| Education > Professional Training | ||||||||||||||||||||
Come Learn With Us Since its inception in 1972, Environmental Concern Inc. has put a premium on building the capacity of those in the wetland field (consultants, government, higher education, non-profits) through quality professional development opportunities. Unlike other wetland training centers, Environmental Concern is a working firm engaged in the work of wetlands. We are able to provide students a unique learning experience presented from the practitioner’s perspective. The Wetland Learning Center in St. Michaels, Maryland (Eastern Shore) includes the nation’s first wholesale wetland plant nursery – currently growing over 120 different species, and an active restoration department engaged in cutting edge enhancement, restoration and creation initiatives. All courses are held at Environmental Concern’s Wetland Learning Center located on the headwaters of San Domingo Creek in St. Michaels on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. (Directions) Most course days are scheduled from 8:30am-5:00pm. Basic Wetland Delineation: Register Students and professionals just entering the field of wetland science, as well as those needing a review, should attend this 4.5 day (36-hour) course on the 1987 Corps of Engineers wetland delineation method. The course covers the Clean Water Act Section 404 regulations, updated regulation changes, and individual wetland parameters of vegetation, soils, and hydrology. Instructors: Kody Cario & William Sipple Hydric Soils : Register This two-day course will provide students with an understanding of hydric soils, giving them an advantage when performing wetland delineations. The class will begin in the classroom but the majority will be spent in the field exploring indicators essential for hydric soil ID. A basic knowledge of soils is helpful, but not required. Instructor: Christopher Flannagan
Winter Woody Plant ID: Register This two-day course will give wetland professionals a competitive edge when delineating wetlands. Vegetation analysis is the primary criteria used to delineate wetland boundaries. Numerous woody plant species will be identified through lectures, field trips, and field/lab keying. Background in botany preferred, but not necessary. Wetland Plant Identification Basics: Register Designed for wetland professionals to improve vegetation identification, this two-day field course will focus on both tidal and non-tidal wetland plant identification. Emphasis will be on key field characteristics of select vascular plant families. Instructor-led and group keying will teach the necessary skills for field id of wetland indicator species. Instructor: Leslie Hunter- Cario Advanced Plant Identification: Register This three-day course is designed for professionals who have basic plant identification training and experience, including those looking for a refresher course. Key field characteristics of select vascular plant families will be covered, and the identification and recognition of major plants found in both uplands and wetlands will be emphasized. Instructor: Bill Sipple Grasses, Sedges and Rushes: Register A solid understanding of grasses, sedges, and rushes is necessary for anyone working with wetlands. This four-day course will focus on identification of these members of the plant kingdom. Participants will leave with an understanding of the families, family subdivisions, and genera of the often confusing species of grasses, sedges, and rushes (wetland and upland). Instructor: Bill Sipple Wetland Macroinvertebrate Identification & Ecology: Register Aquatic macroinvertebrates are widely used as indicators of ecosystem health. Although routinely used for stream biomonitoring, they are tightly linked to wetland condition and can be also used to monitor wetland ecosystems. Wetland Macroinvertebrate Identification and Ecology will focus on the ecology, sampling and identification of freshwater macroinvertebrates in wetland ecosystems. This two-day course will consist of microscope identification in a laboratory setting, as well as field identification and standard techniques for field sampling. By the end of the class, participants will review the key identification features of different families of wetland macroinvertebrates; identify specimens to the family/genus level in the field and in a laboratory setting using a dissecting microscope; and learn standard techniques for field sampling. This course is intended for environmental organizations, government agencies, researchers, and volunteer monitors partaking in surface water monitoring programs or research using macroinvertebrates as indicators of ecosystem health. Instructor: Sean Sipple
Instructor Biography: Christopher T. Flannagan Christopher Flannagan is a Certified Professional Soil Scientist in the Commonwealth of Virginia as well as an ARCPACS Certified Professional Soil Scientist/Soil Classifier with 8 years experience classifying hydric soils and delineating wetlands. Mr. Flannagan currently works for the Louis Berger Group in Washington, D.C. but has studied soils throughout New England, the Mid-Atlantic region, and the Prairie Pothole Region of North America. His Master’s thesis discussed subaqueous soils in a Maine estuary.
Sean Sipple Sean Sipple is a Senior Environmental Scientist for Coastal Resources, Inc. in Annapolis, Maryland, where he conducts natural resource studies for private and public sector projects. Mr. Sipple has 10 years of experience in the areas of stream and wetland ecology, specializing in benthic macroinvertebrate ecology and identification. He is a Certified Ecologist through the Ecological Society of America and a certified aquatic macroinvertebrate taxonomist through the Society for Freshwater Science. He has also taught several macroinvertebrate identification professional training courses for Environmental Concern, the Reston Association, and Wetland Studies and Solutions, Inc.
Leslie Hunter-Cario Leslie Hunter-Cario is a Certified Professional Horticulturist professionally involved in the native plant industry since 1997. She is employed as the Nursery Manager at Environmental Concern Inc., where she has worked for twelve years. Directing the wetland plant nursery, her duties relate to the propagation and production of wetland plants, nutrient management, and horticultural/botanical education. Leslie serves on the board of the Maryland Nursery and Landscape Association, chairs the Eastern Shore chapter of the Maryland Native Plant Society, and serves as the vice-chair of the Chesapeake Conservation Landscaping Council. She is a current fellow of the LEAD Maryland Foundation, an organization dedicated to training agricultural and natural resource leaders.
Kody Cario Kody Cario is the Wetland Restoration Manager at Environmental Concern Inc., and has been with the organization since 2001. Kody manages wetland creation and restoration projects including design, permitting, construction, maintenance, and monitoring. He also conducts tidal and non-tidal wetland delineations and site feasibility studies for wetland restoration projects. He speaks frequently to both the public and professionals on invasive species control, native plants, living shorelines and natural landscape design. He holds a B.S. in Environmental Studies and a M.S. in Agricultural Ecology.
William S. Sipple William S. Sipple is a wetland ecologist and the principal in W. S. Sipple Wetland & Environmental Training & Consulting, a small company he established after retiring from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2003. At EPA, he was an ecologist in the Agency’s Wetland Division in Washington, D.C. from 1979- 2003. From 1971-1979, he worked for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources in Annapolis in a tidal wetland program. He has lead numerous field trips in the Mid-Atlantic Region since 1971 and has taught various wetland delineation and plant identification courses in the private sector at Johns Hopkins University, Towson University, the Humboldt Field Research Institute in Steuben, ME, the Institute for Wetland & Environmental Education & Research in Laverett, MA, Environmental Concern, Inc. in St. Michaels, MD, the Northern Virginia Community College in Woodbridge, VA, and at the Graduate School, U. S. Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C. His graduate training was in regional planning at the University of Pennsylvania and plant ecology at the University of Maryland. He has published a number of scientific articles in various peer-reviewed journals and is also a dedicated journal keeper (over 50 years) and writer, which has resulted in extensive field journals and two books: Through the Eyes of a Young Naturalist (1991) and Days Afield: Exploring Wetlands in the Chesapeake Bay Region (1999). |
Course Information
Schedule for 2012
Registration & Financial Assistance
|
|||||||||||||||||||
