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Chicago Master Gardener

A blog for Chicago Master Gardeners providing information on volunteer opportunities, training, workshops and resources.

December 22, 2006

Garfield Park Volunteers

GPCA Volunteers:

Iya Adesanya-Kerr of the Market Place is having an event on Friday, December 29 at Garfield Park Conservatory and could use some help preparing and running the event. Details are included below:

Preparation on Wednesday, December 27, Thursday, December 28 and Friday, December 29:

Help repotting plants. Help wrapping gifts and plants. Any hours, any day, any amount of time.

Set-up and help during the event on December 29.

Help with set-up of food, drink, minimal table decorations and place settings. Friday afternoon for any amount of time.

Help during the party.

Friday, December 29 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Please contact Iya if interested.

Iya Adesanya-Kerr

773-6381766 x 28

iadesanyakerr@garfieldpark.org

Posted by Ron Wolford at 5:59 PM | Permalink |

December 12, 2006

GreenNet News

1. BUGS 2007
2. Another Neighborspace Position - Land Research and Conservation
3. Morton Arboretum Job - Horticulturist Position
4. Events for 2007 Request


1. Building Urban Gardens (BUGs)

Saturdays, January 27 - March 24, 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m., Garfield Park Conservatory 300 N Central Park (3600 West)

A hands-on survey gardening course that is committed to educating gardeners on ecological, inexpensive, and creative ways of making Chicagoland's green spaces thrive. This exciting eight-week, hands-on course covers topics such as design, soil and compost, annuals and vegetables, trees, container gardening and more! $100 for 8 weeks. Sponsored by Openlands.

Contact Julie Samuels at 312/863-6256 or jsamuels@openlands.org to register or for more information.


2. We will be seeking to fill the Land Research & Conservation position fairly quickly and will begin posting the announcement on various websites. If you have any questions about the position, please don't hesitate to contact me directly.

Mary Jo Schnell
Executive Director
NeighborSpace
mjschnell@neighbor-space.org

3. Position for a Horticulturist at Morton Arboretum:: http://www.mortonarb.org/jobs/employment_cg_hortt.htm

4. Please send us your events for 2007. We are making another calendar/ newsletter for 2007. Don't forget the date, location, and title. These can be sent to Renee Chester at chesterr@fotp.org

Posted by Ron Wolford at 12:11 AM | Permalink |

December 9, 2006

NeighborSpace Job Opening

NeighborSpace: Community Managed Open Space

Human Resources

Position:

Land Research & Conservation Specialist

Status:

Full-time (40 hours per week)

Compensation:

$40,000 per annum + benefits

About NeighborSpace:

NeighborSpace is a nonprofit "urban land trust" located in and serving the City of Chicago. Its mission is to conserve community gardens in Chicago as locally managed assets available for all to enjoy. NeighborSpace does this work by acquiring land on behalf of committed community groups and supporting over the long-term the community based management of the land as small parks, gardens, natural areas, river edges, and scenic landscapes. These spaces are open to the public and are generally used for passive recreation; preservation, conservation and educational public open spaces.

About the Position:

The Land Research and Conservation Specialist reports to the Executive Director. This position is responsible for research and acquisition duties related to the conservation of land by NeighborSpace, as well as for development duties related to the Land Conservation program.

The Land Research and Conservation Specialist will be expected to:

Professionally represent the organization in all related matters.

Conduct thorough research on projects to determine the best strategy to acquire properties on behalf of community groups.

Coordinate acquisition of properties approved by the Board and in accordance with organizational policies and protocol.

Establish and maintain effective working relationships with local government staff, elected officials, community leaders, vendors, and others.

Contribute to the internal well-being and external effectiveness of NeighborSpace.

Perform work both in the NeighborSpace office in downtown Chicago (the primary work location) and in the field throughout the City of Chicago as demanded by the needs of the program.

Specific Duties:

Developing and Promoting the Program:

Conduct progress evaluations of the program based on yearly and other periodic work plans.

Create a consistent and mission-supportive marketing and outreach message.

Create a consistent and mission-supportive marketing and outreach plan.

Help fundraise to support the program's ongoing development.

Explore and implement potential cost and time savings available from the adoption of state-of-the-art software.

Research, adopt and monitor policy that is compliant with LTA Best Practices.

Researching Land for Conservation:

Proactively research for at-risk open space in need of conservation from development.

Receive and review applications in a timely and consistent manner.

Strategically research neighborhoods with critical open-space conservation needs.

Acquiring Land for Conservation:

Effectively negotiate Board-approved acquisition or lease of public land.Effectively negotiate Board-approved acquisition of private land.

Qualifications:

Master's degree in a related field (including urban planning, public policy, and environmental conservation).

Minimum of 5 year's experience in project management, including experience in community relations and outreach at the project management level.

Extensive real estate transaction experience, including ability to research, initiate, structure, negotiate and close transactions.

Strong competency in standard multimedia and design software (including Acrobat, Director, Fireworks, Flash, Freehand, and Photoshop).

Familiarity with Chicago, its issues, players, and politics.

Ability to combine sound business sense and judgment with commitment to the preservation of community managed open space.

Excellent written and verbal skills; excellent organizational skills; excellent people skills.

Strong attention to detail and follow through with an ability to maintain accurate records.

Availability to conduct periodic site visits.

Enthusiasm, creativity, commitment to mission and team work, and a desire to learn are a must.

Posted by Ron Wolford at 11:56 AM | Permalink |

December 4, 2006

Ag School Needs Science Fair Judges

Help! We need Science Fair Judges! The Chicago High School for Agricultural Science's Annual Science Fair will be held on Tuesday, December 12, 2006. If you could come, or send a representative, or two, or 3, we would really appreciate it. The students have worked very hard to come up with some great projects and they love it when they are judged by someone outside of the school. Your insight really helps them advance to the next level. Would you please consider it? If you could send me a quick e-mail to let me know if you can provide a judge, it will help with our planning process. Thank you in advance for your time and consideration. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Wende Dallain ETC Coordinator

Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences

3857 W. 111th St.

Chicago, IL 60655

773.535.2500 ext 130

773.535.2507 fax

Posted by Ron Wolford at 4:39 AM | Permalink |