The cashew family, Anacardiaceae, includes a number of economically important plants and many notoriously poisonous species. From poison ivy to cashew and poisonwood, we will explore the diversity of the family and learn more about its toxic members, which are distributed across approximately 33 genera. Detailed information about poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans) and the contact...

Dr. Keeley will review selected chapters of the second edition of the 2019 book Corridor Ecology that captures advances in the field since 2006. She will give an overview of corridor design objectives, including topics such as corridor dimensions, sensitivity to human activity, and topography and microclimate for climate-wise connectivity. With an extensive human footprint...

Landscape designers nationwide believe in the many benefits of green stormwater infrastructure (GSI); but, for this strategy to succeed, the public must want these installations in their yards, parks, schools, and neighborhood streets. This session presents a study of public reactions to the appearance of GSI, focusing on rain garden installation within the municipal streetscape...

A book about planting for monarchs (and for motivated readers and gardeners) is not quite as wondrous as monarchs and their individual life cycles, their host relationship with milkweeds, or their annual migrations in North America, but it is something of a miracle. Only a few decades ago, the concept of creating native-plant gardens was...

Portland is the largest urban area in Maine and many of the region’s native plants and the fauna that depend on them have been replaced with buildings, paving, and exotic plant species. Creating a vision for restoring native habitat was the goal of the Portland Pollinator Vision Plan, a joint project between Wild Seed Project...

Green infrastructure, pollinator gardens, food gardens are increasingly integrated in PK-12 learning environments. This session will describe how the built environment and natural settings can facilitate deeper learning, an approach to education that not only seeks to achieve traditional academic standards, but also seeks to foster innovation in problem solving, collaborative work, effective communication, inquiry,...