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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 five-day (40-hour) course on the 1987 Corps of Engineers wetland delineation method. The course covers the Clean Water Act Section 404 regulations, individual wetland parameters of vegetation, soils, and hydrology. Both routine and comprehensive methods as well as atypical situations and problem area wetlands are covered. Participants complete several wetland delineations. Hydric Soils : Register This three-day course will bolster students an understanding of hydric soils, giving them an advantage when performing wetland delineations. Soil analysis is more than recognizing a grey matrix with high chroma mottles; in certain areas of the country, hydric soil is the driving criterion to defining wetland boundaries. This course will cover the chemistry and morphology of hydric soils; specifically, it will address Instructor: Christopher Flannagan
Winter Woody Plant ID: Register This two-day course will help give the wetland professional a competitive edge in wetland delineation. Vegetation analysis is the primary criteria used to delineate wetland boundaries. Without flowers, leaves, or fruits, trees still offer significant information for identification. Winter characters of deciduous woody plants test and develop one's powers of observation in the field. Taxonomic keys and field excursions will be utilized to identify over 80 woody species. Background in botany preferred, but not necessary. Wetland Plant ID Basics: Register Designed for wetland professionals with a need for improvement in 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 identification of wetland indicator species. Instructor: Leslie Hunter- Cario Advanced Plant Identification: Register Designed for professionals who already have basic plant identification training and experience, including those looking for a refresher course. Key field characteristics of a select number of vascular plant families will be covered, and the identification and recognition of major plants found in both uplands and wetlands will be emphasized. Part of the first day will be spent in the lab reviewing some key morphological characteristics associated with vascular plants and covering four difficult families of vascular plants commonly found in uplands and wetlands -- the grasses, sedges, rushes, and composites -- using live specimens. The remaining part of the first day and most of the second day will be spent in the field identifying plants at a variety of wetland and upland sites in Caroline and Talbot Counties. For the field work, the participants should be prepared to get wet and muddy for the wetland sites visited. A Field Guide to Non-tidal Wetland Identification by Ralph Tiner is included in the tuition fee. Newcomb's Wildflower Guide by Lawrence Newcomb - course reference manual available for use during the course. Instructor: Bill Sipple Grasses, Sedges and Rushes: Register A solid understanding of grasses, sedges, and rushes is necessary for anyone working with wetlands. In this four-day course, designed to train identification of these members of the plant kingdom, students will learn which sedges have edges, which rushes are round and why . Through lecture, the examination of live plant specimens in the lab and the field, and keying exercises, the students will learn the morphological terminology necessary to identify grass, sedges, and rushes. Students will leave with an understanding of the families, family subdivisions, and genera of the often-difficult species of grasses, sedges, and rushes (wetland and upland).Instructor: Bill Sipple Date: September 13 - 16, 2010 Location: Environmental Concern, St. Michaels, MD Cost: $700 Time: 8:30AM-5:00PM
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.
Leslie Hunter-Cario Leslie Hunter-Cario is the Nursery Manager at Environmental Concern Inc., and has been with the organization for ten years. She directs the EC wetland plant nursery, with duties related to the propagation and production of wetland plants, nutrient management, and teaching horticulture and botany related programs. Leslie holds a B.S. in Environmental Science and is a Certified Professional Horticulturist through the Maryland Nursery and Landscape Association.
Marc Seelinger, PWS Mr. Seelinger is a Professional Wetland Scientist (PWS) certified by the Society of Wetland Scientists (SWS). He is also listed as a Certified Wetland Delineator by the US Army Corps of Engineers – Baltimore District. He has over 20 years experience with wetland delineations, functional assessments, stream restoration, mitigation design, watershed planning, BMP design and storm water planning. He holds several storm water BMP certifications from the States of Maryland, Delaware and North Carolina. Mr. Seelinger is co-owner of Cill Ide Native Plant Nursery. This nursery specializes in the propagation of native wetland plant species for use in various ecological restoration projects. He is also the principle instructor at The Swamp School. The Swamp School is an educational outreach of the nursery. He teaches a number of wetland related classes including wetland delineation, wetland design, wetland functional assessment and watershed planning.
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 2010
Registration & Financial Assistance
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