October 13, 2008
Time: 7:00 pm
Program: General Meeting
Speakers: Karen Firehock, Executive Director, Green Infrastructure Center Inc.
Location: Science Musuem of Virginia - Discovery Room, 2500 West Broad Street Richmond Virginia.
Contact: See our Executive Committee link under the contact us section in the nav bar above.
Ms. Firehock is an environmental planner with more than 20 years of experience in planning and natural resources management. She is the director and co-founder of the Green Infrastructure Center (GIC) and oversees green infrastructure planning and research projects. The Green Infrastructure Center (GIC) is a nonprofit organization located in Charlottesville, Virginia, formed in December 2006 to help communities develop strategies for protecting and conserving their ecological and cultural assets through environmentally-sensitive decisions, lifestyles, and planning.
Green infrastructure includes the connected natural systems and ecological processes that provide critical functions, such as habitat for wildlife, water storage and filtration, air quality, and healthful lifestyles. The Center works locally, regionally, nationally and internationally. In 2008, Ms. Firehock worked on initiatives in Jordan and South Africa as well as in the Southern United States. She is currently directing three field tests of green infrastructure planning at the city, county and regional scales in diverse environments from mountains to coastal zones (the regional project is Richmond and New Kent Co is a special model project )