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Continuing Education Opportunities

After you have been through the HoLLIE class curriculum, you will be on our mailing list and receive invitations to additional programs and meetings during the year.  Come back and visit with your new friends!

Become a HoLLIE!

While it is not required, students are strongly encouraged to engage in volunteer programs in service to the environment.  

 

Any class participant who follows up the in-person course by engaging in an approved environmental volunteer project with a county environmental organization may be  certified as a HoLLIE graduate.

Become a HoLLIE Anchor
2015 HoLLIE Graduaion

HoLLIE Graduation 2015

Download the HoLLIE Volunteer Time Record in whichever format you prefer:

Congratulations to our 2019 Graduates!

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HoLLIE Honor Roll Anchor

HoLLIE Honor Roll

2019 Graduates

Cheryl Arney

Volunteering with Citizens Climate Lobby:

  • Writing letters to the editor

  • Serving as CCL liaison with a Member of Congress

  • Leading Citizen lobby meetings

  • Working for endorsements from community influencers

  • Lobbying with other environmental organizations for state level climate change legislation

Kimberly Drake

  • Secretary of Columbia Association’s Climate Change and Sustainability Advisory Committee

  • Secretary of the Howard County Sierra club

  • Helped to launch the Howard County Climate Collaboration, a group of local environmental organizations and local government

  • Communicates with elected officials on behalf of the Sierra Club and Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN)

  • Volunteers with the Howard County Conservancy, HoCo Climate Action, Safe Skies Maryland

  • Volunteers with the Smarter Growth Alliance of Howard County, the Indivisible Energy committee, the Community Ecology Institute

  • Completed the Maryland Climate Leadership Academy

Gail Holm

  • Monitors health of streams with the Watershed Stewards of Howard County and the Howard County Streamwaders

  • Volunteers with Howard County Public School System Our Environment in Our Hands program

  • Leads hikes for elementary school children as a volunteer with the Howard County Conservancy

  • Active in the Climate Crisis Team of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Columbia

  • Participated in invasive plant control with HC Conservancy and Howard County Parks and Recreation

Deborah Levay

  • Completed Master Gardener training

  • Volunteers at Ladew Topiary Gardens, educating visitors about pollinators, native plants, and the environment

  • Supports Howard County Elementary Schools Monarch Butterfly Buddy and Milkweed Steward programs

Anne Mihalik

  • Active in Citizen’s Climate Lobby meetings and conference, completed lobbyist training

  • Fundraising for the Community Ecology Institute

  • Climate Change and Consciousness workshops and discussion groups

  • Writing letters to the editor about climate change, social equity, biodiversity

  • Participated in Global Climate Strike march and rally

  • Participates in watershed cleanups

Suzanne Probst

  • Maryland Master Naturalist

  • Led a “bluebird walk” at Belmont

  • Assisted with the spring Belmont BioBlitz for the Howard County Conservancy

  • Monitors the Belmont bluebird & tree-swallow trail and submits nesting data to Cornell’s Nestwatch program

  • Completed three bird surveys and butterfly surveys at Belmont for the Howard County Bird Club

Lisa Schlossnagle

  • Volunteer field trip naturalist for the HoCo Conservancy

  • HoCO Conservancy program planning committee

  • HoCO Conservancy Board of Directors

  • Instituted environmental topics and organizations in a session day for the Leadership Howard County Premier program

  • Served on the “green team” that helped Girls on the Run of Central Maryland host a sustainable 5K

Clifford Strawitch

  • Active in the Citizen’s Climate Lobby

  • Citizen’s Climate Lobby liason to Senator Chris Van Hollen

  • Attended the Citizen's Climate Lobby International Conference in Washington DC

  • Lobbies for the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend act

  • Provided technical assistance at the Drawdown workshop

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2018 Graduates

Cara Heilveil

  • Master Naturalist Trainee at Robinson Nature Center

  • Volunteer at Robinson Nature Center assisting with camps and events

  • Volunteer member of the River Hill Watershed Committee

  • River Hill representative to the Columbia Association Watershed Advisory Committee

