What's in My Backyard? Managing Your Garden in a Time of Change - Boscobel

Learn from experts on how to navigate wildlife, support native plants, and cultivate a backyard and garden to withstand – and thrive – in a changing climate.

During this half-day symposium, you will hear from three experts on managing your backyard and garden in a time of climate change, including cultivating pollinator pathways, composting best practices, navigating invasive species and plants, supporting native wildlife and insects, and more. The event will run from approximately 8:30am to 12pm with topics covering issues surrounding composting, wildlife, and biodiversity.

Confirmed Speakers

Certified Wildlife Biologist Budd Veverka serves as Director of Land Management at Mianus River Gorge, bringing years of valuable research and field experience to his work. His expertise spans wildlife biology and behavior patterns, with a focus on practical strategies for coexisting with our natural environment. Budd is dedicated to helping communities become better stewards of our shared landscape. Through his work, he supports informed decision-making that benefits both human and wildlife communities in the Hudson Highlands.

 A passionate and knowledgeable backyard composter, Barbara Murphy has spent over two decades turning kitchen scraps and yard waste into “black gold” for her garden.  She is a certified Master Gardener in Putnam County and in 2023 completed a Backyard Composting Certification Program through the University of Vermont’s Extension Program.  She enjoys helping others discover the composting system that will work for them and troubleshooting any issues they have along the way.  She is also an enthusiastic vermicomposter and will happily share stories of the red wiggler worms who have taken up residence in her laundry room.

Matt Schlesinger is New York Natural Heritage Program’s Chief Zoologist, overseeing wildlife conservation and inventory projects ranging from beetles to birds to baleen whales. He helped describe a new species of leopard frog along the Atlantic Coast, oversaw statewide surveys for rare tiger beetles, co-authored the New York Dragonfly and Damselfly Survey, modeled habitat connectivity and responses to climate change of a variety of animal species, and helped design a whale monitoring effort for the New York Bight. He co-chairs the Steering Committee for the New York Breeding Bird Atlas III and co-coordinates the Empire State Native Pollinator Survey. He is very much a generalist. Matt has a Ph.D. in Ecology from the University of California, Davis, a Master’s in Natural Resources and Environment from the University of Michigan, and a B.A. from Wesleyan University. He is Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Environmental Forest Biology department at SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry and has served on multiple student committees.

Presentation Schedule

Budd Veverka (Mianus River Gorge)
Backyard Biology: Birds, Bats, and Bears

Matthew Schlesinger (New York Natural Heritage Program)
Backyard Biology II: Why Slimy, Scaly, and Six-legged Creepy-crawlies Also Need Your Help

Barbara Murphy (Cornell Cooperative Extension Putnam County)
Nemesis of a Landfill: The Compost Pile

Symposium Partners