Every day the world is learn­ing a bit more about sus­tain­abil­ity and how to make pos­i­tive changes for the envi­ron­ment. Stay up to date on changes and oppor­tu­ni­ties with con­tin­u­ing edu­ca­tion. The more knowl­edge we have today, the bet­ter our tomor­row can be!

Howard County Legacy Lead­er­ship Insti­tute for the Envi­ron­ment (HoL­LIE)
Based on an award-winning civic engage­ment pro­gram devel­oped by the Uni­ver­sity of Mary­land Cen­ter on Aging, HoL­LIE edu­cates age 50+ adults for crit­i­cal vol­un­teer roles to expand ser­vice capac­ity of non­profit and com­mu­nity orga­ni­za­tions.  Six weeks of inten­sive class­room and field trip edu­ca­tion about com­plex issues and chal­lenges fac­ing the world, the nation, the Chesa­peake Bay water­shed and Howard County are fol­lowed by 150 hours of vol­un­teer field place­ment with one of seven Part­ner Orga­ni­za­tions in Howard County.  Envi­ron­men­tal edu­ca­tors, sci­en­tists, gov­ern­ment and non­profit lead­ers serve as fac­ulty for the Insti­tute.  Appli­ca­tions are solicited in the fall of each year for ses­sions Jan­u­ary to March with grad­u­a­tion in Sep­tem­ber.  For more infor­ma­tion click here or con­tact HoCoLLIE@gmail.com or http://www.howardllie.com

Cli­mate Change Ini­tia­tive of Howard County (CCIHC)
“Local Action for a Sus­tain­able Future” is the mis­sion of CCIHC, a grass­roots orga­ni­za­tion designed to inspire and engage peo­ple to take action to help solve the cli­mate cri­sis.  CCIHC orga­nizes group dis­cus­sions and pro­grams about why and how to use resources in a way that ensures them for future gen­er­a­tions.   Advo­cacy at the local, state and fed­eral lev­els helps strengthen envi­ron­men­tal and energy poli­cies for clean air, clean water and clean energy. For more infor­ma­tion and vol­un­teer oppor­tu­ni­ties, con­tact HoCoClimateChange@gmail.com or http://www.hococlimatechange.org/

Mid­dle Patux­ent Envi­ron­men­tal Area (MPEA)
5.4 miles of hik­ing trails through hard­wood for­est, fields, wet­lands, ponds and ripar­ian habi­tats are the attrac­tions of this 1,021-acre site along the Mid­dle Patux­ent River between Route 108 and Cedar Lane near Route 32 and the Vil­lage of River Hill, Colum­bia.  MPEA’s mis­sion is nat­ural resources man­age­ment, edu­ca­tion, research and recre­ation. Vol­un­teer oppor­tu­ni­ties include trail main­te­nance, stream mon­i­tor­ing, inva­sive species con­trol, Frog­watch USA, nest box mon­i­tor­ing, and July but­ter­fly counts.   For vol­un­teer oppor­tu­ni­ties con­tact MPEA Man­ager Cheryl Far­faras, cfarfaras@howardcountymd.gov,  410−313−4726 or Jeff Claffy jclaffy@howardcountymd.gov 410–313-6209.  For more infor­ma­tion visit the MPEA web­page.

The James and Anne Robin­son Foun­da­tion
Founded in 2005 by Mrs. Anne Robin­son, the Foun­da­tion was cre­ated as a trust to sup­port a Howard County-owned nature cen­ter on Mrs. Robinson’s 18 acre prop­erty imme­di­ately adja­cent to the Mid­dle Patux­ent Envi­ron­men­tal Area.  Con­struc­tion of the Robin­son Nature Cen­ter began in the sum­mer of 2009 and was com­pleted in 2011.  The Foun­da­tion spon­sors envi­ron­men­tal events, edu­ca­tion and pro­gram­ming in Howard County and com­mu­nity sup­port and fund rais­ing activ­i­ties for the Nature Cen­ter.  For more infor­ma­tion on vol­un­teer oppor­tu­ni­ties, con­tact Mar­i­anne Pet­tis, Interim Direc­tor, mpettis@robinsonfoundation.org or  http://www.robinsonfoundation.org/

Howard County Con­ser­vancy
The Howard County Con­ser­vancy is a local, non-profit envi­ron­men­tal edu­ca­tion cen­ter and land trust. Located at the 232-acre Mt. Pleas­ant Farm in Wood­stock, The Con­ser­vancy offers year-round edu­ca­tional pro­grams for chil­dren and adults. The grounds fea­ture four miles of trails, native plant and com­mu­nity gar­dens, his­toric farm build­ings, ani­mals and demon­stra­tion areas. For more infor­ma­tion and vol­un­teer oppor­tu­ni­ties visit their web­site: http://www.hcconservancy.org