Fall Conference Sunday Field Trip: Asters of Patuxent Research Refuge, North Tract (Laurel)

Registration will open on 9/3. Conference participants do not need to register.

Description: Patuxent Research Refuge, North Tract. The Patuxent Research Refuge has documented over 1200 plant species due to the wide variety of habitats in its 12,000 acres. The North tract is particularly diverse with sandy soils on maintained powerline cuts that contain an array of late summer flowers, particularly Asteraceae. This field trip will jump between different locations to allow the exploration of different habitats. We will meet at the visitors center and car pool so we can travel between stops. Walking is on flat gravel roads and along the park roads.

Leaders: Clare Walker, Helen Lowe Metzman, and Robert Ferraro

Level of Difficulty: Easy.  Some walking from the visitor center and some driving short distances to sites nearby.

Clare Walker teaches plant identification classes for Nature Forward and leads walks associated with those classes. Helen and Robert have been volunteers for Patuxent for many years, documenting plant species on the refuge and curating the herbarium. The three have led numerous walks on the refuge and are very familiar with the diverse array of plants occurring in various habitats, some of which are unique to the refuge.

Helen Lowe Metzman is a D.C. native who grew up with the Washington Beltway in her suburban backyard. Helen escaped to nearby Northwest Branch in search of wild flora and fauna. Her interest in natural history led her to the University of Vermont, where she studied Wildlife Biology and Environmental Education. Helen worked as a naturalist, illustrator and graphic artist, for Howard County’s Department of Recreation and Parks in the Natural Resources Division and studied ethnobotany. For fifteen years, she was garden director and educator for USDA botanist James A. Duke’s Green Farmacy Garden, a medicinal plant garden located in Fulton, Maryland. In 2017, Helen began volunteering at the USGS Bee Lab, using high-resolution macrophotography equipment to photograph native plants from Howard County and the Patuxent Refuge. In 2020, Helen joined Patuxent's Plant Inventory Project and Herbarium Team and started exploring and documenting the refuge's diverse flora. Currently, Helen serves on the board of Friends of Patuxent as a co-vice chair and on the board of the United Plant Savers - a native medicinal plant conservation organization. Helen has lived on 4.5 acres in Howard County for over 38 years, attempting to replace an onslaught of invasives with native plants while remaining in awe of the natural world.

Event Co-Hosts: University of Maryland Extension Maryland Native Plants Program and University of Maryland School of Landscape Architecture

ONLINE REGISTRATION IS  REQUIRED. Limited to 20 people.

Directions will be included in registration confirmation.

      

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