Speakers

Speakers for MG Annual Training Day 2008

Steve Allgeier has been the Master Gardener Coordinator and Horticulture Consultant for the Carroll County Cooperative Extension since the spring of 89’. He lives in Westminster and graduated from Western MD College in the early 80’s--

Paul E. Bassett, President and Principal Engineer, Hydro-Logix Solutions, Inc. Paul Bassett is the founding principal of Hydro-Logix Solutions, Inc. an irrigation design and consulting business located at the Enviro-Center in Jessup, MD. Mr. Bassett is recognized as Certified Irrigation Designer (CID) by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Water Sense program with a specialty in Commercial
and Residential Design. He also has a comprehensive knowledge of the United States Green Building Councils (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) and has been involved with over 85 LEED Registered or Certified projects in the Mid-Atlantic Region.

Mr. Bassett specializes in the design and engineering rainwater harvesting systems that utilize the captured rainwater for landscape irrigation systems. He also has extensive knowledge of Green Roof
systems and Rain Gardens that help promote sustainable water resources by collecting the rainwater and filtering it through plants and soils.

Randy Best - Horticulturist, Behnke Nurseries,
Randy has worked at Behnkes Beltsville since 1989 and in every department in the nursery. At home he has a collection of about 200 hostas and enjoys tring new things in the shade garden.

Vinnie Bevivino - Garden Educator, Maryland Cooperative Extension, The Engaged University. Vinnie uses gardens to teach young people in communities living near College Park about health and nutrition. He teachers at area elementary and middle schools using school gardens to teach students about where their food comes from and to overcome barriers to eating more fruits and vegetables. He is the garden coordinator of the Master Peace Community Garden, a large youth and community garden in Riverdale, Maryland, at the Center for Educational Partnership that serves as a demonstration of urban food production.

Brian Clark - Extension Agent, Commercial Horticulture, Prince George’s County. Mr. Clark is the Maryland Cooperative Extension Agent for Prince George’s County in Agriculture and Natural Resources, specializing in commercial horticulture. He has a B.S. in Entomology from the University of Wisconsin Madison and a M.S. in Entomology from the University of Nebraska Lincoln. Mr. Clark has 7 years experience in the green industry and 4 years in pest control. Before joining Maryland Cooperative Extension, Mr. Clark worked at the University of Maryland College Park as an Urban IPM specialist, Landscape IPM specialist, and oversaw the campus’ hazardous tree inventory.

Dave Clement, Ph.D. is an MCE Regional Specialist in Plant Pathology and is located at the Home and Garden Information Center.

Alex Dencker - Store Manager, Behnke Nurseries in Beltsville. Alex is a very seasoned horticulturist who has worked at Behnke Nurseries for 20 years. Before becoming Store Manager at Potomoc Behnke’s and then Beltsville Behnke’s, he was a perennial grower and seller and Mr. Behnke’s home gardener.

Sam Droege - Research Biologist. Sam received an undergraduate degree at the University of Maryland and a Master’s at SUNY – Syracuse. Most of his career has been spent at USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center. He has coordinated the North American Breeding Bird Survey Program, developed the North American Amphibian Monitoring Program, the Bioblitz, and Frogwatch USA, worked on the design of and evaluation of monitoring programs. He is currently developing an inventory and monitoring program for native bees as well as an online identification guides for North American Bees.

Joseph A. Fiola, Ph.D. - MCE Specialist in Viticulture and Small Fruit. Professor Fiola has over 25 years of academic and industry experience in research and extension in small fruit production and breeding. He is currently the Specialist in Viticulture and Small Fruit for the University of Maryland and coordinates a statewide viticulture and small fruit research and extension program. Joe holds 12 patents for new bramble and strawberry varieties that he has developed which are some of the top varieties in the commercial industry. He has also and has done considerable innovative research into establishment, production, and season extension.
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Robert Fireovid - Director, Citizens for a Steady State. Bob is the National Program Leader for bioenergy research at the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service. Previously, he spent 10 years at the Dept. of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) where he was a Program Manager in the Advanced Technology Program (ATP). At ATP, Bob led nationwide programs in high-risk/high-payback research within the chemical, materials, agricultural and industrial biotechnology industries.

In addition to a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering, Bob has an MBA from Northwestern University. He was a business manager at both Black & Decker and GE Plastics, and led research programs at Wyeth Labs, CPC International, and Hercules.

