Annual Meeting with Claudia Thompson, founder of Grow Native

Annual Meeting with Claudia Thompson, founder of Grow Native

When

Sunday, March 13, 2022    
6:30 pm - 8:30 pm

Event Type

Click here to register for the Meeting

We will hold our Annual Meeting remotely via Zoom at 6:30 PM.  When you register, you will receive an emailed copy for your records and a Zoom link prior to the event.

After a short business meeting and officer elections Claudia Thompson, founder of “Grow Native,”  will give her talk:

New Conservation Strategies for the 21st Century   

       

Climate change and loss of biodiversity are the critical ecological challenges of our time. To address these crises, conservation efforts must become much broader and more inclusive than has been the norm, so that they engage virtually all citizens throughout our communities. The extent of our current human impact, and the fragmentation of our landscapes over the past one hundred years, clarify the need— every piece of land, large or small, public or private, deserves careful stewardship so that it becomes part of the solution instead of contributing to the problem.

Using her garden as a case study, Claudia will discuss valuable lessons learned over several decades as she transformed her small urban property into a landscape rich with habitat for birds, pollinators, and other wildlife. Much can be achieved. Indeed, the significant challenges before us are motivating many people to action. The growing native plant movement, with its focus on landscapes as ecological systems instead of gardens as adornments, is an essential component of 21st century conservation strategies.

Claudia founded Grow Native Massachusetts in 2010 and has been recognized nationally as a leader in the native plant movement.  She has had an extensive career in the environmental sector, including past roles as Director of Education for the Appalachian Mountain Club, Director of Drumlin Farm for Mass Audubon, and serving for nine years on the board of the New England Wildflower Society.  These roles have all contributed to her conviction that our 21st century conservation paradigm must bring ecology into mainstream culture, and recognize the importance of all lands, and all peoples to the outcome She is a strong advocate for the importance of land stewardship on all lands— large and small— and believes that conservation begins at home.