Harford Community College Opens New Harford County Agro-Environmental Exhibit and Lecture Series September 8

The Hays-Heighe House at Harford Community College will open its fall exhibit and lecture series, Harford County: Our Land & Environment, on Wednesday, September 8, 12-4 p.m.

Hays-Heighe House’s new exhibit takes an agro-environmental look at the particulars of Harford County’s geology and ecology and how they have shaped the county’s growth, and how our growth in turn has remade our landscape. To face the coming challenges of climate change, the exhibit and lecture series will take a look back to explore northern Maryland’s history of innovative responses and forward to the changes we can all make today.

From 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. on September 8, as part of the exhibit opening at the Hays-Heighe House, Dr. Margaret Eppig, Director of Natural Resources Education for the Maryland Agricultural Education Foundation and lecturer in Environmental Studies at Goucher College, will present on agricultural journalist Russell Lord. Lord grew up in Baltimore County, lived in Harford County, and advocated environmentally responsible agriculture decades before the advent of the modern environmental movement. He edited The Land, a literary journal published in Bel Air that included works by Gifford Pinchot, Aldo Leopold, and Rachel Carson.

Other events scheduled as part of the Harford County: Our Land & Environment lecture series follow:

Rooted in Harford County: Finding Local Farms
Thursday, September 16 • 12:30-1:30 p.m. • Hays-Heighe House
Dr. Sharon Stowers, Harford Community College Professor of Sociology, will discuss Harford County’s farms, the heart of the county’s rural landscape. Fall harvest is a great time to discover the variety of local products available! Hear about Professor Stowers’ work to build bridges between local farmers and the wider community, and learn how to use Harford County’s “Farm Finder” app.

April Showers: Rain Gardens & Other Strategies
Thursday, September 23 • 12:30-1:30 p.m. • Hays-Heighe House
April showers bring May flowers, but as our climate changes here in Maryland, we can expect heavier rains. Kelsey Brooks, Regional Watershed Restoration Specialist at University of Maryland, will present on rain gardens, bioswales, and other modifications that can capture that runoff, keeping nutrients from washing toward the bay and recharging our groundwater.

Living History: Rachel Carson
Thursday, September 30 • 12:30-1:30 p.m. • Hays-Heighe House
Colleen Webster, Professor of Literature at Harford Community College, will present her one-woman show about the scientist and author who ignited the modern environmental movement. Professor Webster's living history performance will highlight Rachel Carson’s research, personal life and legacy, which we still enjoy today along the Chesapeake Bay.