Stanton A. Gill - Entomologist and MCE Regional Specialist, IPM Nursery and Greenhouse Management, Central Maryland Research and Education Center. Stanton is also an Adjunct Professor, Landscape Technology Program, Montgomery College in Germantown, MD. He’s written or collaborated on 6 books and travels the country and the world lecturing at professional conferences

Scott Glenn, Ph.D. - Associate Professor in Weed Science and Academic Advisor at the University of Maryland. Dr. D. Scott Glenn grew up in Ohio. He earned his B.S. in 1976 and his Ph.D. in Weed Science in 1979 from the University of Kentucky. He started with the University of Maryland as an Assistant Professor in the Agronomy Department in 1980.

Dr. Glenn is currently in the Plant Sciences and Landscape Architecture Department and focuses his research program on perennial weeds and the environmental impact of herbicides. Glenn has taught Weed Science at the University of Maryland for 28 years and is the academic advisor for the Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Horticulture and Crop Production, and Environment and Agriculture majors.

He has won many awards including the UMCP Agriculture Alumni Outstanding Researcher Award,. The UMCP Parents Association award for Outstanding Faculty Advisor Award (1994 and 2006), and Excellence in Teaching Awards from the College of Agriculture. Dr. Glenn and his family live on a small farm in Howard County.

Francis R. Gouin, Ph.D is a Professor Emeritus at the University of Maryland. He has been a faculty member in the Dept. of Horticulture for 30 years and chaired the Dept. of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture for 5 and ½ years. He’s also a most sought after presenter and guest lecturer.

Kate Herrod - Director, Community Greens. a non-profit initiative of Ashoka: Innovators for the Public. Prior to joining Community Greens, Kate ran her own consulting business, focusing on the non-profit arena. Clients included The Trust for Public Land (California Center for Land Recycling), Cameroon Mountains Conservation Foundation, the International Sustainable Development Foundation, Ashoka: Innovators for the Public, and Get America Working. In addition, Ms. Herrod was the Deputy Director of Development for The Nature Conservancy and worked in the private sector as Vice President for commercial real estate finance with Citibank, Chemical, and Security Pacific banks on the east and west coasts.

Wil Hershberger - photographer, author, and naturalist. Wil Hershberger has been an avid naturalist all is life. He became addicted to birds when a pair of Baltimore orioles nested in a walnut tree in his parent’s backyard. Wil has been coordinating and teaching an introductory bird ID class for the Potomac Valley Audubon Society for 21 years and has lectured to local birds club, Audubon chapters, and photography groups on subjects from birds to bugs.

With the April 2007 publication of Wil’s book, “The Songs of Insects,” Wil has lectured to groups from Harvard’s Museum of Natural History, the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences and as far as the Houston Audubon Society. It is Wil’s great hope that everyone who listens to him speak will come away with a deeper appreciation for the wonders of our natural world and a greater drive to preserve what’s left of our vanishing wildlife.

Suzanne Klick, photographer and technician at the MCE Central Maryland Research and Education Center. Suzanne has a bachelor’s degree in horticulture from the University of Maryland and has worked as a technician for Maryland Cooperative Extension in the area of commercial horticulture for over 17 years. She has been able to combine her enjoyment of photography and horticulture by taking pictures for the landscape and greenhouse IPM reports and for other educational purposes.

Kimberly Rush Lynch, Holistic Health Counselor and Food Educator, energizes busy moms and dads to become healthier and happier parents equipped with the tools necessary to improve the eating habits and overall health and wellbeing of their children. Prior to starting her health counseling practice, Cultivating Health, she was the Program Director for the Washington Youth Garden at the U.S. National Arboretum where she helped youth and families in the District of Columbia discover where their food comes from, how to grow it organically and how to cook it in tasty, yet healthy ways. Kim was honored by the Garden Clubs of America with the 2005 Elizabeth Abernathy Hull Award for Environmental Educators.

She continues to remain involved with the Youth Garden's nutrition programming in a volunteer capacity. When she's not thinking about food, you can find Kim on her bike, practicing yoga at Greenbelt Om or working in her garden.

Wanda MacLachlan, Area Educator, Environmental Management, works for the University of Maryland Cooperative Extension in the area of residential landscape management focusing on residential water quality issues. She has developed a landscape certification program, the Bay-Wise Landscape Management Program, through which Master Gardener volunteers certify landscapes as environmentally sound, in fourteen counties (and counting) in Maryland
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Mary Kay Malinoski is an MCE Regional Specialist in Entomology and the creator of the Home and Garden Information Center’s Plant Diagnostic website. She is currently working on a diagnostic web site for invasive insects and diseases.

