MNPS Hybrid Program: Creating a sustainable Native Plant Material supply chain for the Mid Atlantic by Ed Toth

This meeting is hybrid. We ask that you register for your preferred option; after registering, you will get Zoom login information and in person location information.

Co-sponsor: The University of Maryland Extension with host Lisa Kuder

Physical location: Central Maryland Research and Education Center (CMREC)
4240 Folly Quarter Road
Ellicott City, MD 21042
Directions: Enter the building at the front door under the portico. (The door next to the parking lot will be locked.)

The program is free and open to the public.

Ed Toth has been deeply involved in the native plant movement for over 35 years. The quest for a steady, reliable supply of NPMs remains elusive. Twice he has seen federal funding disappear, just when it seemed like real progress was possible. Ed will explore the impediments to a truly regional and sustained supply and offer his thoughts on future directions and possible ways forward.

Since 1987, Ed Toth has been a native plant advocate and producer. In New York City he established and directed the City’s Greenbelt Native Plant Center, the nation’s oldest and largest municipally owned native plant nursery with programs in seed collection, cleaning, and banking, greenhouse and nursery production and field increase of seed. In 2012 he created the Mid Atlantic Regional Seed Bank (MARSB) program at the GNPC as a regional partner of the national Seeds of Success program. Upon retiring in 2021, he incorporated MARSB as an independent nonprofit to continue its mission to advocate for and lead the effort to conserve the wild seed resources of the mid-Atlantic while working to improve the supply chain of native plant materials. From 2019 to 2023 he was a member of The Committee on an Assessment of Native Seed Needs and Capacities of the National Academy of Sciences, which published its final report in January 2023.

YOU MUST REGISTER IN ORDER TO RECEIVE THE ZOOM LINK

Zoom opens at 7:00PM for pre-program board update and member Q&A. Presentations begin at 7:30PM and generally run until 8:45PM. 

We can accommodate the first 300 people who enter the Zoom meeting at the meeting time. After you register, you will receive a registration confirmation email with a link to the Zoom meeting, as well as the in person location information.

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