Continuing Education

Are you inter­ested in learn­ing more about sus­tain­abil­ity and the envi­ron­ment? The fol­low­ing pro­grams offer train­ing so that you can learn, meet like-minded peo­ple, and chan­nel your inter­ests into vol­un­teer­ing at a higher level.

Legacy Lead­er­ship Envi­ron­men­tal Insti­tute (LLEI)

LLEI is an eight-week envi­ron­men­tal edu­ca­tion and vol­un­teer lead­er­ship insti­tute offered as a non-credit course through Howard Com­mu­nity Col­lege. The LLEI course is usu­ally held on Thurs­days for 8 weeks from Feb­ru­ary through March.

LLEI par­tic­i­pants are briefed by experts from NASA, NOAA, the Uni­ver­sity of Mary­land and other orga­ni­za­tions who explain cut­ting edge research on global cli­mate change, earth sys­tems sci­ence, the Chesa­peake Bay eco-system, sus­tain­abil­ity issues, and best prac­tices on leav­ing an envi­ron­men­tal legacy. The course cov­ers global sci­ence, regional ecol­ogy, local government’s eco-efforts, non-positional lead­er­ship train­ing, along with an intro­duc­tion to local non-profit and county envi­ron­men­tal orga­ni­za­tions and their vol­un­teer possibilities.

For more infor­ma­tion, visit howardllie.com or email betsysing@gmail.com or cmhudson@comcast.net. Reg­is­tra­tion is done on-line at Howard Com­mu­nity College.

Mas­ter Gardeners

The mis­sion of Uni­ver­sity of Mary­land Exten­sion Howard County Mas­ter Gar­den­ers is to “edu­cate Mary­land res­i­dents about safe, effec­tive, and sus­tain­able hor­ti­cul­tural prac­tices that build healthy gar­dens, land­scapes and com­mu­ni­ties.”  Mas­ter Gar­den­ers receive class­room train­ing and can work in groups on vol­un­teer projects. Mas­ter Gar­den­ers have a vari­ety of vol­un­teer projects avail­able. A help­ful list of activ­i­ties is avail­able here.

Visit the Howard County Master Gardener page to learn more about how to become a Mas­ter Gar­dener, Classes are usually held January to March, but please check the website for the latest info.

Mas­ter Naturalists

Uni­ver­sity of Mary­land Exten­sion Mas­ter Nat­u­ral­ists “engage cit­i­zens as stew­ards of Maryland’s nat­ural ecosys­tems and resources through science-based edu­ca­tion and vol­un­teer ser­vice in their com­mu­ni­ties.” Cer­ti­fied Mas­ter Nat­u­ral­ists receive class­room train­ing and some out­door train­ing as well. To learn more about how to become a Cer­ti­fied Mas­ter Nat­u­ral­ist, visit http://extension.umd.edu/masternaturalist.

Water­shed Stew­ards Academy

The Howard County chap­ter of the Met­ro­pol­i­tan Bal­ti­more Water­shed Stew­ards Acad­emy is a 15-class course that trains, sup­ports and empow­ers com­mu­nity lead­ers to serve as Mas­ter Water­shed Stew­ards in the pro­tec­tion, restora­tion and con­ser­va­tion of Howard County watersheds.

Mas­ter Water­shed Stew­ards reduce the neg­a­tive impacts of stormwa­ter runoff in Howard County and are key play­ers in restor­ing the Chesa­peake Bay, by work­ing locally to reduce sed­i­ment and nutri­ents flow­ing into local streams and rivers that feed into the Bay.

The Water­shed Stew­ards Acad­emy pro­vides oppor­tu­ni­ties for excit­ing, inter­ac­tive envi­ron­men­tal activ­i­ties, and sat­is­fac­tion gained from a job well done. To learn more, visit http://howardwsa.org/.