OLLI Gardening Symposium

Gardening Symposium

• Christine Anastas – Certified Master Gardener

  Texas AgriLife Extension, Galveston County, TX
  Christine captivated last year’s Symposium audience with an in-depth look at monarch butterflies and their incredible journey across North America to overwintering sites in Mexico. This year she will present an update on the state of monarchs and discuss her most recent interest in moths and their role in the environment.

• Debbie Berger and John Sessions – Co-Founders

  Seeding GalvestonSeeding Galveston is an agricultural nonprofit with a 1-acre working farm in the heart of mid-town Galveston. Their mission is to make fresh grown produce available to anyone on the island. An outgrowth of the urban farming movement, Debbie and John have been planting, harvesting, distributing, and managing community gardens for several years.

• Don C. Wilkerson – Professor Emeritus

  Texas A&M University, College Station
  Don is a retired horticulturist from TAMU-CS. He has lived on the Island since 2008 and his efforts to assist with Hurricane Ike recovery led to the creation of the Galveston Gardening website, as well as other informational resources. Don works with OLLI to help coordinate educational programs focused on landscape gardening.

• Greg Grant – Smith County Extension Horticulturist

  Texas AgriLife Extension Service
  Greg Grant is an award-winning horticulturist, writer, conservationist, and seventh-generation Texan from Arcadia, Texas. Greg has degrees in floriculture and horticulture, both from Texas A&M University and has attended post graduate classes at Louisiana State University, North Carolina State University, and Stephen F. Austin State University. He has previous experience as a horticulturist with SFA Gardens, Mercer Arboretum, and San Antonio Botanical Gardens and instructor at Stephen F. Austin and Louisiana State Universities.

• Stephen Brueggerhoff – Brazos County Extension Horticulturist

  Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service
  Stephen is Brazos County's leading authority on a wide range of horticultural topics. Among his many responsibilities, he conducts numerous public educational programs, manages outreach activities and oversees the Brazos County Master Gardener Program. Stephen has both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in horticulture, has worked more than seven years serving Brazoria and Galveston Counties, as well as years of practical experience working with plants in coastal environments.

Gardening Symposium

• American Bird Conservancy

  SPLASh is a conservation and education project in partnership with the American Bird Conservancy, Black Cat GIS, and GCBO. There is an enormous amount of trash in Texas waters affecting the organisms living there as well as on the beach. The goal of the SPLASh project is to decrease the amount of trash in and entering the waters of the upper Texas coast.

• City of Galveston (COG) Eye-On-Water Program

  As part of a water metering system upgrade, the COG is now providing a smartphone application and online portal where users can view their water usage data. This new tool also allows users to set up notification alerts for potential leaks or excess water usage to help avoid unexpected high bills.

• Galveston Island Nature Tourism Council (GINTC)

  GINTC’s mission is to connect people with Galveston’s natural environment in a manner that will sustain those resources for current and future generations. GINTC volunteers take part in numerous activities including assisting with events, helping conduct research and outreach programs, and much more.

• Galveston Island Tree Conservancy

  In 2008, Hurricane Ike’s destroyed over 40,000 trees. The storm greatly impacted many of the benefits that urban forests provide. GITC’s volunteer driven goal of planting 25,000 trees over five years will help restore a critical tree canopy to Galveston’s streets, neighborhoods and public spaces.

• Galveston's Own Farmers Market (GOFM)

  Founded in 2012, GOFM is a non-profit organization dedicated to connecting the community to local foods through year-round weekly farmers markets, food access initiatives, school gardens and health & food education opportunities. GOFM’s mission is to build and sustain a local food community through a vibrant, producers-only marketplace, improved food access, and educational programming.

• International Oleander Society

  Galveston, known by many as the Oleander City, is home to the International Oleander Society. The mission of this non-profit organization is to aid in the development, improvement and preservation of Oleanders of all kinds. Many of these efforts are on display at the Betty Head Oleander Garden Park, 2624 Sealy Ave‎. The garden is maintained by a group of dedicated volunteers.

• OLLI at UTMB Gardening Group

  This group of OLLI community garden volunteers are dedicated towards developing a community garden and green space. Gardening and garden-tending improve the quality life for older adults, in addition to providing a source of fresh and nutritious food. OLLI at UTMB also has a large community garden lovingly cared for by members, students and  volunteers.
  

• Seeding Galveston

  Seeding Galveston, a non-profit, urban farm project, is committed to developing sustainable agriculture on Galveston Island. Seeding Galveston's goal is to help ensure access to healthy, locally grown fruits and vegetables for all Island residents. In addition, Seeding Galveston is committed to creating urban farms and gardens in previously unused or underutilized public and private spaces on Galveston Island.

• Texas AgriLife Extension

  The Galveston County Master Gardener (MG) and Master Naturalist (MN) Programs are volunteer development programs offered by Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service. MG and MN candidates receive in-depth training in a variety of subject matter areas. Participants that successfully complete the program provide volunteer support for number of area projects that benefit our community and the environment.

• Texas Native Plant Society

  Because of its size and geography, Texas is one of the most biologically diverse states, with forests, deserts, mountains, hills, prairies, and coastal plains. The Native Plant Society of Texas (NPST) wants to protect our state’s native plant heritage and preserve it for future generations. NPST is a non-profit organization, run by volunteers, sponsoring educational programs, workshops, demonstration gardens and many other types of projects.