6-13-14 permaculture program at uw fdl

Introduction to Permaculture for the Average Person next program sponsored by the Gottfried Prairie and Arboretum at UW Fond du Lac.  This interesting program will begin at 7 pm on Wednesday, June 18^th in Room UC114 University Center.  Please use the Main Entrance and follow the signs.  The program is free and open to the public.  If the thought of pulling weeds, digging garden beds, battling pests or lack of space prevents you from gardening, please join us to learn how to garden by working with nature rather than against it.  For most, embracing sustainability as the guiding principle for how humans could continue to exist without depleting the Earth's resources and thus contributing to their own survival is easy to accept intellectually.  The more daunting task is how to translate sustainability into action and that is what permaculture is all about.  Permaculture originally came from “permanent agriculture” but has come to mean “permanent culture.”  It is a way of living on earth without destroying the planet.  While it is usually applied in broad scale systems, permaculture works well at the individual level.  Dr. Mai Phillips is the Coordinator of the Conservation and Environmental Science (CES) Program at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM). Her research specialties include plant genetic resources conservation; plant domestication and origins; and the genetics of invasive species. She received her Ph.D. from the Department of Horticulture, University of Hawaii and did her dissertation research on the origin of papaya as a domesticated plant and its genetic relationships with other related wild species. Prior to joining the CES Program at UWM, she worked as a Senior Scientist at the Global Environmental Management (GEM) Education Center, UW-Stevens Point.