Symposium

The 2024 Symposium: Your Backyard/Our World offered a full day of continuing education both for Extension Master Gardeners and members of the public. Please check back in late 2024 for details about the 2025 Symposium. The event typically is held on a Saturday in early March. Please contact us with any questions. 

2024 Symposium Vendors and Supporters

Thanks to everyone who participated as attendees or made donations or contributions for our annual symposium. Your contributions help support the NSVMGA Memorial Scholarship Fund. Follow the link above to see a list of the vendors and supporters in 2024.

Featured Speakers in March 2024

Dr. Doug Tallamy, T. A. Baker Professor of Agriculture, Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology, University of Delaware

Simple steps that gardeners can- and must- take to reverse declining biodiversity, why we must change our adversarial relationship with nature to a collaborative one, and why we, ourselves, are nature’s best hope. He will have books available for purchase and will sign personal copies of his books that you already own.

Connor Goolsby, Virginia Department of Forestry

Caring for the forest, whether it is one tree or 100 trees.

Kim Strader, formerly the Assistant Curator of the Native Plant Trail at Blandy Experimental Farm

Native plants for problem areas in your landscape.

Dr. Michael Raupp, “The Bug Guy,” Professor Emeritus and Extension Specialist, University of Maryland

How to be an accomplice to murder, mayhem, and magic to aid and abet natural enemies, pollinators, and recyclers in the landscape.

Educational Forums in March 2024

Knowledgeable local and regional representatives engaged in question-and-answer sessions in three separate forums:

  • Soils: creating, improving, and sustaining soils
  • Wildlife: challenges affecting our wildlife communities
  • Invasive Species Management: restoring native plant and animal communities