Lisa Miranto - Associate Professor, Horticulture and Biology, Prince Georges County Community College. Lisa received her M.S. in Horticulture from the University of Maryland and has, for over 18 years, been teaching woody plant materials and horticulture courses for the USDA Grad School, the University of Maryland, and Prince George’s Community College where she is currently the Coordinator of their Horticulture Program.

Joan Norman and her husband, Drew, have been farming since 1983. One Straw Farm is 175 acre certified organic vegetable farm in White Hall, MD. Drew and Joan have a partnership: he grows it and she sells it - and selling it as important as growing it. Their goal is to increase membership in their Community Supported Agriculture project to 2000 families living within 50 miles of the farm. The Normans also make their own bio-diesel that they mixes with regular diesel.

Phil Normandyis the Plant Collections Manager at Brookside Gardens and the grounds supervisor for McCrillis Gardens. He received his Bachelor’s in Ornamental Horticulture from North Carolina State University. He worked for Bartlett Tree Research for 3 years and then as Fellow in the Longwood Gardens Graduate Program, for 3 years, before coming to Brookside where he is responsible for garden maintenance and developing permanent plant collections.

Mr. Normandy has also been an instructor of woody plants in the Landscape Design Program of George Washington University.

Rose Norseth - Carroll County MG. After teaching for twelve years, Rose Norseth retired. She took her Master Gardener training in Georgetown, South Carolina, and enhanced that training with many years of volunteering in that state. Rose also spent six years as a volunteer at the greenhouses for U. S. Botanic Garden in D.C. and is currently working on her fifteenth year at the greenhouses for Smithsonian Institution. She was a member of the Low Country Herb Society for ten years, and is currently a member of the American Conifer Society, the American Orchid Society and the Mason-Dixon Chapter of the American Rhododendron Society.

Karen Rane - Director, Plant Diagnostic Laboratory, University of Maryland. She comes to Maryland from Indiana, where she served as Senior Plant Disease Diagnostician and Co-Director of the Purdue University Plant and Pest Diagnostic Laboratory. Karen has more than 20 years of experience in ornamental plant problem diagnosis. She has authored numerous newsletter and trade journal articles and conducted workshops on disease diagnosis and disease management for growers and extension educators.

Michael J. Raupp, Ph.D. - Professor & Extension Specialist, Ornamental Horticulture, IPM; Dept. of Entomology, University of Maryland.

The focus of Dr. Raupp's research program is to elucidate the mechanisms by which plants escape attack from herbivorous insects. His goal is to create sustainable landscape systems with minimal dependence on synthetic pesticides through the conservation and enhancement of biological diversity with special emphasis on natural enemy communities. As an extension specialist, the focus of Dr. Raupp's laboratory is to develop and implement integrated pest management programs (IPM) for landscape, nursery and greenhouse systems. We evaluate biorational pesticides and formulated microbials to determine which materials and techniques are efficacious and minimize disruption to natural enemy communities. His extension programs provide training on the theory and practice of IPM to a diverse clientele that includes growers, public and private sector landscape and park managers, and private citizens. Please visit Dr. Raupp's web site at http://raupplab.umd.edu/bugweek/ or by searching "Bug of the Week" on your browser.

Deborah Ricigliano, is a Certified Professional Horticulturist, and an Horticultural Consultant at the Home and Garden Information Center, Maryland Cooperative Extension.

Stu Schwartz, Ph.D, is a Senior Research Scientist at the Center for Urban Environmental Research and Education (CUERE) at the University of Maryland Baltimore County. His research interests are focused on water resources management and environmental systems analysis. Dr. Schwartz is currently the principal investigator of the U.S. EPA-funded study focusing on the sustainability of land transformation decisions at the urban/suburban interface, and the influence of landscape form on the sustainability of ecosystem services.

With particular interests in urban hydrology, stormwater management, and low impact development hydrology, Dr. Schwartz’s current applied research includes evaluation of the role of non-traditional design elements such as pervious concrete, green roofs, and enhanced infiltration, in sustainable urban landscapes.

Before joining UMBC and CUERE in 2005, Dr. Schwartz directed the Center for Environmental Science, Technology and Policy at Cleveland State University, and served as Associate Director of the Water Resources Research Institute of the University of North Carolina. He received bachelors and masters degrees from the University of Rochester, and Ph.D. from The Johns Hopkins University.

