Howard EcoWorks is kicking off 2019 with a Community Resiliency Education Series. Lectures, workshops and tours will be held throughout the year to educate the community on different facets and approaches to building individual, community and landscape-scale resiliency. Our goal is to generate discussion and dialogue around actions and opportunities that we will all need to prepare for an uncertain future. Keep an eye on our website and follow us on social media for upcoming events!

“What’s the Buzz About Biochar?” is the first seminar in EcoWorks’ Community Resiliency Education Series. Biochar is simply an organic-based charcoal that is used as a soil amendment. It has tremendous potential for improving crop productivity, filtering contaminants from water, sequestering carbon and, to be discussed in this seminar, reducing stormwater runoff.

Through a grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, EcoWorks is partnering the University of Delaware to conduct a research project in Ellicott City’s Tiber Hudson watershed to assess the potential benefit in local soils. The lead Principal Investigator, Dr. Paul Imhoff, will review the proposed project.

In addition, Ridge to Reefs, a non-profit working the Chesapeake Bay and island systems around the world, will provide a case study on a stormwater management practice called a woodchip bioreactor that has been modified to integrate biochar for additional water quality benefit. Both biochar and bioreactors have potential for turning typical “waste” products like wood chips and woody debris into something very functional for our ecosystem.

Click this link to register for this FREE seminar! Hope to see you there!