February 20, 2008

February 21, 2008

Keith Gray is President of Integrated Lakes Management (IL'M) and works on developing methods of monitoring and managing native species to promote long term health in aquatic ecosystems, including natural buffer zones and landscaping. Mr. Gray's work has contributed to IL'M's strategy of designing buffer zone features and vegetative plantings to reduce the adverse effects of surface runoff into ponds, streams and lakes. He is also Vice-President of the National Ecological Contractors Association and serves on the advisory board of Wright College Environmental Technologies Department. In 1984 he founded Environmental Monitoring & Technologies, Inc., specializing in environmental sampling, after attending the Illinois Institute of Technology for civil and environmental engineering.

Tom is president of the IPM Institute of North America, Inc., a non-profit organization he co-founded in 1998. The Institute's mission is to leverage marketplace power to improve health, environment and economics in agriculture and communities through Integrated Pest Management (IPM). The Institute operates the IPM STAR program, evaluating and certifying schools nationwide for their pest management practices and impacting more than 2 million children since its inception in 2003. In 2004 and 2005, the Institute was named a Pesticide Environmental Stewardship Program Champion by US EPA. Clients and funders have included US Army, US EPA, USDA, SYSCO Corporation, Whole Foods Market, General Mills and the Universities of Wisconsin, Florida, Cornell and Rutgers. Dr. Green has been an apple grower, and founder and owner of an IPM supply business that is now part of GEMPLER'S. He is a Certified Crop Advisor and holds a Ph.D. in entomology from the University of Massachusetts. He co-chairs the steering committee for the Sixth International IPM Symposium, to be held in Portland OR in March, 2009.

Chip Osborne, a professional horticulturist with over 30 years experience and an expert on building and transitioning turf to organic care. He is accredited by the Northeast Organic Farming Association (NOFA) in organic land care, and has attended the University of Massachusetts Green School for turf management. He converted his retail greenhouse operation to an organic management plan, designed and constructed Marblehead's Living Lawn Demonstration site, and, as the elected Chairman of the Town of Marblehead, Recreation, Parks & Forestry Commission, is currently implementing an Organic Turf Management Plan for the town's public lands, including all athletic fields.

Chip lectures nationwide on natural turf management, both to homeowners and municipalities, and has addressed the National Sports Turf Managers Association.

Robert Posthuma has devoted the past 12 years to studying and working with soil and plant health through non-toxic means. As a result of his experience as a designer and manager of two liquid fish fertilizer factories, he has gained an appreciation and knowledge of organic management practices in a wide variety of eco-systems. More recently, he has been concentrating his efforts on soil and crop improvement through the use of compost tea to enhance plant health and productivity, and is the developer of the GEOTEA compost tea brewing system. Robert is a certified Soil Foodweb Advisor and has worked closely with Dr. Elaine Ingham of Soil Foodweb, Inc. to study the complex interrelations between plants and the microbial communities that sustain them. His work takes him around the world educating people about compost tea and creating unique products to meet customer expectations. He currently resides in Wisconsin.

Doug Wood is the Associate Director of Grassroots Environmental Education, a non-profit organization based in New York. Doug is the Director of Training for the Grassroots Healthy Lawn Program, an award-wining pesticide reduction program that has trained over 300 New York-area landscapers in the techniques of natural lawn care. A filmmaker, music composer, marketing consultant and successful business owner, Doug is a member of the Board of Directors of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) and the producer of "Natural Turf Pro," a four-hour home-study course on natural lawn care to be released in the fall of 2007.

Rachel Rosenberg has served as Executive Director of SPCP since 2003. Ms. Rosenberg has over 21 years of experience in non-profit management, including a Master's degree from New York University in non profit administration, and an undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan. Her diverse work experience as a non-profit executive includes six years as the Director of Public Affairs at the School of Speech at Northwestern University. She was most recently the owner of Sunflower Lawncare, an organic lawncare company based in Chicago and studied ornamental horticulture at the College of DuPage.

Mr. Smith has expertise in a broad range of areas relating to turfgrass management; ornamentals and trees; native plants and habitats including grasslands, wetlands and woodlands; and general environmental issues. He specializes in integrated pest management programs for turf and ornamentals, native plant community establishment, restoration, and environmentally-sound landscape design. Mr. Smith has taught at the university and community college level and lectures extensively to a variety of audiences on the topics of his expertise. In addition to his business and academic interests, he has been an expert witness in legal cases ranging from pesticide exposure, snow removal slip and fall, and tree damage.

