The conference will be held online on December 7 from 8: 30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.  Registration is $40 per person before November 28, $55 after that date. Registration closes on December 5. Discounted rates are offered for UVM Extension Master Gardener and Vermont Master Composter volunteers. The fee includes access to the recorded presentations for 30 days after the conference.

Featured speakers include national columnist and author Nancy Lawson who will discuss how you can become a more ecological gardener by using science and heart and a keen sense of observation. Lawson wrote The Humane Gardener: Nurturing a Backyard Habitat for Wildlife and Wildscape: Trilling Chipmunks, Beckoning Blooms, Salty Butterflies, and other Sensory Wonders of Nature that have been featured in the New York Times, the Washington Post, O: The Oprah Magazine and other media outlets.

She also founded the non-profit, The Humane Gardener. This outreach initiative is dedicated to cultivating compassion for all creatures great and small through animal-friendly, environmentally sensitive landscaping methods.

Rachel Boyers, garden educator with the UVM Medical Center’s Culinary Medicine Program, will kick off the conference by sharing how connecting with nature through our gardens, mindful practices and nourishing foods can boost wellness and foster resilience. UVM Landscape Architect and Lecturer Fortino Acosta will provide ideas on how to landscape with nature in mind. Sarah Kingsley-Richards, the UVM Extension Pesticide Safety Education Program coordinator, will share ideas on how to nurture nature in our lawns. 

The conference will be live captioned. If needing another disability-related accommodation to participate, contact Deb Heleba at debra.heleba@uvm.edu or (802) 656-1777 by November 28.