Paula Shrewsbury, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor and Extension Specialist on Ornamental and Turf Integrated Pest Management in the Department of Entomology at the University of Maryland. Her research is on the development of alternative, less-toxic control tactics for pest insects of ornamental plants and turfgrass. The major focus of her research is to identify methods to restore plant and insect community dynamics to create sustainable landscapes and nurseries to prevent pest insect outbreaks. She has been working in IPM for over 18 years, has given over three hundred presentations, and has numerous publications on these topics.

David Smith became a Carroll Co. MG after 32 years of teaching high school chemistry. He currently grows orchids and rhododendrons as a hobby and teaches plant propagation to Master Gardeners.

Judy Smith, Carroll Co. MG, is very involved with Rhododendron Society. She propagates many of her own rhododendrons, azaleas, vegetables and teaches others what she’s learned.

Deborah Smith-Fiola is the President of Landscape IPM Enterprises, a landscape pest management- consulting firm in Central/Western Maryland offering IPM monitoring services, pest diagnosis and control recommendations, speaking, writing and research.

With a BS in Horticulture and an MS in Entomology/ Landscape Pest Management, she coordinated the NJ Landscape IPM program and has initiated, coordinated, and taught Master Gardener programs. Deborah has 15 years University experience as an Extension Agent with VPI Extension and Rutgers Cooperative Extension.

She is a columnist with Hagerstown Magazine and the MidAtlantic Nurseryman newspaper, as well as the author of ‘Pest Resistant Key Trees and Shrubs’.

John Speaker is an IPM Scout and the President and owner of Speaker's Garden.

Bob Stewart, MCE, retired. Bob has recently retired after 30 years of service with the Maryland Cooperative Extension. Bob was an Area Agent in Commercial Horticulture, and has been closely involved with MG program – especially in Prince George’s Co. Bob has generously trained many MG’s throughout his career and is still teaching both basic and advanced training classes. He’s an all round expert in just about every area of horticulture.

Sara Tangren, Ph.D. – Founder and President of the nonprofit Chesapeake Natives. Dr. Tangren's dissertation research explored the relationship between Maryland native plant communities, soils, and hydrology. During graduate school, she supplemented her income by designing, planting, and maintaining public and private native gardens and meadows, including a wildflower garden for the residence of the Vice President of the United States, and formal gardens for the platinum LEED certified headquarters of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.

After graduation, she started and managed the only native seed production company in the Chesapeake watershed, which she has converted into the non-profit, Chesapeake Natives. Chesapeake Natives is planting public demonstration gardens at the University of Maryland College Park campus and at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation's Phillip Merrill Center. These gardens will contain over 100 native species propagated from local wild populations.

She has been the principal investigator on multiple grants for research to determine how to use locally native seed to replace the alien invasive species that are currently used to stabilize slopes.

Sara lives with her husband in Takoma Park where she gardens 1/5th acre, mostly in natives, vegetables, and herbs.

Ned Tillman - President of Growth Adventures; Chairman of the Howard County Conservancy; and member Howard Co. Commission of the Environment and Sustainability. Ned has founded and managed several energy and environmental firms operating in 49 states and overseas. His firm, Growth Adventures, conducts sustainability audits for corporations. Previously, he conducted research on alternative energy sources at The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, taught at the University of Maryland and received degrees in Geology from Franklin and Marshall College and Syracuse University.

Ned has published articles on environmental, energy and stakeholder issues in SCIENCE and other peer reviewed journals, serves as the Chairman of the Howard County Conservancy and is active in coaching and in planning efforts for the State and County (Commission on the Environment and Sustainability). He leads Walks of Exploration throughout Maryland and lectures and conducts workshops on Climate Change, Sustainability, Maryland History and Stewardship.
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Jon Traunfeld - MCE Regional Specialist in Fruits and Vegetables; Center Director, Home and Garden Information Center; and Coordinator, University of Maryland Master Gardener Program. Jon has over 25 years of agricultural and gardening experience. In 1989 he became Urban Gardening Coordinator for Maryland Cooperative Extension in Baltimore City where he helped develop community gardens and trained and supervised Master Gardeners. In 1994 Jon became the Regional Specialist in Fruits and Vegetables and State Master Gardener Coordinator at the Home and Garden Information Center in Ellicott City. In spring 2007 he became the HGIC Center Director.

For more information, contact Robin Hessey

Last updated: 04/15/2008