B.S. Ohio State University-Plant Pathology
M.S. Ohio State University-Turfgrass pathology
Ph.D. Michigan State University-Turfgrass physiology and management

1997: Began current position at UW-Madison, 70% extension, 30% teaching appointment. Teach courses in Introductory and Advanced Turf Management. Research program focuses on:
Environmental issues in turf production and management
Organic turf management
Weed management and growth regulation
Cold and shade stress tolerance of turfgrasses

Univ. Wisc. College of Agriculture Extension Award, 2002
Excellence in Research Award from Seed Research of Oregon, 2002
School IPM Certificate of Recognition, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2003

Kim Stone has over 17 years of environmental and management experience. She has a Master's degrees in Public Policy and Population Planning and previously served on SPCP's Board of Directors. Her previous work experience includes the Great Lakes Protection Fund, Lake Michigan Federation, and Environmental Law and Policy Center. Kim has served on the National Advisory Board for the Union of Concerned Scientists since 2004.

Jeff Trewyn is President of Organic Way Corporation, d/b/a NaturaLawn of America. NaturaLawn of America focuses on a natural organic-based system consisting of an exclusive natural organic-based fertilization program used in conjunction with a specially designed Integrated Pest Management program (IPM), as opposed to the traditional chemical fertilization programs with indiscriminate application of pesticides. His growing concern for the environment in conjunction with the misuse of pesticides prompted Jeff to shift careers from Vice President of Software Sales to an active member in the organic turf industry for the last 6 years. Jeff has had the pleasure to participate as a keynote speaker for many educational forums throughout the Chicagoland area.

Darrell Smith has been operating a Earthcare Natural Lawn and Landscapes in Milwaukee, Wisconsin since 2004. Coming out of the non-profit sector, Darrell is excited about the process of growing a green business that benefits the consumer, the entrepreneur and the environment. While lawn care at first glance seemed boring, he’s found organic turf care and the process of cultivating biologically-rich soils a fascinating endeavor! Sharing this newfound prospective is one of his primary goals. Earthcare has partnered with local community groups to provide organic lawn care programs for individuals, businesses and municipalities in the greater Milwaukee area.

Mike Nowak is an actor, playwright, radio talk show host, magazine columnist, singer and gardener, not necessarily in that order. He has been the host of WGN Radio’s “Let’s Talk Gardening” (Sundays at noon on 720 AM) for a decade, and is a writer and award-winning columnist for Chicagoland Gardening Magazine. He is a Chicago Master Gardener and a graduate of the TreeKeeper Program of the Openlands Project, which teaches people how to care for urban forests. Mike is co-founder and past president of MELA, the Midwest Ecological Landscaping Association (www.melaweb.org), which promotes environmentally responsible landscaping and horticultural practices among professionals and the public. He recently joined the Speakers Network for SafeLawns.org, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting natural lawn care and grounds maintenance.

• Manager of Chalet Lawncare Department of Chalet, North Chicago, Illinois since 1993
• President of the IPLCA, Illinois Professional Lawn Care Association and founding member
• Bayer / Lawn & Landscape Magazine 2003 Leadership Award
• PLANET Trailblazer Mentoring Program
• PLANET KRA committee member
• Board member of Illinois Turfgrass Association
• Continuing Education instructor at the Chalet Nursery & Garden Shops Education Center
• Owner of Lawngevity Lawncare from 1984-1992
• Worked retail sales at the Chalet Garden Shops
• Got the “turf bug” while on staff at Wheeling Nursery
• Owned Earth Scent Nursery in Santa Rosa, California and took classes in horticulture while living there
• Started the road to horticulture taking a class at the Oak Park Conservatory

OCC Preferred Rate
Room rate includes Executive Breakfast

OCC Preferred Rate
Shuttle to OCC

OCC Preferred Rate
Shuttle to OCC

OCC Preferred Rate

OCC Preferred Rate

OCC Preferred Rate
Shuttle to OCC
Shuttle to O'Hare

Block of rooms under booking code #B102000535SPCP.
Kings bedrooms between $47 and $59 per night.

OCC Preferred Rate
Shuttle to OCC
Shuttle to O'Hare

OCC Preferred Rate
Shuttle to OCC
Shuttle to O'Hare