10:30am (in Pioneer Village vegetable garden)
Backyard Composting Challenge
Alan Watts

11:30am
Sustainable Landscaping
Elizabeth McGreevy
Elizabeth has a Master’s degree in landscape architecture, an undergraduate degree in biology, and is a certified permaculture designer.  This training, along with her creative spirit and volunteer experiences, make her more than qualified to create multi-functional, sustainable landscapes that increase water infiltration and enhance and/or protect wildlife habitats.
Beyond her work as a landscape designer and restoration consultant in the Texas Hill Country for the past 16 years, Elizabeth also educates the public about native plants, Hill Country ecology and history.  One of her favorite topics is the Mountain Cedar (aka Ashe juniper).  She is finishing up a book on this much debated tree.

12:30pm
Urban Landscapes Convert To Organic
John Dromgoole
Owner of The Natural Gardener, Austin’s organic garden center which has been voted "Best of Austin" by Chronicle readers ten times, also featured in national gardening magazines, and winner of many awards including Garden Center Magazine’s  “Innovative Garden Center of the Year” for 2008. John himself has been given state, local, and regional awards, including “Texas Legendary Promoter of Organics”. His Lady Bug Natural Brand and his focus on teaching organic gardening, demonstrate to new and old gardeners how easy, beneficial and beautiful it is to grow organic. He hosted “The New Garden”, the first national organic gardening series on PBS. John still hosts America’s longest continuously running (27 yrs) organic gardening radio talk show on KLBJ 590. “The Weekend Gardener” will be broadcasting live from Zilker Garden Festival, 8 to 11 Saturday and Sunday mornings. www.naturalgardeneraustin.com

1:30pm
Water: Key To Our Future
Dr. Lauren Ross
Earning 3 degrees in civil engineering, Dr. Ross is owner of Glenrose Engineering in Austin. During decades of environmental work and political activism, she helped to pass the Save Our Springs citizen’s referendum, close a hazardous waste facility in an East Texas African American community, and bio remediate soils in Post-Katrina New Orleans. She was a designer of the first privately-permitted composting toilet in Austin, the first Austin-permitted residential gray water system in 25 years, the first pervious pavement system to stack storm runoff treatment and flood detention beneath a parking lot, and Austin’s first bio filter for storm runoff treatment. She is currently working on a riparian restoration project along Shoal Creek in Pease Park, and a pilot gray-water permitting program for Austin with Council Member Chris Riley.
photo of stream

2:30pm
Nature Watch Austin
Lynne Weber & Jim Weber
Lynne and Jim are both certified Texas Master Naturalists, Lynn is past president of the Capital Area chapter. They are co-authors of Nature Watch Austin, a guide to the seasons in an urban wildland. The Webers are National Wildlife Federation habitat stewards who conduct bird surveys, monitor and map invasive species, write nature columns for neighborhood newsletters, and lead nature hikes. Members of the Native Plant Society of Texas, they are conserving resources by removing non native species and landscaping their property using native plants only. They are outdoor enthusiasts who share their love of nature and how best to preserve it for future generations. A book sale and signing will follow this presentation.

3:30pm
Rainwater Harvesting Basics
Dick Peterson
Dick Peterson’s interest in water conservation and Rainwater harvesting goes back over 20 years. As the City of Austin Xeriscape Coordinator, he developed its rebate program for rain barrels and cisterns.  Later he was rainwater, irrigation and landscape expert at Austin Energy Green Building. Now retired to his manor in Manor, Dick organizes educational workshops and consults with clients on rainwater harvesting, landscaping, green construction, and green remodeling projects. Rainwater tanks can be worked into any urban property, as shown in the photo taken at Howson Branch Library.

11:30am
Year-round Harvesting From Growing Boxes
Roslyn Garrett
Roslyn Garrett, M.Ed., received her bachelor’s degree in Home Economics and Child Development, then went on to earn her Masters in Early Childhood Special Education from UT Austin. She taught in AISD, and found time to volunteer with the Girl Scouts for 6 years. She then spent 18 years as a Pre-K teacher and curriculum coordinator for the Jewish Community Center. Roslyn has been a Travis County Master Gardener since 2007.  She became interested in gardening when all of the shade was taken from her yard by oak wilt. Her special interest is gardening with children of all ages, which blends well with her current job at Capital Area Workforce Child Care Services. She has a Junior Master Gardener sub-specialty certification as well as a Project Wild trainer certification through Texas Parks and Wildlife.
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/travis/docs/growboxkit.pdf
cylindergardening.tamu.edu/gallery.htm

12:30pm
Rain Garden Design and Installation
Kristin K. Pipkin, P.E.
Keeping water on the land is Kristin K. Pipkin’s goal. A licensed engineer with 10 years of experience in sustainable stormwater and stream management, she holds a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin and a Master of Science in Civil Engineering from Colorado State University.  Kristin specializes in sustainable stormwater and stream management, which focuses on methods that conserve resources and protect the environment. She works in the Environmental Resource Management Division of the City of Austin Watershed Protection Department with responsibilities that include project management, design, and construction of the City's stream restoration and stormwater management projects. This photo is of the rain garden at Becker Elementary’s Green Classroom. You may find more information at http://austintexas.gov/department/erosion-control-stream-restoration and http://www.austintexas.gov/department/stormwater-management.

1:30pm
Community Gardens From The Ground Up
Meg Williams
Earning a BA in Urban and Environmental Planning from the University of Virginia and a MA in Geography and Planning from Appalachian State University. She has served as a lead researcher and project manager on many community planning projects over the past seven years, Meg is an urban planner with expertise in urban agriculture and sustainable food systems planning, community outreach and engagement, creative economic development and downtown revitalization. A champion for sustainable, creative and place-based solutions to community development and planning efforts, Williams moved to Austin from Asheville, North Carolina to work with the City of Austin's Sustainable Urban Agriculture and Community Gardens program.

2:30 p.m.
WaterWise Landscapes:  The City of Austin’s Rebate Program
Christopher Charles
Chris Charles is a Conservation Program Associate with the Water Conservation Division, Austin Water.  He holds a Masters of Landscape Architecture from the School of Natural Resources and the Environment at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.  Chris’ work in the private sector included large scale neighborhood planning and small scale residential landscape design.  Chris joined Austin Water in 2011 and currently manages the WaterWise Landscape Conversion Program, is an active presenter in Austin Water’s speakers’ bureau, and is affiliated with the City of Austin’s Grow Green Program.  You can find more information about the WaterWise Landscape Program and the City of Austin’s water conservation efforts at www.WaterWiseAustin.org.

3:30pm
Young Trees, Starting Out Right
Ana Gonzales and Lara Schuman
This joint presentation about planting trees properly, will also address tree care during drought.
Ana Gonzalez graduated from college in Guatemala as a biologist; she attended grad school at UT Austin as a plant ecologist. She is a certified arborist who works as a forester in the Urban Forestry Program for The City’s Parks and Recreation Department.
Lara Schuman is a native Austinite who received her degree in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology from the University of Texas. She is an ISA Certified Arborist and Forestry Specialist for Austin’s Urban Forestry Program. Before working for the City, she spent several years operating a tree service with her husband in Buffalo, Wyoming.