April 25,2000

Three-part Lecture Series Titled “Caring for the
Land” to Begin on May 2

Three Tuesday Lectures to be held at Shelburne Farms:
“Sustainable Living,” on May 6
“Ecological Alternatives for Large-Scale Landowners,”
on May 9
“Principals and Techniques of Ecological Landscape Design,”
on May 16

MIDDLEBURY, Vt.-A three-part lecture series titled “Caring for the
Land” will take place from 7-9 p.m. on three consecutive Tuesdays,
beginning on May 2, in the Coach Barn at Shelburne Farms on Harbor Road
off Route 7 in Shelburne. Co-sponsored by Middlebury College and the University
of Vermont Environmental Council, all three “Caring for the Land”
lectures are free and open to the public.

The “Caring for the Land” series will focus on ecological issues
surrounding present-day management of the landscape. Beginning with a look
at ways people have tried to co-exist with the landscape, the series will
go on to explore underlying ecological issues that stem from human manipulation
of it, and possibilities for more responsible management of large-scale
tracts.

On May 2, Middlebury College Assistant Professor of Religion Rebecca Gould
and University of Vermont Lecturer of Plant and Soil Sciences Wendy Sue
Harper will co-present “Sustainable Living,” the first of the
Tuesday series. Gould’s segment of the presentation will discuss “Spiritual
Agriculture in America: Perspectives from the Past and Prospects for the
Future.” A member of the board of directors of the Good Life Center
in Harborside, Maine, Gould was the first steward at Forest Farm, the homestead
of Helen and Scott Nearing, nationally renowned authors and pioneers of
the trend to return to simple living. She is currently writing a book on
the spiritual dimensions of back-to-the-land homesteading practices in nineteenth
and twentieth-century America.

Harper’s talk will be titled “Moving Toward Community Urban and Suburban
Sustainability.” Harper, who teaches on soil science and sustainable
agriculture, has designed her own orchards and gardens using permaculture
principles. An expert at canning, pickling, the use of root cellars and
other means of food storage, Harper’s perennial and annual plantings range
from fruits, vegetables, culinary and medicinal herbs, and flowers to ornamental
shrubs and nuts. She will talk about urban and suburban community models
of sustainable living that may be more easily attainable for most people
than moving back to the land would be.

On the second Tuesday, May 9, “Ecological Alternatives for Large-Scale
Landowners” will be offered by Assistant Professor of Horticulture
Mark Starrett of the University of Vermont (UVM), and Middlebury College
Landscaping Crew Chief Mike Ade. The program will focus on the ecological
management of campus landscapes as a model for larger ones. Ade, who has
tested many alternative landscaping practices, has a special interest in
organic landscaping and will talk about “Working Towards Zero Landscape
Chemical Use on the Middlebury College Campus.”

Starrett’s segment of the program, called “To Plant or Not to Plant:
Natives vs. Exotics,” will describe the use of native and non-invasive
exotic plantings on the UVM campus and UVM’s Memorial Tree Program. Starrett
teaches on home and garden horticulture, plant propagation, and woody ornamental
plants, and is currently researching the application of beneficial fungi
during the propagation process and the selection of plants for cold-hardiness
and suitability for use in Vermont.

On May 16, the capstone lecture of the “Caring for the Land” series
will be presented by architect/landscape architect Jose Alminana whose talk
entitled “Sustainable Landscape Design: Just Do It!” will discuss
principles and techniques of ecological landscape design. Alminana’s many
projects have focused on urban streetscapes, corporate campuses, greenways,
recreational parks, wildlife preserves, and college campuses. He is the
principal architect of Andropogon Associates, a landscape architecture firm
in Philadelphia that has emerged as a leader in the field of planning and
design, pursuing an ecological perspective on landscape architecture since
1975. Recently, Andropogon Associates has worked on the landscape design
for Oberlin College’s new “green” environmental studies center.
Alminana-an expert in master planning, landscape development planning,
and in the design and construction of innovative stormwater management systems,
sitework and landscapes-will include in his talk case studies from his firm’s
nationally acclaimed projects.

For more information or to register for any of the lectures, contact Middlebury
College Environmental Coordinator Amy Seif at 802-443-5043 or by E-mail
at aseif@middlebury.edu.

—a schedule for the lectures follows—

Tuesday Lecture Series “Caring for the Land” to Begin on May 2
at Shelburne Farms

Caring for the Land Tuesday series schedule:

Tuesday, May 2, 7-9 p.m.
Sustainable Living:
“Spiritual Agriculture in America: Perspectives from the Past and
Prospects for the Future”
by Middlebury College Assistant Professor of Religion Rebecca Gould
“Moving Toward Community Urban and Suburban Sustainability”
by University of Vermont Lecturer of Plant and Soil Sciences Wendy Sue Harper
Location: Coach Barn at Shelburne Farms, on Harbor Road off Route 7 in Shelburne

Tuesday, May 9, 7-9 p.m.
Ecological Alternatives for Large-Scale Landowners:
“To Plant or Not to Plant: Natives vs. Exotics”
by University of Vermont Assistant Professor of Horticulture Mark Starrett
“Working Towards Zero Landscape Chemical Use on the Middlebury College
Campus”
by Middlebury College Landscaping Crew Chief Mike Ade
Location: Coach Barn at Shelburne Farms, on Harbor Road off Route 7 in Shelburne

Tuesday, May 16, 7-9 p.m.
Capstone Lecture:
“Sustainable Landscape Design: Just Do It!”
by architect/landscape architect Jose Alminana, principal of Philadelphia-based
architectural firm Andropogon Associates
Location: Coach Barn at Shelburne Farms, on Harbor Road off Route 7 in Shelburne

All lectures are free and open to the public. Please register by calling
Middlebury College Environmental Coordinator Amy Seif at 802-443-5043, or
by E-mail at aseif@middlebury.edu.

—end—