thursdays of the month at 6:30 p.m. in the Blue Heron Center in Quiet Waters Park.

Please join us for a night of reflection and engagement around issues affecting our communities from the local to the global. For additional information, please contact Quiet Waters Park (410) 222-1777.

 
 All lectures will be at 6:30pm in the Blue Heron Center.

LECTURE ARE FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. 
Walk-ins are welcome!

Erik Michelsen – Executive Director, South River Federation, Edgewater, Maryland
Mr. Michelsen is Executive Director of the South River Federation. He graduated from the University of Richmond and completed graduate work in experimental psychology at Villanova University. He is a resident of the Franklin Manor community and has been active in Anne Arundel County environmental issues for the past decade. He was previously employed as a Project Manager by Underwood and Associates, an environmental consulting firm. Mr. Michelsen also has previous experience with the Arlington Echo Outdoor Education Center as well as working with other non-profit organizations including the Alliance for Sustainable Communities and the South Arundel Citizens for Responsible Development.

Rick Leader - Executive Director, Scenic Rivers Land Trust,Annapolis, Maryland
Mr. Leader, working with a nine-member board of directors, manages the easement and stewardship program of the twenty-three year old Scenic Rivers Land Trust (SRLT) and oversees its growing portfolio of 48 easement properties covering over 2,100 acres. He is a former Vice President of the National Audubon Society, serving the Society’s 15,000 members and five chapters in Maryland and the District of Columbia. Rick is the former Assistant Director of the Chesapeake Bay Trust where he was active in the management of Maryland’s commemorative Chesapeake Bay license plate program and the Bay and Wildlife tax check-off. While at the Trust, Rick reviewed over 3,000 grant requests for Bay restoration projects. Rick is also a former president of the Maryland Association for Environmental and Outdoor Educators and has served on a wide variety of regional boards and committees. Rick is originally from Cecil County, Maryland. He holds a Masters degree in Public Administration and a Bachelors degree in Political Science from the University of Maryland.

Diana Muller, South Riverkeeper, Edgewater, Maryland
Ms. Muller grew up in Tumwater, WA on lowerPuget Sound. By the time sheentered high school, she became an activist for the Straits of Juan De Fuca andPuget Sound. Aftergraduating from The Evergreen State College, WA with a degree in Chemistry andMarine Science, Diana moved to the East Coast to work with the Chesapeake BayLong Term Monitoring Project. Since that time she has worked her way up through laboratory and field sampling to management and environmental law. She has been to and sampled most of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, from the Susquehanna Riverto the Bay mouth. Diana brings with her 20 years of valuable experience in riverine and estuarine water quality, ecology, microbiology, and environmentallaw. Diana and her family moved to the South River Watershed in Selby-on-the-Bay a little over a year ago, and immediately began a water quality monitoring program in Selby Bay. Currently, she helps to oversee the Selby Beach Kids Club and helped to obtain monies for the Selby Living Shoreline.Being a RIVERKEEPER® is more than a job for Diana; it is a lifestyle. It is her mission to provide cleaner waterways for the generations to come.

Guest Panelists Include:

Mike Fritz, EPA Bay Program Office
For 13 years, Mike has been a member of the staff at the EPA Chesapeake Bay Program Office, which is at the Annapolis City Marina on Spa Creek. His current rolesare EPA staff liaison to Maryland for the Bay TMDL/Watershed Implementation Plan effort, andCoordinator of the Bay Program's committee that is bringing a new focus to the concept of protecting streams and watersheds that arestill healthy today. Mike is a graduate of Anne Arundel County's Watershed Stewards Academy.
 
Catherine Shanks, MD Department of Natural Resources
Catherine Shanks has been with MD DNRfor 12 years and is currently the Director of the Local Government and Community Services Division. This Division is responsible for the delivery of the Bay and aquatic related outreach and education programs for the Department.  These programs include the Local Watershed Implementation Services Program, Chesapeake National Estuarine Research Reserve Program, and the Conservation Education Program.  She has also provided the staff support to the Governor’s Bay Cabinet, the Governor’s Bay Workgroupand the Chesapeake Executive Council. 

Guest Panelists Include:

• Joel Bunker, Grow Annapolis
• Sharon New, Local Food Beat

• Deborah Lakowicz Dramby and Rachel Rosenberg, Institute of Applied Agriculture University of Maryland, College Park

Join us for a discussion on how the local food and sustainable agriculture movement is impacting our health, community, economy, and ecosystems. 

