South Texas Luncheon:
Native Plant Certification
and SITES
Thurs., Oct. 26 2023
11:30 am - 1 pm
Program starts promptly at 12:00 pm
Paesanos - Lincoln Heights
555 E. Basse Rd
San Antonio, Tx
About the Topic:
Low Impact Development should be encouraged in the spaces between businesses, on campuses, residential properties and even road easements and intersection gores.
On October 26, Veronica Hawk, of the Boerne Chapter of the Native Plant Society of Texas, and Emily Manderson, of Blankland Collaborative, will discuss the importance of native plants as well as design strategies - including SITES certification - that help guide designers towards low impact outcomes.
Veronica will describe the Native Landscape Certification Program- a 
series of workshops, created by the Native Plant Society of Texas, intended to teach property owners of urban, rural, new developments and established buildings, how to understand the contribution their property could make to the health of the environment. Learn how this program helps break down the creation of sustainable landscapes, step by step, so that the value of LEED certification is achieved where we work and where we live.
Emily will describe how low impact strategies are incorporated into her work, and how the SITES certification structure can be utilized for improve project outcomes.
Speaker:
Veronica Hawk - Veronica is a fellow of the Native Plant Society of Texas (NPSOT), past president and has served 3 years on the board of the Boerne chapter. She is certified in native landscapes by the Native Plant Society and has taught the Native Landscape Certification program since 2016. She is a volunteer at the native plant demonstration garden at Cibolo Nature Center, and consulted with the Pollinator Garden Assistance and Recognition program for 4 years. Since 2017, Veronica has maintained certification by the Texas Master Naturalist Program, Hill Country chapter.
Prior to moving to Texas, Veronica volunteered for the Georgia Native Plant Society, the Georgia Perimeter College Native Plant Garden and graduated from the Georgia Master Naturalist program in 2006. Veronica is a gardener in Bulverde, Texas, where she has been beekeeping since 2018.
Emily Manderson - Emily is a Principal and Senior Environmental Designer at Blackland Collaborative. She works to provide ecological expertise to a variety of project types such as developing Best Management Practices for the Houston Parks Board to working on Master Plans, facilitating visioning sessions, and providing construction oversight. From 2014-2020, Emily was the Conservation Director at the Houston Arboretum and Nature Center; a 155-acre nature sanctuary in the heart of central Houston. She oversaw the restoration and management of the site’s ecosystems and the landscape implementation of an ASLA awarded master plan to increase biodiversity and ecosystem resilience in the face of future climatic events. During this time, in 2018, she was awarded the Dick Benoit Upper +Texas Coast Prairie Award which honors excellence in Coastal Prairie Conservation by the Coastal Prairie Partnership. In 2021 The Arboretum was awarded the Development of Distinction award from the Urban Land Institute (ULI) Houston.
Before working at the Arboretum, Emily worked as a Senior Environmental Designer and Consulting Manager at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin, TX for many years on numerous high-level ecological projects such as the George Bush Presidential Center. She also co-taught UT Architecture graduate students on the practices and principles of Sustainable Sites Initiative (SITES). Her educational background is a B.A. in Sociology, a master’s in physical Geography, and a Masters in Landscape Architecture. She is passionate about restoring human’s connection with nature and demonstrating that we have the capacity to increase ecological health and therefore our own. Emily is a Certified Ecological Restoration Practitioner (CERP) through the Society of Ecological Restoration.
Event Sponsor:
