Profile
Basic Info
First Name |
Mel |
Last Name |
Wilkins |
Display Name |
Mel W. |
Your Affiliated Organization |
EcoGardens, LLC |
Job Title |
Program Development |
About You |
Mel Wilkins, Ecogardens, LLC, Personal Profile – 2008 Retired: Fortune 50 Executive, Program Development and Program Management – Intelligence Systems, Information Technology, Communications Systems Project Director: Spa Creek Conservancy, Inc. (Founder) Garden Master: The Arc MaryLandscapes Sensory Garden Education: BA Business Management, Advanced Certificate of Management Business Experience Summary: Forty years of large and small project program management and business development, strategic planning, and technical oversight. Projects ranged from $25,000 to $105,000,000. Mel has also successfully managed several very competitive, highly technical, successful proposal development efforts. Most in the multi-million dollar range involving Governmental and private partnerships. Small business owner, importing and installing INMARSAT mobile satellite terminals. Watershed – Environmental Experience Summary: Lifelong love of gardening, landscape design, and woodland exploration. Ten years volunteer environmental project leadership for The Arc of Anne Arundel County, Maryland Celebration 2000, and Chesapeake Children’s Museum, and Spa Creek Conservancy. Mr. Wilkins has obtained over $700,000 in small grants and in-kind donations for Spa Creek watershed area projects in the past ten years. He has also been involved in other environmental programs in the watershed, including a national recognized and awarded MaryLandscapes (native plants) Sensory Garden for the developmentally and physically disabled. Mr. Wilkins’ work was recognized with the Environmental Education Award 2001 from Coastal Living Magazine. Mel’s specific REQ related experiences are as follows: Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) regulations; “Maryland Stormwater Design Manual, Volumes I & II”. Soil Conservation District coordination and permitting. MDE water resources living shoreline regulations and approvals. Local government permitting regulations and approval process Annapolis Port Wardens Developing Request for Proposals specifications, terms and conditions, and private and government, and bid review and selection. Participate in watershed assessment, impact analysis, and BMP recommendations Implementation of design plans and performance oversight. Hands-on Watershed Restoration and Mitigation projects o Rain Gardens o Bioretention cells o Wetland restoration o Living Shorelines o Bioretention o Bioswales o LivingWall cliff restoration o Creek bank restoration o Biofilters o Stormwater Planters o Invasive species removal and permitting process o Rain barrels o Green roof o Pervious surfaces · Endangered species surveys · Stream and stormwater outflow channel classification Mel has many years of experience in working with Maryland native flowering perennials, wildflowers, wetlands plants, grasses, ferns, shrubs, and trees. He has done award winning environmentally sensitive garden and landscape design and development. He has managed several complex multi-participant ecologically important projects. Several projects were focused on watershed restoration and storm water management and erosion control and correction. Almost all the projects have had an “educational” component, from teaching nature and ecological theories to children, to instructing community members on individual ways to mitigate stormwater runoff pollution and shoreline erosion. The projects were accomplished with large groups of volunteer labor. He has involved local communities, churches, schools, scouting, private organizations, and summer camp groups in both the installation and maintenance of the garden, shoreline restoration, and watershed restoration projects. Many local businesses have also participated in the conservation projects with volunteers and funding. Mel founded the non-profit Spa Creek Conservancy (SCC), Inc. and began project activities in January of 2004. The non-profit organization mission is to provide for the stewardship of the Spa Creek watershed. He has obtained several grants valued at over $400,000 in four years. The watershed covers approximately 1600 acres and is completely enclosed in the City of Annapolis. Please check http://www.spacreek.org for detailed information about the mission and objectives. In 2005 Mel formed EcoGardens, LLC to support the expansion of watershed restoration techniques and technologies to a wider audience. The business was also formed to allow SCC to benefit from wholesale discounts from material and plant providers. A process that has worked extremely well and allowed SCC to maximize the use of the scarce grant dollars required for the restoration projects. Mel recently completed the Spa Creek Master Restoration Plan for the entire creek. Data for the study and priority assessment were drawn from the 2005 Headwaters and 2007 Tidal sub-watershed assessment