What is the delay in passing a statewide plastic bag fee in Maryland? How does one shop responsibly when nearly all store-bought goods,including groceries, are packaged in plastic? What is the impact of plastic litter on Chesapeake Bay fish and wildlife? Quiet Waters Park invites you to discuss these matters with three distinguished speakers for the sixth installment of the Environmental Lecture Series, “Where Does theTrash Go? Revisiting the Plastic Problem.”

Gerald W. Winegrad
Former Maryland State Senator & Professor at the University of Maryland School of Public Policy 

Join us for Senator Gerald Winegrad's up-to-date presentation on the status of Chesapeake Bay restoration and the politics of postponement.

Why are restoration efforts lagging at a time when 90% of the Bay's waterways are failing to meet Clean Water Act standards? Why is the threat of federal sanctions for non-compliance not enough to push bordering states to meet the EPA's new pollution reduction requirements specified in the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) standard?

Senator Winegrad will discuss solutions to addressing these critical concerns and the restoration agenda outlined in a 25-step action plan recently developed by senior Bay scientists and policy makers. While the plan clearly defines the measures needed to improve the Bay's health, it remains uncertain whether there exists the political will to implement necessary changes.
 
The jury is out.

Please join experts from National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Maryland Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) on April 7 as they discuss climate science and sea level rise from a global, national, and local perspective.

Panelists include:
David Herring
Director of Communications and Education
NOAA's Climate Program Office

David is a science writer and editor with extensive experience writing and speaking about the subjects of climate change and Earth system science. In March 2008, he joined NOAA’s Climate Program Office to serve as its Director of Communications and Education. David also serves as Program Manager of NOAA's Climate Services Web Portal (www.climate.gov ( http://www.climate.gov/ )) and online ClimateWatch magazine (www.climatewatch.noaa.gov ( http://www.climatewatch.noaa.gov/ )). Before coming to NOAA, David worked for 16 years at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, in Greenbelt, MD, within its Earth Sciences Division, where he served as Project Manager for Education and Outreach and team leader for NASA's Earth Observatory. David attended East Carolina University, in Greenville, NC, where he trained in journalism, science education, and science writing and received his Masters Degree in Science and Technical Communications in 1992.

Bruce Vogt
Coastal and Living Resources Program Manager
NOAA's Chesapeake Bay Office

Bruce facilitates the consideration and inclusion of sound science in the development of Chesapeake Bay fisheries and habitat policy. To accomplish this, he works closely with scientists and managers across the Bay and serves as the coordinator of the Chesapeake Bay Program’s Sustainable Fisheries Goal Implementation Team. He holds a Masters degree in Marine Science specializing in benthic ecology and ecotoxicology from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, College of William and Mary. He joined NCBO in 2009 after working for NOAA's National
Ocean Service policy office.

Catherine McCall
Chesapeake & Coastal Program
Maryland Department of Natural Resources

Catherine works on a number of aquatic resource conservation and climate change planning initiatives including the development of Maryland's "Blue Infrastructure." She works closely with land acquisition and resource managers throughout the state to integrate aquatic resource priorities in to land conservation, restoration and management programs. 

This is the second program of the Environmental Lecture Series. Join our panel of leading experts for a discussion about energy production and the environment. Learn about the potential benefits and drawbacks of both wind and nuclear energy, and the relative impact each of these alternative energy sources has on biodiversity.

Panelists include:
Dr. Norman Meadow
Vice President of the Maryland Conservation Council
“Nuclear Energy: Alleviating the Impacts of Energy Production on the Biological World”
Dr. Norman Meadow serves as vice president of the Maryland Conservation Council. After earning his Ph.D. at the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Meadow taught for 34 years in the biology department at The Johns Hopkins University. His 45 years of biological and biochemical research began with a study of the physiology of the aging process at the Gerontology Research Center at the National Institute of Health. He later shifted to research on the biochemistry of solute transport in bacteria at Johns Hopkins. Dr. Meadow has co-authored more than 40 peer-reviewed and methods papers in the subject area and is interested in the impact that population growth and energy production have on the biological world.

Gerald Winegrad
Former Maryland senator and an Adjunct Professor at the University of Maryland School of Public Policy
“Wind Power: It Can Be a Win-Win for Wildlife and Clean Energy”

Gerald Winegrad is an attorney and an Adjunct Professor at the University of Maryland School of Public Policy where he teaches graduate courses on Chesapeake Bay Restoration and Wildlife Management, the latter of which includes a section on wind energy and wildlife.

