Janet Allen to speak on ‘Creating Habitat for Wildlife with Native Plants and Natural Landscapes’ in March 27 seminar

Janet Allen to speak on ‘Creating Habitat for Wildlife with Native Plants and Natural Landscapes’ in March 27 seminarMarch 17, 2008Martin Wallsmwalls@syracusecoe.org

Janet Allen, co-founder and president of Habitat Gardening in Central New York — a chapter of the national education and advocacy organization Wild Ones — will speak on “Building Buzz: Creating Habitat for Wildlife With Native Plants and Natural Landscapes” on Thursday, March 27, from 5:30-8 p.m. at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo in Syracuse.

This talk continues the Central New York Sustainable Speaker Series, produced jointly by the Syracuse Center of Excellence Office for Industry Collaboration and the U.S. Green Building Council New York Upstate Chapter.

Allen poses the question, “What’s outside those energy-efficient buildings?” Her answer looks at landscaping’s vital new role in the green building movement, to preserve biodiversity. “We can provide essential habitat in our home landscapes, in our public spaces and beyond,” she says.

In addition to her role with Habitat Gardening in CNY (http://www.hgcny.org), Allen is a board member with Wild Ones (http://www.for-wild.org), a Habitat Steward Volunteer and Global Warming Ambassador for the National Wildlife Federation, and co-founder and vice president of New York Interfaith Power & Light (http://www.nyipl.org), a state-wide interfaith organization offering a religious response to global warming and power plant pollution. Allen holds a Ph.D. from Syracuse University.

The cost of the talk is $15 for USGBC New York Upstate Chapter members and $20 for non-members (cost includes dinner). Registration and payment can be made online at http://www.greenupstateny.org. For more information, contact Sandy Downey, Syracuse CoE Office for Industry Collaboration, at 351-443-8211 or sdowney@syracusecoe.org, or Tracie Hall, USGBC New York Upstate Chapter, at 315-729-9067 or tracie@greenupstateny.org.

The Syracuse Center of Excellence in Environmental and Energy Systems (http://syracusecoe.org) is a federation of more than 200 businesses and institutions that collaborate on sustainable innovations to improve built and urban environments. Members of the Syracuse CoE federation work on research, development, and educational projects relating to clean and renewable energy, indoor environmental qualit, and water resources.