The Penn State Center launched its 2011 Green Infrastructure Technical Workshop series in April with the Sustainable Sites Initiative Primer. Conducting the four-hour workshop was José Almiñana, a current member of the Technical Core Committee of the Sustainable Sites Initiative (SITES), and his associate Laura Hansplant from Andropogen. Since the first workshop, the focus of the series has been on Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s (PA DEP) Storm Water Best Management Practices.
In June the topic was Riparian Buffer Restoration taught by a team of instructors, including Kristen Saacke Blunk, director of the Penn State Agriculture and Environment Center; Diane Olsen, a water resources educator; Diane Wilson, PA DEP chief of the Watershed Support Section; Stephanie Eisenbise of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation; and Greg Kedzierski from Ernst Conservation Seeds.
The August workshop concentrated on Selecting and Planting Trees in Urban Settings and Preserving Trees in Development Projects, with Dr. Bill Elmendorf, director of Community and Urban Forestry. This workshop was co-sponsored by the Pittsburgh Shade Tree Commission.
In September, Penn State Center sponsored two workshops. Dr. Mansour Solaimanian, director of the Northeast Center of Excellence for Pavement Technology, spoke about Permeable Pavements, and Dr. Stuart Echols, associate professor, landscape architecture, presented Artful Stormwater Mitigation. October’s workshop, Rainwater Harvesting and Rain Gardens/Bioretention, was facilitated by Dr. Robert Berghage, associate professor of horticulture, and Dr. Richard Schuhmann, Walter L. Robb Director of Engineering Leadership Development.