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