Fall Workshop for Coaches and Teams

UMass Amherst Campus Center

Wednesday, November 15, 2017

Link to UMass article

Kick off the 2017-2018 Envirothon year with this introductory workshop.

• Learn about this year’s current issue: Partnering with Nature in Watersheds
• Get started on ecostation topics: soil, water, wildlife, and forest
• Bond with your teammates and meet other students and coaches from across the state
• Have fun and check out UMass Amherst!

UMass.17.18 Final Agenda

8:30 Registration opens, teams are paired with UMass students for a welcome as they arrive.

9 – 2:15 Introduction followed by four concurrent sessions with a lunch break.

Current Issue topics and speakers:

• Getting Started on your Community Research – Will Snyder (UMass Extension)
• Forests -The Living Filter – Paul Barten  (UMass Department of Environ. Conservation)
• Forest patches in a developing landscape: structure, function, importance (Field session) – Lena Fletcher (UMass Dept. of Environ. Conservation)
• Managing runoff and water quality with a green-infrastructure, a landscape approach – Jack Ahern  (UMass Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning)
• Wetland Functions & Wetland Soils – Deborah Henson (UMass Environmental Science Program)
• Climate change, flooding and Riversmart Communities – Christine E. Hatch ( UMass Dept of Geosciences)
• Natural Remedies for Pollution in Massachusetts Watersheds – Paula Rees (UMass College of Engineering)
• Green Infrastructure:  Cleansing and Managing Stormwater – Mark Lindhult (UMass Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning)
• How Climate Change and Land Use are Affecting Watershed Systems – Timothy Randhir  (Department of Environ. Conservation)
• Dams, Urbanization, Climate Change, and Fish – Rebecca Quiñones, Ph.D. (MassWildlife Rivers and Streams Project Leader)
• Thinking Globally and Acting Locally:  The Role of Conservation Commissions in Protecting Wetlands, Open Space and Water Resources – Dorothy A. McGlincy, Executive Director  & Michèle A. Girard, Associate Director and Education Coordinator, Massachusetts Association of Conservation Commissions
• Effective Community Advocacy 101 & Maximizing Ecosystem Services: Watershed Scale Conservation – Stefanie Covino, Coordinator of Shaping the Future of Your Community Program, Mass Audubon
• Citizen Watershed Groups – Jennifer Bowman, Connecticut River Conservancy
• Study tour of Morrill Courtyard- C. Kim Jaworski-Bruschi, (UMass Facilities)
• Green Roof Tour of Integrated Learning Center- Lauren Healey, (student,  UMass Department of Environmental Conservation)
• Study Tour of the UMass John W. Olver Design Building – Stormwater Management Infrastructure- Paul Barten (UMass Department of Environmental Conservation)Sara Lawler (UMass Dept of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning), &
  Peggi Clouston, (UMass Department of Environmental Conservation)

And introductory workshops by Envirothon curriculum leaders:

Forest: Joe Perry, Mass Department of Conservation & Recreation (Forestry)

Wildlife:  Pam Landry, MassWildlife

Water:  Kelley Freda, Mass Department of Conservation & Recreation (Water Supply Protection)

Soil:  Al Averill, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service

 

This workshop is free for registered teams. All other schools need to pay $10 per participant- these fees will be deducted from your annual program registration.  Contact Brita Dempsey, Mass Envirothon Coordinator, for details. massenvirothon@gmail.com. Students should bring a lunch or plan on purchasing one at one of many UMass eateries. Parking is available at a small cost at the UMass parking garage. School buses and vehicles with state plates park for free – call for specific parking information.

Download the sign up form: UMass workshop mini agenda17.1

Join Kelley Freda, Environmental Analyst with the DCR-Division of Water Supply Protection for a tour and discussion of several structural best management practices (BMPs) around the Wachusett Reservoir watershed.  We will visit several raingardens, an infiltration basin, a large bioretention area, and gravel wetland.  This will be a great introduction to this year’s current issue topic on the use of green infrastructure and environmental engineering!  Although the tour will be fairly informal, Kelley will talk about how each works, why they were constructed, some design considerations, the differences between them, and of course, some water quality.  We will need to drive to a couple of close by locations as not all are within walking distance.

You are all welcome to stay and explore and observe the watershed after the tour. We have a bog (Poutwater Pond), beaver ponds, streams, wetlands and historical areas.

Meet at DCR Main office, 180 Beaman Street, West Boylston at the flagpole entrance parking lot.

Three tour dates are offered:

Sunday, October 8, 2017 1:30-4 Columbus Day weekend (The Wachusett Reservoir Dam located in Clinton is also open to the public to walk across the top on this day from 10-1. It only happens 2 times a year! Bring your cameras if you plan on staying)

Thursday, October 12, 2017 4-6pm

Saturday, October 14, 2017 10-12am

Tours are free, but you MUST register in advance, at least 3 days before the tour.