Anita Iseman

  • Volunteer with the Maryland Zoo

  • Assists the zookeepers with the Outreach Zoo Mobile program, taking animals to schools, daycares, and assisted living facilities

  • Uses demonstration materials to teach about animal habitat, environment, and conservation

  

Dave Lyon

  • Howard County Conservancy Volunteer Naturalist and Watershed Coach

  • Patapsco Heritage Greenway Volunteer leader for public groups removing trash or planting trees

  • Stream Monitor for Patapsco Heritage Greenway

  • Maintains 1.5 miles of the Appalachian Trail for the Mountain Club of Maryland

  • Volunteer local guide for Road Scholar programs on the Appalachian Trail and C&O Canal

Megan Mills

  • Chair of the Howard County Forestry Board, volunteering with updating educational materials, tree plantings, and outreach events

  • Volunteer with the Monarch Buddies program in the Howard County School system

  • Accepted into the first year of the Maryland Climate Leadership Academy

Gwen Morrison

  • Maryland Master naturalist 

  • Volunteer naturalist at the Howard County Conservancy for pre-K-12 field trips and camp hikes

  • Volunteer docent for the Brookside Gardens Wings of Fancy butterfly exhibit

  • Volunteer for the Environment in our Hands and Monarch Buddy program in the Howard County Public Schools

Carolyn Parsa

  • Worked on a task force for the Environmental Sustainability Board to found Safe Skies Maryland, a non-profit conservation organization under the Maryland Ornithological Society

  • Worked on retrofit projects to make public buildings bird friendly

  • Newly appointed chair of the Howard County Sierra Club

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2017 Graduates

Heidi Osterman

Heidi is a volunteer at Robinson Nature Center and volunteered extensively in the Center’s educational programs:

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  • Camps for 2 and 3 year-olds

  • Camps for 4 and 5 year-olds

  • Camps for 6, 7, 8, and 9 year-olds

  • Camps for 10 and 11 year-olds

  • Day programs of many types for ages 2 – 12

Wanda Prather

Wanda is a retired computer geek who volunteers for several organizations:

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  • Building this new website for HoLLIE!

  • Data collection and organization for the Maryland Biodiversity Project

  • Volunteer coordinator for art shows at the Howard County Conservancy

Peter Sola

Peter volunteered with Patuxent Riverkeeper Fred Tutman and spent his time researching state and federal records:

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  • Are regulations being followed regarding the reporting of excessive spills, and the fines imposed on them by the state/county?  We are finding out that spillage has not been reported to the county citizens in a timely manner, or at all.

  • Read and analyze reports of laws passed and other records and reports by persons Fred assigned to identify pollution issues on the Patuxent River.

  • Look for improvement in several issues, trying to find if these problems have been repeated over the past 3 to 5 years.

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Steve Wachs

Volunteer for the Patapsco Heritage Greenway

Volunteer at the Howard County Conservancy

  • Leads school group naturalist hikes

  • Bio Blitz coach

  • Working conservancy events

Gerry Witte

Gerry was recently named Oakland Mills Volunteer of the Year for his work protecting and preserving community open space:

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  • Investigated the issues facing Columbia’s open space, including the lack of a master plan

  • Worked to marshall allies and bring the issues to Village Board and CA Management

  • Advocated for better open space planning

  • Helped with invasive species removal, tree planting, safety fences, tot lot repair, beautification projects, and community cleanups

Phyllis A Yigdall

Phyllis is a certified Master Gardener and volunteered in a variety of ways:​

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  • Mentor for incoming Master Gardener interns

  • Days of Taste, a 3-day classroom initiative important in teaching 4th graders about where food comes from and how to balance flavors to create tasty salads

  • Roving Radish, a county initiative to get local healthy food provided to county residents at an affordable price

  • Supporting the Master Gardener Bay Wise program by outreach and community presentations of a program “Trees”

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