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—