“Spring is in the Air”, the Annual Meeting of the Medomak District clubs, will be hosted by the Topsham Garden Club. The featured speaker will be Aleta McKeage and her topic is “Gardening in Midcoast Maine in the face of Climate Change”.

Aleta McKeage, M.S. is a conservation biologist and organizational manager who has completed work for municipalities, land trusts, state and federal governments. After working as a secondary teacher, she began her career as a biologist in New Hampshire, working for the Non-Game and Endangered Wildlife Program, and later worked for the National Park Service. She currently directs all conservation technical assistance, research and education for Waldo County Soil and Water Conservation District. Aleta specializes in ecological land stewardship, management, design and restoration. She is an expert in invasive plant ecology and control and restoration of native plant communities in natural areas as well as human-influenced landscapes. Her current initiatives include Forests for Our Future, which focuses on adapting Maine’s forests to climate change, and Conservation Landscape Certification, available now in Knox, Lincoln and Waldo Counties through the Soil and Water Conservation Districts. Each of these projects is centered on involving communities in the process of making our landscape healthy, diverse and resilient. She is also in the process of creating a new initiative in Waldo County called Pollinator Pathways, which begins with creating pollinator gardens at schools and in public spaces.

Contact the Topsham Club for more info.