Biodiversity Stewardship

Greenspring Montessori School

Baltimore, Maryland

Seven acres of farmland

My area of focus is Greenspring Montessori School, a small seven acre campus just north of Baltimore, Maryland. I am invested in this site because I am the Director of Communications at the school and I am a member of the Green Committee, a group of faculty and staff dedicated to increasing the native species and improving the biodiversity in the area.

The campus was once a dairy farm and there have been multiple building projects over the years, leaving much of the soil degraded. The school is committed to outdoor education and has invested in many outdoor classrooms.

Goals

Part of my focus in the coming years is fundraising for a multiphase Outdoor Plan that involves creating new natural play areas, cultivating rain and pollinator gardens, building an artificial water source, and expanding the tree canopy. The school also seeks to expand vegetable gardens and plant a small orchard, and the students may reintroduce chickens, goats, or other smaller farm animals.

I am interested to learn more about the natural history of the site and its current biodiversity, as well as how to get stakeholders invested in stewardship. I am curious how the agricultural initiatives will affect the overall biodiversity and I would like to be able to make suggestions for what species and variety of plants would be most effective to increase the overall health of the ecosystem.

Aerial view of Greenspring - courtesy of Google

Image - Kimberly Zerfas, Greenspring Montessori School

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