CHESAPEAKE CONNECTIONS:

• Joe Keyser (environmental educator) from Montgomery County Government Department of Environmental Protection
• Montgomery County Government (grasscycling)
• Dan Innomoratto, master composter and raised garden expert
• Pharr Adams from Brookside Gardens
• Laura Burrell, speaker from the Chesapeake Bay Foundation

Chesapeake Bay Watershed studies and service learning projects:

• Chesapeake Bay Foundation: http://www.savethebay.cbf.org/
  An outstanding educational resource for teachers and students. The non-profit conservation organization working to restore the Chesapeake Bay. An excellent source for teacher training, including week-long summer programs, and educational materials. Training and materials are provided for the CBF Chesapeake Choices and Challenges curriculum. This organization sponsors field trips for students that are funded by the state of Maryland.

• Chesapeake Bay Foundation StudentBaySavers - http://www.savethebay.cbf.org/sbs/index.html
  A new program to help students in the watershed to take action to to restore the bay. A good source for guest speakers, the program is a great source of service learning projects in which your students can participate.

• The Izaak Walton League of America: Save Our Streams Program - http://www.iwla.org/sos
  SOS offers teacher training in the Save Our Streams curriculum. Low cost materials are offered, as well as excellent macroinvertabrate indices for stream monitoring. Everything you need to set up a program.

• USGS Geological Survey (USGS) - http://chesapeake.usgs.gov/chesbay/
  Activities in the Chesapeake Bay region

• Maryland SeaGrant - http://www.mdsg.umd.edu/MDSG/
  A program based at the University of MD in College Park. The latest in information related to the Chesapeake Bay. Ask for a copy of the newletter MarineNotes. Back issues are available online.

• Worm Composting Information Online - http://wormwoman.com
  Everything you ever wanted to know about vermicomposting (and probably a little bit more.) Excellent source for red worms (shipped to your door), Worms Eat My Garbage books, and activity books for children about the importance of composting our vegetable scraps and more.

• Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection - http://www.co.mo.md.us/dep
  A good source of information about all different types of environmental initiatives within a county system. Montgomery County has won many environmental awards, including a recent award for initiatives to restore the Chesapeake Bay. The following people are instrumental in providing environmental education throughout the county.

  Suzanne Brunhart: mcr@windsor.com or wormladyjuno.com
  Directs the Master Composter Program to provide workshops on composting to schools and community organizations.
  Diane Davis: diane.davis@co.mo.md.us
  Directs the Stream Team Program and other stream monitoring programs with schools and community volunteers.
  Keith Van Ness: keith.vanness@co.mo.md.us
  Stream monitoring/biological monitoring tours and information.

• Local Cooperative Extension Service within your county. Out of the University of Maryland system, this agency will provide speakers to the classroom around a variety of issues, soil samples will be tested, as well as composting information.

BIODIVERSITY PROJECTS:

• Forest Biodiversity Project: A Joint Collaboration between the National Zoo Conservation and Research Center, National Air and Space Museum and the Smithsonian Institution's Monitoring and Biodiversity Program. Project Director: Jennifer Buff at jbuff@crc.si.edu
  A forest biodiversity program where students learn about forest ecology, including biodiversity monitoring techniques from Smithsonian scientists. Working as scientists, students classify and index species, using the tools of a scientist. Teacher and student training is provided.

• Tree Troops: Community Forestry and Education Program - http://baltimore.umbc.edu/treetroops