studies conducted with the Center for Watershed Protection. EcoGardens was also created to support a request for consulting services from the City of Annapolis. From 2005 to 2008 Mel focused on the environmental restoration of Back Creek Nature Park. The park is now a fundamentally different place that the overgrown heavily eroded eyesore and polluter of Back Creek. Mel obtained over $1.5 million for several watershed mitigation from funders such as; Chesapeake Bay Trust, FishAmerica Foundation, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and Government funding from MD Department of Natural Resources, Department of the Environment, and Maryland Open Space program. The park restoration efforts used several breakthrough BMP technologies, such as LivingWall™, EdgeSaver™, and FilterSoxx. A showcase EcoTechnology Walk was developed to educate park visitors to the many watershed restoration points in the park. In addition to the Cliff, bank, shoreline, rain garden, bioswale, step pool, bioretention, BayScapes implementation a green roof was installed on a park building using private funds. Mel effort’s also included development of brochure, educational materials, and the formation of the 501c3 Friends of Back Creek Nature Park. Before leaving this position to focus more Spa Creek challenges led the Stormwater Education Experience (SEE) program for the City by obtaining $900K+ from the MDE. Construction is underway at the park and when completed will a National first. The SEE will have 19 learning stations showing the many issues related to the stormwater runoff challenges that must be met if we are to save the Bay. Mel has a long history in developing, leading, and participating in training programs, to include; on-the-job training, train-the-trainers, seminars, summits, conferences, conventions, and trade shows. He was recently invited to present a paper and participate in a panel discussion at the first Living Shoreline Summit held by the Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences. Mel has presented restoration and mitigation project reviews to new Chesapeake Bay Trust board members and presented grant writing hints presentation at CBT seminars. Past Recognition: Coastal Living Magazine, Jan-Feb, 2001 The Best of the Coast, Environmental Stewardship Award, The Arc MaryLandscapes Sensory Garden Mayor, City of Annapolis, 2002 Citizen Volunteer County Executive, Anne Arundel County, 2001 Volunteer Award GreenScape 2002 Award – Organization Award – CCM (Project Leader) The Capital Newspaper, Volunteer of the Month, 2002 Mayor, City of Annapolis, First Annual, 2003 Green Star Award – Visionary Award GreenScape 2003 Award – Special Recognition – Individual My Annapolis Adventure: Passport to Discovery, Two selected sites: The Arc Sensory Garden and Chesapeake Children’s Museum BayScapes and Rain Gardens National Garden Crusader Award – Beautification Award ($500) Chesapeake Bay Trust, 2004 Ellen Fraites Wagner Award, $5,000 Prize, Chesapeake Bay Volunteer of the Year Special RecognitionEllen Fraites Wagner Award “The Ellen Fraites Wagner Award, named in honor of Governor Harry Hughes’ staff member who encouraged the creation of the Chesapeake Bay Trust, recognizes a Maryland citizen for his or her exceptional contributions to the protection and restoration of the Chesapeake Bay and its rivers. Mr. Wilkins, the 2004 winner, was honored on March 13, and received both a bronze statue of the CBT blue heron and a $5,000 award.”
“Mel Wilkins has given boundless time and energy to protecting the waters of Spa Creek, in Annapolis, Anne Arundel County, through numerous restoration and education projects on the grounds of the Spa Creek Conservancy. Working closely with the Chesapeake Children’s Museum (CCM), which is housed on the same grounds, Mr. Wilkins has recruited community groups of all ages to assist with restoring an eroding shoreline, creating BayScapes, Rain Gardens and storm water runoff control theme gardens with native plantings of trees, shrubs, and perennials.” RFQ Related Examples: Amos Garrett Park Shoreline Restoration, Rain Garden, Bioretention, 2 BayScapes Chesapeake Children’s Museum (CCM) 3 Rain Gardens and Interpretive Nature Trail BayScapes – Unity Gardens (CCM & BCNP) Spa Creek wetlands restoration and Phragmites foreign invasive reed species eradication Spa Creek headwaters shoreline and habitat restoration (400 linear feet) Lincoln Drive: Commercial bioretention, impervious surface removal Back Creek Nature Park· 650 linear feet Living Shoreline, · 140 linear feet cliff restoration, · 100 ft bank restoration, · 3 rain gardens – bioretention, · 1 acre wetland restoration, · 1.5 acre invasive species removal, · 90 ft bioswale, · step pool system, · 4 BayScapes, · Green Roof, · 200 trees – 100 shrubs riparian woodland restoration · The Arc MaryLandscapes Sensory Garden · Heritage Baptist Church · 7 Rain gardens · 2 Stormwater Planters · 25 Canopy trees
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