Howard EcoWorks is an environmental nonprofit that’s dedicated to natural restoration and providing industry training to combat climate change. Through our workforce development programs, we witness transformations in both our participants and ecosystems.
This August, we wrapped up our 2024 Spring and Summer workforce development programs designed to empower future green industry leaders. Join us as we follow the journey of our three programs: UpLift, READY, and EcoAmbassadors, and dive into their impactful accomplishments, projects, and exciting professional development!
UpLift
Uplift is a 5-month program that runs twice a year, beginning in March for the Spring season. This crew works on conservation projects such as building gardens with native plants, installing native trees, and removing invasive plants from stream restoration sites. In addition, they focus on career development, earning certificates, and networking within the green industry.
METRICS
From March to August 2024, the UpLift crew completed the following:
6,812 sq. ft. of conservation landscapes installed
3,000 native perennial plants installed
635 native trees and shrubs planted
30 industry exposure and career training events including:
6 professional development days
8 industry exposure activities & field trips
8 informational interviews with industry professionals
4 crew members completed the program, receiving the following certificates:
OSHA-10
Adult and Pediatric First Aid, CPR & AED, American Red Cross
MEET THE CREW
Alex Andrews: Began as an UpLift Crew Member and advanced to a READY Crew Leader. Alex, a recent graduate from the University of Baltimore with a degree in Media & Communications, is now working as a Plant Health Care Technician at the Davey Tree Company.
Aramah Johnson: Joined as an UpLift Crew Member showing dedication to environmental restoration. With a B.S. in physical education from Morgan State University, and extensive experience in education, Aramah continues to pursue her passion to teach.
Jake Klein: Became a member of UpLift as a Crew Member and advanced to READY Crew Leader. Jake is continuing his academic career, working toward an undergraduate degree in geology, while balancing his role as a Senior Crew Member with EcoWorks.
Calvin Lynn: Joined as an UpLift Crew Member with a background in Environmental Science and Technology from the University of Maryland. He is now working as an Environmental Resource Specialist at Coastal Resources Inc.
READY
READY (Restoring the Environment and Developing Youth) is a 10-week summer program available for Howard County residents ages 16 - 25. Like UpLift, this program focuses on landscape conservation projects and career development activities through hands-on crew work.
Please meet Arabella, Axel, Bryon, Christopher, Ellen, Gillian, Hunter, Rae, and Sofia!
METRICS
From June to August 2024, our team completed the following:
3,000 sq. ft. of conservation landscapes installed
906 native perennial plants installed
87 native trees and shrubs planted
12 industry exposure and career training events including:
3 professional development days
4 industry exposure activities and field trips
2 informational interviews with industry professionals
8 crew members and 1 READY Assistant Foreman completed the program, receiving the following certificates:
KEY PROJECTS
Between March and August 2024, the UpLift crew, READY crew, Senior crew, and staff completed a variety of projects. Please note that this list highlights selected projects; many private residential projects, maintenance tasks, and county stream restorations are not included.
Conservation Landscapes:
Mt. Saint Joseph High School: Installed 1,748 sq. ft. of native landscaping featuring 543 native perennials, and 37 native trees and shrubs. Collaborated with student volunteers and the Interfaith Partners for the Chesapeake (IPC). Funded by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF)
Church of the Apostles: Installed 750 sq. ft. of native landscaping featuring 221 native perennials and 40 native shrubs. Collaborated with IPC and funded by Chesapeake Bay Trust (CBT).
Beaver Dam Analog Project: Installed Beaver Dam Analogues (BDAs) at Jim Duke's Green Farmacy in collaboration with Ecosystem Services. Learn more about this project here.
Stonebrook HOA Conservation Landscape: Installed 750 sq. ft. of native landscaping featuring 576 native perennials. Funded by Howard County through a Community Stormwater Partnership grant.
Resurrection of St. Paul Church: Installed a 625 sq. ft. garden featuring native plants, funded by NFWF.
Private Residence | Ellicott City: Installed 500 sq. ft. of native landscaping featuring 216 native perennials and 7 native shrubs. Funded by NFWF.
Ridgely Manor Park | Towson: Removed invasive species in an area spanning 29,000 sq. ft.
Bellows Spring Elementary School: Installed 450 sq. ft. of native gardens and 1 tree planting with student and teacher volunteers. Funded by NFWF.
St. Paul’s Cemetery: Installed 187 sq. ft. of landscaping featuring 132 native perennials, and 6 native shrubs.
Waterbury Bioretention Planting: Installed 21 native perennial plants. Funded by Howard County through a Community Stormwater Partnership grant.
Tree Planting:
Serenity Ridge Natural Burial and Arboretum: Planted 113 trees, funded by NFWF in partnership with the Greater Baltimore Wilderness Coalition.
Ellicott Mills: Planted 100 native trees in the Ellicott Mills neighborhood of Catonsville, funded by CBT.
Biochar Project: Our team planted 100 bare-root trees and shrubs at Howard Community College, as part of the Biochar project detailed here. This was made possible thanks to the Howard County Innovation Grant.
Housing Commission: Planted 73 trees in collaboration with the Howard County Office of Community Sustainability.
Catonsville Elementary School: Planted 21 native trees, funded by CBT.
First Evangelical Lutheran Church: Planted 10 trees, funded by CBT.
Riverchase Condos: Planted 35 trees, funded by CBT.
University of Maryland, Baltimore: Planted 14 trees, funded by CBT.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Field Trips:
Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary Visit: Joining the Climate Crew Network (CCN), Grow Home, Greater Baltimore Wilderness Coalition, and Maryland Department of Natural Resources to learn about wildlife monitoring and environmental restoration with naturalist Liana Vitali.
