Vernal Pool Conservation Workshop

Are you a naturalist or professional working on vernal pool conservation? Join us for this workshop exploring the ecology and conservation of vernal pools in the region, featuring experts doing work from Pennsylvania to Virginia. Learn what people in the region are doing to protect and restore these fragile ephemeral wetlands. This one-day workshop will bring together land managers, naturalists, herpetologists, agency staff, and conservation practitioners to share knowledge about vernal pool conservation. The workshop will include the following topics: vernal pool conservation, restoration techniques, inventories & monitoring, and community science. The presentations will emphasize conservation efforts across the Mid-Atlantic region, particularly in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and DC. The speakers will include experts from government agencies, academia, non-profit organizations and private companies. Event is FREE but registration is required. Please register to secure your spot at the workshop! Schedule Download Speaker Bios Mark Southerland, Vernal Pool Partners (Maryland) Mark Southerland has a Ph.D. in ecology and has spent the last 35 years working as a consultant to monitor, assess, and restore ecosystems in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. He was the primary author of the EPA national program guidance on biological criteria and has been supporting healthy watersheds and stream health projects for EPA and CBP for the last 10 years. He has also been the lead consultant on the Maryland Biological Stream Survey for the Maryland DNR since its inception in 1993. Mark has chaired the Maryland Water Monitoring Council (MWMC), Patapsco Heritage Greenway (PHG), and Howard County Environmental Sustainability Boards and received the MWMC Carl Weber Life Achievement Award in 2024. He is also the author of successful legislation to allow environmental landscaping, require bird safe buildings at state and local levels, and inventory vernal p…