Roosevelt Island resident and iDig2Learn founder Christina Delfico reports:

iDig2Learn kicks off spring with a star studded free webinar, Design your
Garden to Attract Pollinators, hosted by Ursula Chanse of the
New York Botanical Garden
and Chrissy Word of the
City Parks Foundation. 

20 years ago they teamed up to see if there were enough floral resources in
the Bronx for the Monarch butterfly and found out there wasn’t. Their answer
involved creating the Butterfly Project NYC. Together with neighbors they
built out Monarch butterfly corridors by planting to attract pollinators and
to date they have given away over 75,000 free native plants to the
community. 

iDig2Learn is thrilled to celebrate our 10th anniversary with this special
free webinar Thursday, March 31st at noon. RSVP a must, space is limited –
email “Pollinators” to
[email protected] to secure your
spot and get the Zoom link. Don’t miss this one.

Ursula Chanse is the Director of Bronx Green-Up
and Community Horticulture at The New York Botanical Garden. Since 2005, she
has managed Bronx Green-Up, the community gardening outreach program of The
New York Botanical Garden. This program provides horticulture education,
training, and technical assistance to Bronx residents, community gardeners,
urban farmers, local schools, and community organizations. Ursula’s background
includes ecological horticulture, public health, community education,
organizing and advocacy work.

Chrissy Word is Director of Education at City Parks Foundation and oversees
the development of dynamic STEM programs for youth in the most underserved
neighborhoods of NYC: Green Girls, Coastal Classroom, Learning Gardens, Seeds
to Trees and Career/College Readiness for high school interns. Chrissy has 20
years of experience and training in student centered pedagogy, child
development and experiential learning. She has developed and implemented a
number of successful citizen science projects for high school youth on the
Bronx River and as co-founder of Butterfly Project NYC, a grassroots
conservation organization, she initiated a pollinator curriculum guide for NYC
teachers. 

As previously reported, Chrissy Ward visited Roosevelt Island last
October and together with Ms Delfico and
Emily Fano of the National Wildlife Federation
spoke about the mission of the NYC Pollinator Group at the Roosevelt Island Community Garden.
 

Click here for more information on the NYC Pollinators visit to Roosevelt Island last October. 

Email [email protected] to get the Zoom link for the Pollinators webinar.

Ms Delfico adds:

Also, we have  a very exciting joint venture –
Creating Urban Habitats: Roosevelt Island as an Ecosystem
webinar featuring Rebecca McMackin of Brooklyn Bridge Park on April 7 at
6:30pm hosted by RIGC (Community Garden), iDig2Learn, Cornell Tech, and
RIOC.

Thu, April 7, 2022 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM EDT 

Did you know Brooklyn Bridge Park was a parking lot before it was transformed
into meadows and wetlands for people and pollinators? 

RSVP to the Eventbrite link to tune in on 4/7 evening to find out more from
Rebecca McMackin, the director of horticulture at Brooklyn Bridge Park. 

Roosevelt Island Lecture on Creating Urban Habitats 

Creating Urban Landscapes: stunningly beautiful gardens can also contain
thriving wildlife habitat in the heart of an urban setting. 

A free virtual lecture sponsored by RI Community Garden in partnership with
iDig2Learn, Cornell Tech, and Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation. 

 Rebecca McMackin is an “ecologically obsessed horticulturist and garden
designer. ”She has spent the last decade as Director of Horticulture of
Brooklyn Bridge Park, where she manages 85 acres of diverse parkland
organically and with an eye towards habitat creation for birds, butterflies,
and soil microorganisms. Rebecca lectures and writes about landscape
management, pollination ecology, and designs amazing gardens. 

Urban residents interested in the green spaces around you and professionals
working in parks, landscape, or building management are invited to hear more
about how: 

• Ecologically managed, beautiful urban spaces provide quiet for nesting
  birds, host plants for butterflies, pollen for bees, and life-restoring
  moments for humans.  
• Creating and curating city spaces as ever-changing natural ecosystems aligns
  well with art, sports, and daily community life.

Watch this video of Ms McMackin speaking on developing a thriving ecosystem at Brooklyn Bridge Park.

Congrats to iDig2Learn on their 10 year anniversary!