Outward Bound Baltimore: Engaging with the CCN for a day of outdoor team building exercises.
Jim Duke’s Green Farmacy: Installed native plants while also learning about medicinal plants.
Poplar Island Tour: Joining CCN on an active conservation restoration project in the Chesapeake Bay while networking with Maryland Environmental Service.
Little Patuxent Water Reclamation Plant Tour: Overview of career opportunities in the sewage and water treatment industry, highlighting the plant’s commitment to sustainability.
Electrofishing: Four teams were led by Aquatic Biologist, Dave Sigrist, in rivers within Montgomery Park. Electrofishing is the process of using electric currents to temporarily stun aquatic species swimming downstream, and collect them for data. This data will inform scientists on the health of the watershed.
Industry Training:
Invasive Plant Identification training in the Middle Patuxent Environmental Area.
Watershed science and planning activity with Lori Lilly, Founder & Director of EcoWorks.
Tree ID and tree pruning workshop with Andres Ovalle, former Conservation Director.
Native Plant ID training with Nick Lovett, Field Technician.
Prince George County Rain Check Rebate training.
Architectural landscaping and design training with the Neighborhood Design Center.
BMP (Best Practice Management) Assessment Training with Matt Hemler, Program Coordinator.
Stormwater management training and tour of Old Ellicott City with Lori Lilly.
Watershed Planning Training with Lori Lilly.
Stream Assessment Training with Lorri Lilly & Matt Hemler at Jim Duke’s Green Farmacy BDA installments. Talk from Paige Dempsey, Shore Rivers, about careers in water quality protection.
Career Development:
Conflict resolution with MCRC of Howard County.
Communications training & team building exercises with Matt Hemler.
Time management, organization, resume building, and cover letters with Matt Hemler.
Informational Interview with Ecosystem Services LLC
Networking and job searching skills with Matt Hemler.
Networking with Martha Shimkin, Director of the Chesapeake Bay Program, Sarah Brzezinski, Environmental Protection Specialist, Timothy P. Lattimer, and Bill Mahoney from the Howard County Government Office of Sustainability.
Employer Panel and Mock Interview Day with 12 guests from green industry organizations who shared insights about their organizations.
Financial Literacy training with Durshawn Robinson.
Introduction to Arboriculture with Lou Meyer from Davey Tree.
ECOAMBASSADORS
EcoAmbassadors is a 10-week summer program available to Howard County High School students. This program seeks to train future environmental leaders by providing them with the tools and confidence to take action in their own communities. This summer, their goal was to plan and execute a community cleanup.
Meet the 2024 EcoAmabassadors!: Abhishek, Ben, Cora, Harshvi, Joshua, Kayla, Liz, Max, Maxwell, Mishael, Sakthi Rajmano, Samantha, Samuel, Sarah, and Violet.
Representing the following schools: Atholton High School, Centennial High School, Hammond High School, Howard High School, Long Reach High School, Marriotts Ridge High School, Mt. Hebron High School, Oakland High School, and Reservoir High School.
METRICS
From June to August 2024, the EcoAmbassadors completed the following:
Coordinated two community cleanup events with a total of 30 volunteers, resulting in the removal of 300 pounds of trash!
EcoAmbassadors supported three outreach events and independently organized three additional community outreach initiatives.
Engaged with 270 community members through clean-up and outreach events.
Developed a community survey to assess residents' environmental behaviors and their willingness to adopt best practices.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Weekly Meetings with Matt Hemler: Participants learned about environmental stewardship, plastics and waste reduction, researched environmental problems, and identified resources to share with their community to address these problems.
Meeting with Lori Lilly: Students practiced networking and public speaking on environmental topics as Lori shared her experiences in the field and explored various career paths.
Jackie Cooper Visit: Jackie Cooper from The Office of Community Sustainability at the Howard County Government, shared insights about the Howard County Climate Action Plan which included initiatives such as: electrifying the county vehicle fleet, aiming for net zero emissions by 2040, expanding the tree canopy, and enhancing pollinators habitat.
Amy Handen Visit: Amy Handen, Local Implementation Programs Coordinator for the EPA and the Chesapeake Bay Program, talked about the principles of behavior change, and how to convince communities to adopt healthier, and sustainable practices.
Bill Mahoney Visit: Bill Mahoney from the Howard County Office of Community and Sustainability, shared information about the Green Infrastructure Network. The network consists of the highest-priority habitat corridors and ecological areas that the county is trying to restore and preserve.
Marketing Training: Elura Morris, Marketing & Communications, trained participants on marketing skills that are applicable to getting the word out on community events.
GRADUATION DAY!
On 8/16/24 we officially graduated our Summer 2024 program participants including:
4 Spring & Summer UpLift participants
9 READY participants (Restoring the Environment and Developing Youth)
And 15 EcoAmbassador participants!
Together our team completed the following between March and mid-August:
10,000 sq ft of conservation gardens installed including:
4,200 native plants.
700 native trees and shrubs.
Engaged with hundreds of community members in outreach events.
Participated in tons of green industry training and industry exposure events.
Special thanks to our guests Jason Swope, Chesapeake Bay Landscape Professionals, Jackie Cooper, Office of Community Sustainability, Howard County, and guest speaker Boyd Rutherford, former Maryland Lt. Governor, for their presence and support of our summer program graduates!
At EcoWorks, we are incredibly proud of our program graduates - first responders to the climate change crisis. We look forward to witnessing the continued impact they will make in the communities they serve. We hope they reflect on their time with us and carry the lessons and memories with them in their careers.
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