FALL WORKSHOP SERIES:  Greening Homes & Yards
Instructor Bios   |  Workshop Sponsors  |  Registration Form


Audubon Naturalist Society (ANS) and the Green Building Institute (GBI) have teamed up to create a five-part workshop series that will be offered at the ANS headquarters in Chevy Chase, MD, this fall. The workshops, taught by industry experts and geared toward homeowners, contractors, landscapers, and students of the building trades, will take place on Wednesday evenings from 7-9 p.m. beginning Oct 7 and ending Nov 4.

October 14   Intro to Green Building Materials and Products
Instructor: Jason Holstine, Owner, Amicus Green Building Center
How can you save energy and money, use more recycled products, and avoid use of toxic products when you remodel or add on?  What kinds of green remodeling and new construction materials are now on the market and how does one choose among the many new products? How do I choose between dimmable and non-dimmable compact fluorescent light bulbs, and between countertops made from recycled paper or sunflower hulls. This workshop will answer these and related questions. Hands-on examination of samples of green construction materials will be part of this workshop.   

October 21   Creating Your Own Year-Round Vegetable Garden
Instructor: Kit Gage, President, Takoma Park Horticultural Society
This workshop provides an overview to starting a garden and producing vegetables year-round. It includes: sourcing supplies, selecting a site, understanding soil nutrient management, planning and planting, irrigation and harvesting, cold frames, enhancing the garden with beneficial insects and pest management, week control, and finally harvesting. Web resources and reference materials will be available.

October 28   Harvesting and Harnessing Rainwater at Home
Instructor: Paul Bassett, Sustainability Director, Water Management Inc.
This workshop focuses on how and why to collect, store, and transport rainwater from the roof to the garden. We will discuss and demonstrate gutter filtration, downspout collection, rain barrels, rain tanks, small water pumps, irrigation timers and weather sensors, and drip irrigation systems.

November 4   How to Build a Rain Garden
Instructors: Diane Cameron, ANS Conservation Program Director and Jenny Reed, Owner, Natural Resources Design Inc.
Do you have a low spot in your yard where water builds up after a rain storm, or a basement dampened by a neighbor’s runoff? Your yard may be a great candidate for a rain garden, a low-lying area filled with soil and plants designed to infiltrate rainwater, attract butterflies and birds, and keep streams healthy. Learn how to design, build, and maintain your own rain garden, and about rebates offered by Montgomery County. Hands-on examination of rain garden plants and soils will be incorporated into the workshop.

Workshop fees are very reasonable! A single workshop costs only $40 for members of either GBI or ASN, while a non-member pays $55. For a registration form, click here. If you have questions, call GBI's Lisa McDowell at 443-733-1234. Or email ANS Conservation Director, Diane Cameron or at 301-652-9188 x22.

Stan has helped local jurisdictions understand the integrative design process as a participant in the Baltimore City Green Building Task force, and the Annapolis Energy Efficiency Task Force. He also currently sits on the Energy Subcommittee for the Howard County Sustainability Commission and has been appointed to the Governor’s Green Building Task Force.    


Jason Holstine
Founder, Amicus Green Building Center

Jason has more than fifteen years experience working with consumers, businesses, governments, and NGOs implementing sustainability goals and projects by creating better buildings and communities. Before starting the Amicus Green Building Center and Amicus Consulting Services, Jason’s projects included: conducting market transformation programs for the Energy Star program; coordinating the public-private Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing (PATH) program; introducing the National Capital region’s first wind power utility program; and assisting various corporations and government agencies on training and personnel development initiatives. Jason was a co-creator and judge of the EcoLeadership Awards program to recognize sustainable business practices, and is a frequent speaker on sustainability, green building, and consumer behaviors toward sustainability. Jason sits on the Board of Directors of the Clean Air Partners program (responsible for the DC-Baltimore regional air quality alert program); was appointed to the Maryland State Climate Change Commission; was past chairman of the Montgomery County, Maryland Energy and Air Quality Advisory Committee; and was past board member of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network and GreenHome.


Kit Gage
President, Takoma Park Horticultural Society

Besides presiding over the Takoma Horticultural Club, Ms. Gage is an active member and facilitator of the Friends of Sligo Creek Stormwater Committee (focused mostly on re-educating people about handling rainwater in their yards) and a collaborator with the Montgomery County Rainscapes program and CASA de Maryland to install rain gardens. She taught a before-school Dirt Club class at Piney Branch Elementary School last spring. Kit has a raised-bed organic vegetable garden. She has killer tomatoes, has been harvesting kale for months, and grew great cantaloupes from her compost. She’s got a ‘specimen’ yard with three pages of different species of plants, many of them native.

Paul Bassett
Director, Sustainable Water Resources with Water Savers, LLC

Mr. Bassett is recognized as Certified Irrigation Designer (CID) by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Water Sense program with a specialty in Commercial and Residential Design. He also has a comprehensive knowledge of the United States Green Building Councils (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) and has been involved with more than 80 LEED Registered or Certified projects in the Mid-Atlantic Region. He specializes in the design and installation of rainwater harvesting systems that utilize captured rainwater for landscape irrigation and other non-potable uses. He also has extensive knowledge of green roof systems and rain gardens that help promote sustainable water resources by collecting the rainwater and filtering it through plants and soils. He also is very involved in the Green Building movement locally by volunteering with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, United States Green Building Council, and The Green Building Institute to help foster and develop a sustainable future for the Chesapeake Bay Region.

Diane M. Cameron
Director, ANS Conservation Program

Diane Cameron combines her geologic and engineering training with thirty years of environmental movement experience. Beginning with local Sierra Club leadership in the late 1970s while majoring in Geology at Indiana University, Diane went on to complete a Masters Degree in Environmental Engineering in 1987 from the University of Maryland. From 1989 until 1998, Diane served as a Staff Scientist for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), focused on strengthening the Clean Water Act. 

Diane coordinates the Montgomery County Stormwater Partners Network and co-Chairs the Maryland Stormwater Consortium, comprised of 36 organizations working for full Environmental Site Design (ESD) implementation under the Stormwater Management Act of 2007. She represents the Audubon Naturalist Society and NRDC on stormwater issues throughout the greater Washington, D.C. region, and coordinates the Audubon Naturalist Society Conservation Advocacy and Water Quality Monitoring Programs. She has been studying and helping to build rain gardens since 2006, mainly with the Friends of Sligo Creek Stormwater Committee.

Jenny Reed is a landscape designer, who has been creating, installing, and maintaining residential landscapes for more than 20 years. Ms. Reed earned her Master of Arts degree from the Conway School of Landscape Design. She is passionate about helping schools and watershed groups realize their dreams through designing rain gardens and wildlife habitats.