From 1983 to 1995 Mr. Winegrad served in the Maryland General Assembly, first in the House of Delegates and then 12 years as a state senator. Called “the environmental conscience” of the Maryland Senate by the Washington Post, Mr. Winegrad served as chairman of the Senate Environment Subcommittee for eight years and wrote, sponsored, or managed nearly all environmental legislation passing the Senate, including the Chesapeake Bay legislation. He was the prime sponsor of the phosphate detergent ban. Mr. Winegrad also served on the tri-state Chesapeake Bay commission, Maryland Environmental Trust, and National Conference of State Legislature’s Environment Committee for 12 years. He testified before Congressional committees for the latter group representing the 50 state legislatures on environmental issues.

Tom Carlson
Chesapeake Climate Action Network
Maryland Campaign Director
“Offshore Wind: Good Jobs, Clean Power”

Tom Carlson is the Maryland Campaign Director for the Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN). An experienced grassroots organizer and manager, Mr. Carlson develops and implements campaigns to mobilize Marylanders in support of climate action on the local, state, national, and international levels. He works to build upon CCAN’s Maryland victories and to expand the state’s role as an exemplary leader in the movement for clean energy jobs and a healthy climate.

Mr. Carlson, who was raised in Rockville, Md., began his career as a grassroots organizer for Clean Water Action when he was only 16 years old. For five years he managed and trained field staff as the organization secured numerous victories protecting the Chesapeake Bay and helped to elect strong environmental leaders for Maryland. Later, he spent four years as a teacher in inner-city Washington, D.C., preparing the next generation for civic engagement. Mr. Carlson holds a bachelor's degree in media studies from Macalester College and a master's degree in education from American Univeristy.

Discussion topics will include:
Neighborhood Development ~ Urban Design Education ~ Green Architecture ~ State Activities Re: Green Building ~ Statewide Sustainability Initiatives ~ Policies ~ Market-Based Solutions ~ Ecosystem Services and Valuation ~ Solar Power Housing ~ WaterShed/US Dept of Energy Solar Decathlon 2011 ~ Interconnection of Landscape & People

Meet our panelists!
Jake Day
Town Planning Manager
Eastern Shore Land Conservancy

Sean McGuire
Director, Sustainability Policies
Maryland Department of Natural Resources

UMD Students
WaterShed at the University of Maryland
US Dept of Energy Solar Decathlon 2011

Read on to learn more about our speakers.
Jacob Day joined the Eastern Land Shore Conservancy (ESLC) in November 2008, advising the Eastern Shore's towns on growth and planning issues. A Salisbury native, Jake has focused much of his research on sustainable economic, energy, and land development on the Delmarva Peninsula. He previously served as President and Chairman of the American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS). Other achievements include his service with the American Institute of Architects (AIA) National Board of Directors and his title as Editor-in-Chief of the international architecture and design student journal, Crit. Jake graduated from the University of Oxford with a Master's in Environmental Policy and holds a Master of Urban Design from Carnegie Mellon University.

In addition to his work with ESLC, Jake is an adjunct professor of Environmental Policy at Salisbury University. He currently resides in his hometown of Salisbury, MD and is an Officer Candidate in the United States Army.

Sean McGuire is Director of Sustainability Policies at the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. Here he is in charge of statewide sustainability initiatives and policies, especially those regarding market-based solutions, ecosystem services, and valuation. Prior to his current position, Sean was the state point of contact for green buildings & environmental design. He was also responsible for coordinating the Green Building Network, promoting environmental design policies, and writing/coordinating Executive Orders on mandated green building practices. Currently, Sean serves on the Maryland Green Building Council.

The Solar Decathlon is a biennial competition held in Washington DC where 20 universities from around the world are challenged to design sustainable houses powered by solar energy. Maryland’s project, WaterShed, has been selected among 40 Entries to compete this upcoming fall 2011. This collaborative effort has brought together students from many different Schools and colleges around campus including, architecture, engineering, landscape, agricultural and natural resources, environmental science, and more. Along with faculty and professional mentors, students have offered their experience and expertise to contribute to the design of a house that is connected to the environment, addresses the needs of energy, water conservation, food production, and is inspired by cradle-to-cradle design.