A healthy population lives in balance with natural elements. Join us for our fourth and final Systems Change event to find out how actions taken on your front step and in Montana's towns can have a great impact on waterways, biodiversity, climate action, and your community. We will hear about wildlife friendly and food producing lawns, the cultural and ecological significance of local native plants, and transitioning away from chemicals for safe public spaces. This is a FREE, virtual event. Co-sponsored with Stories for Action.

Speakers

Kareen Erbe, Broken Ground

Kareen is a permaculture educator on a mission to help you create a regenerative and resilient life for yourself, your community, and the planet by growing your own food. With a lifelong passion for standing up for environmental health and social justice, Kareen found a way to address these issues through the connection to our soil and food. She first studied permaculture with Dr. Vandana Shiva in India. Kareen is based in Bozeman, and through her business, Broken Ground, helps individuals and communities at all levels of experience to increase their resiliency by growing their own food.

Naomi Alhadeff, National Wildlife Federation

Naomi is the Senior Montana Education Coordinator for the National Wildlife Federation, whose mission is to inspire and assist in the protection of the environment in order to achieve an equitable and sustainable future. Naomi oversees NWF’s Certified Wildlife Habitat program, which encourages individuals and businesses to transition yards into habitats that are beneficial for wildlife and people alike. Naomi will share with us the importance of creating "wildlife friendly" yard spaces and how your yard or community space can become a wildlife haven. 

Rose Bear Don’t Walk, Ethnobotanist, Recovering Our Roots

Rose Bear Don't Walk is an ethnobotanist and a member of the Bitterroot Salish and Apsaalooke Tribes. She holds a BA from Yale University and an MS in environmental studies from the University of Montana. Rose was awarded a “Fellowship for the Future” by 500 Women Scientists, for her program "Recovering Our Roots", which bridges ecological knowledge of local plants to food sovereignty, improved nutrition, and cultural connection for the Salish Community. Rose speaks with us about this work and how we can find ways to value the land in order to thrive for generations. 

Jamie Kirby, DNRC Urban & Community Forestry

Jamie Kirby is the Montana State Coordinator for DNRC’s Urban & Community Forestry Program. This program implements and advocates for the role of trees as a critical part of the urban infrastructure in Montana’s communities. Jamie will share with us some of those important roles, such as public health, energy conservation, and social equity, as well as tell us about some exciting work the program is doing with health care providers across the state and Montana Tribes. She will also tell us how we can all take action to ensure green space in our own communities. 

Kyra Naumoff, Healthy Babies Bright Futures

Kyra is the Program Director for Healthy Babies Bright Futures, a national organization working to reduce children’s exposures to toxic chemicals that harm brain development. Kyra holds a PhD in environmental health sciences from UC Berkeley and has over a decade of experience in community engagement and exposure assessment. Through Healthy Babies Bright Futures, Kyra works with cities and towns throughout the US to assist them in reaching environmental health goals, such as reducing herbicides in public spaces. Kyra will speak with us on working with the Missoula Parks & Rec to reach such a goal, as well as share the impacts of chemical use in public and residential spaces, alternatives, and how we can connect with our local officials on this issue.