Our 2010 Speakers:Amanda Crump
Robert J. Dolezal
Chuck Ingels
Hank JenkinsLandscape Designer, owner of Lushland Design Hank Jenkins of Lushland is a planting designer based in Berkeley, California. He loves to use architectural elements such as succulents and drought-tolerant plants to create engaging low maintenance garden design. Gordon Mann
Gordon was written up in the Redwood City local newspaper as the rollerblading arborist. In his spare time, he volunteers on the Sugar Bowl Ski Patrol. Bill MaynardBill Maynard has worked in the civil engineering and land development field for over 25 years. He has engaged garden design, volunteer opportunities, construction management, and garden policy and management guidelines for many projects in the western United States. Bill is the current vice-president of the American Community Garden Association and oversees five community gardens in the Sacramento area. He is also a certified Master Gardener for the Sacramento county cooperative. Lorence (Loren) R. OkiI have been a member of the faculty at UC Davis since 2002 and serve as the Cooperative Extension Specialist in Landscape Horticulture. This appointment is held jointly with the Department of Plant Sciences (80%) and the Landscape Architecture Program (20%).
My research focuses on water issues in urban horticulture. I currently lead a large project funded by the California State Water Resources Control Board and the CALFED Bay-Delta Program that is characterizing runoff from residential areas and studies the effectiveness of management methods to reduce the runoff and the pollutants that may be included in it. There are eight study sites used in this project: four in Sacramento County and four in Orange County. This project also develops information to promote the implementation of low impact landscape management methods and measures the effectiveness of outreach methods. From our data, loading models are being developed to demonstrate how changes in landscape features might effect reductions in pollutant loading.
I am participating in projects to refine irrigation management in urban landscapes, my research group is examining the water use of plants selected from the UC Davis Arboretum that are potential ornamental landscape plants. Selected plants are distributed to several demonstration sites around the State for further evaluations by UCCE Master Gardeners for garden performance.
My group is examining how slow sand filtration and other natural water treatment systems remove plant pathogens, including Phytophthora ramorum the organism that causes the disease Sudden Oak Death, from nursery irrigation runoff. The treated water could then be safely reused for irrigation.
A project funded by the Santa Clara Valley Water District that was recently completed quantified the tolerance of Coast Redwood to sodium and chlorides that may come from reclaimed water, for example. Future work will look at the tolerance of landscape plants to irrigation with low quality water such as reclaimed municipal water. My Ph.D. is in Ecology (2002) from UC Davis and I conducted my dissertation research in the Environmental Horticulture (now Plant Sciences) Department quantifying the effects of salinity on rose stem elongation rates. I hold an M.S. in Plant Science from UC Riverside (1976) where I worked in plant tissue culture studying the role of chromosomal proteins in cell differentiation. My B.S. in Ornamental Horticulture (1974) is from California State Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo. Prior to receiving my doctorate, I worked in the horticulture industry as a grower of nursery and greenhouse crops in the Sacramento area. Lori Palmquist Lori Palmquist is a landscape contractor specializing in irrigation. Her focus is primarily on water management and conservation. Since opening her business in 1997, Lori has received numerous certifications in water conservation and irrigation auditing. She utilizes the latest technologies and strategies in her own projects and frequently speaks to landscape professionals to empower them with the latest in water management skills.
Julie Saare-EdmondsJulie Saare-Edmonds has been the landscape specialist for the California Department of Water Resources for nearly nine years. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Conservation Biology (Wildlife Management) from Sac State and has a career certificate in Environmental Horticulture from Sierra College. She operated a small backyard nursery for several years and is especially interested in sustainable landscaping as it relates to habitat improvement and food security. Julie is also a UCCE Master Gardener and plant collector. She has never met a succulent she couldn't resist. Her presentation will be about the Model Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance. Her talk will include a description of the landscape and irrigation design plans, water budgets and compliance. Carolyn SingerGardener and owner of Foothill Cottage Gardens Nursery Carolyn Singer has been gardening since she was a young child in Berkeley, California. She continued her gardening efforts in Denver and settled in the Sierra Foothills in Northern California. She has tested hundreds of perennials for their performance and deer-resistance. Carolyn owns Foothill Cottage Gardens Nursery, teaches, lectures, writes a weekly newspaper column, has authored two books on deer-resistant gardening and has appeared on HGTV’s “Gardening By The Yard.” Jake Voit
Steve Zien
Steve is the 1998 recipient of the California Department of Pesticide Regulation’s 1998 IPM Innovator Award. He is the founder and current president of Living Resources Company that offers organic horticultural services and the founder and executive director of Biological Urban Gardening Services (BUGS) which publishes a quarterly newsletter. |
Amanda Crump is the Environmental Horticulture Advisor in Fresno County for University of California Cooperative Extension. She received a Master’s of Science degree from Colorado State University in 2007 in Plant Pathology and Weed Science with an emphasis on Tree Health. Her research and education program is centered on woody plant pathology with an emphasis on invasive diseases. Her talk on tree diseases will cover symptoms and control of common Central Valley Tree Diseases.
Robert J. Dolezal joined the California Association of Nurseries and Garden Centers (CANGC) as its executive vice-president in July, 2008. He has many years of experience in media and publishing and was formerly publisher of Ortho Books for Chevron Chemical Company. Immediately prior to CANGC, he was president of a high-technology startup in Silicon Valley. Prior to that, he served for more than 20 years as a consultant to over one hundred Fortune 500 companies. Since he arrived at CANGC, Dolezal has been closely involved in invasive pest and disease issues affecting the association’s members and has worked with both the legislature and regulatory agencies on horticulture and nursery matters.
Chuck Ingels has been the Farm and Horticulture Advisor for UC Cooperative Extension in Sacramento County for 14 years. He conducts research and extension programs for tree crop, wine grape, and strawberry growers, as well as landscape professionals. He started the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center and was the lead author of “The Home Orchard: Growing your Own Deciduous Fruit and Nut Trees,” a UC publication.
Gordon Mann is the Municipal Manager for Fallen Leaf Tree Service in Sacramento and a consulting arborist and urban forester in Auburn, CA. He has 32 years experience in urban forest management and 23 years in private consulting. He is passionate about the value of trees and proactively pruning young trees to avoid future defects. He currently serves on the executive board of the American Society of Consulting Arborist and represents the Society of Municipal Arborists on the ANSI A300 Standards Committee.
Irrigation Auditor, Contractor, and Water Conservation Manager
Steve has a long history and deep knowledge of organic products. He’s had experience with organics for 34 years. A licensed pesticide applicator and a California Certified Nursery Professional, Steve has had many years of hands on experience teaching organic horticulture at American River College Early in his career he was responsible for introducing organic product lines into a retail nursery in Sacramento where the product lines have grown and still are expanding. He is a member of EcoLandscape California, a volunteer group focused on providing a proactive forum for promoting ecologically sustainable landscape and horticultural practices and programs.
Steve is also a frequent guest on KSTE’s (650 AM) “Get Growing” radio show and KFBK (1530 AM) garden radio show. He is the organic horticultural columnist with the Sacramento Bee’s California Life section for the past 20 years.