A guest post by Sarah Hansen, UMBC Wellness Ambassador
In this extended period of challenge and uncertainty, one of the things that brings me solace is my garden. The slow, methodical weeding, the breeze on my face, being close to the ground and seeing all the tiny critters that abide there, focuses my attention and is almost like meditation. Taking a few moments each day truly to notice each stage as plants slowly grow, bud, bloom, and then fade, and all the attendant insects that visit them during each phase, keeps me grounded.
The animals that visit my yard bring me joy (well, except the ravenous deer, but even they are beautiful in their own way) and remind me that even now, when everything is turned upside down, the wildlife world is carrying out its cycles. Spring migration happened. Birds are nesting (and now, fledging). Lightning bugs are flashing. Flowers are blooming. Ferns are unfurling. Milkweed beetles are mating. Caterpillars and praying mantises are growing. Tomatoes are ripening. And there are simple things I can do to make all their lives easier—to help out the small community that calls my yard home.
They may seem like small things—planting a few native flowers, not removing a small brush pile, or avoiding use of harmful pesticides—but imagine if all of us just created a corner of habitat in a yard, on a patio, balcony, or windowsill, or in a local community garden plot. All those pockets add up. Collectively, we can make a world of difference for declining wildlife populations. We have the power to create beauty and at the same time, do good for animals—and in turn, ourselves.
I was skeptical that the critters who needed them would find my small native plant oasis, but after I planted my first batch of native flowers four years ago, I was amazed at the outcome. New species of butterflies and beetles abounded. Birds ate the seeds and berries in the fall. Even hummingbirds, which my partner had never seen since moving into the house in 2006, showed up. Now my motto is, “If you plant it, they will come.”
I do not have an especially green thumb. You can do this, too! And if there are children in your household, even a container or two can provide education, entertainment, and bonding opportunities aplenty.
Creating a native plant garden (or balcony, or windowsill) doesn’t have to be overwhelming. There are tons of resources available to help you select appropriate native plants and get started. Please share additional resources in the comments!
Prairie Moon Nursery has been a huge help when considering plants for my garden. They only sell North American natives and you can search their inventory for plants based on light and soil requirements, size, bloom time, and much more.
Local nurseries like Herring Run Nursery (affiliated with Blue Water Baltimore) only sell native plants that are suitable for the mid-Atlantic. This is where I bought all of the plants for my first native plant garden. They also carry plants from Chesapeake Natives.
The Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder is another excellent source for information about plants (native and non-native). I find this site helpful if I already have a plant in mind and want more information.
Many local nature centers and parks organize native plant sales—a farmers market of sorts for plants. I’ve run across these at Robinson Nature Center in Columbia and at Benjamin Banneker Historical Park in Oella, and there are many more. Feel free to add more in the comments!
The University of Maryland Extension also offers resources for attracting wildlife, as does the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) Garden for Wildlife program. Did you know that the UMBC campus is a Certified Wildlife Habitat through NWF, based on our use of native plants and sustainable practices?
The National Audubon Society has a robust Plants for Birds program with lots of additional resources.
Next week, I’ll share some additional benefits of gardening with native plants, a few things to watch out for when purchasing plants, and a few of my favorite plant species that do well in my Catonsville yard. Let me know if you have any questions in the meantime, and please share your own resources. I love this topic, but am definitely still a student when it comes to native plants!
Yours in gardening,
Sarah
Today's talk is Want to be more creative? Go for a walk by Marily Oppezzo. When trying to come up with a new idea, we all have times when we get stuck. But according to research by behavioral and learning scientist Marily Oppezzo, getting up and going for a walk might be all it takes to get your creative juices flowing. In this fun, fast talk, she explains how walking could help you get the most out of your next brainstorm.
SkillSoft Spotlights focus on just-in-time online learning that supports you in navigating complex challenges in personal and professional life, helps you to increase your effectiveness, and to improve your relationships. Each course is 30 minutes or less and is curated to provide tools, strategies, and practices to accelerate your success.
This week's spotlight course is Maximize Your Productivity by Managing Time and Taks (21 min).
The amount of time available to you is constant – you can't buy more and you can't save it for later. However, by managing your time, you can increase your productivity. And the better you understand your own personal productivity, the easier it will be to manage your time effectively.
In this course, you'll learn about how you can use task management to maximize your productivity. You'll discover the benefits of using time management and assessing the value of your tasks. You'll learn about benefits of setting goals and how productivity is tied to your ability to assess time and set priorities. And you'll also learn about the process of "chunking" your time and how to use different types of to-do lists effectively.
Once logged in, simply type the name of the course in the search bar.
Need Login Assistance? Email hrtraining@umbc.edu to set up your account and to help with login difficulties. UMBC faculty and staff accounts are set up within 1 month of hire.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Visit our UMBC SkillSoft page for information on UMBC’s curated role and topic-based certificate tracks as well as professional industry certifications that align with SkillSoft courses.
SkillSoft Spotlights focus on just-in-time online learning to help you more masterfully manage yourself personally and professionally, improve your effectiveness in managing your work, and support you in skillfully leading your teams. Each course is 30 minutes or less and is curated to provide tools, strategies, and practices to accelerate your success.
This week's spotlight course is Positive Atmosphere: Establishing and Engaged Workforce (23 min)
An engaged workforce creates a positive work environment that boosts productivity, encourages creativity, and helps you engage and retain talented employees. This in turn will make your organization more profitable and innovative, and will strengthen your employees’ work ethic.
In this course, you'll learn about the benefits of engaging your workforce and of establishing a positive work culture. You'll learn how to recognize common qualities of engaged employees, understand what drives employee motivation, and recognize commitment challenges. You'll also learn how employee engagement links to the bottom line by reducing turnover.
Using Internet Explorer or Google Chrome, Login to SkillPortusing your FULL UMBC email address for both the username and password boxes.
Once logged in, simply type the name of the course in the search bar.
Need Login Assistance? Email hrtraining@umbc.edu to set up your account and to help with login difficulties. UMBC faculty and staff accounts are set up within 1 month of hire.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Visit our UMBC SkillSoft page for information on UMBC’s curated role and topic-based certificate tracks as well as professional industry certifications that align with SkillSoft courses.
Today's talk is How to create meaningful connections while apart by Priya Parker.
Author Priya Parker shares tools for creating meaningful connections with friends, family and coworkers during the coronavirus pandemic -- and shows how we can take advantage of gatherings that are unique to this moment of social distancing. "We don't necessarily need to gather more," she says. "We need to gather better."
SkillSoft Spotlights focus on just-in-time online learning that supports you in navigating complex challenges in personal and professional life, helps you to increase your effectiveness, and to improve your relationships. Each course is 30 minutes or less and is curated to provide tools, strategies, and practices to accelerate your success.
This week's spotlight course is Redefining Yourself after Organizational Change (29 min).
Organizational change is inevitable, so you need to be resilient and adapt to the new opportunities it presents. It's important to not just survive organizational change. With resilience, flexibility, and perseverance, you can thrive in it and propel your career forward.
In this course, you will learn the importance of adapting to organizational change, as well as the essential skills needed to handle it. The course details the best practices of building self-motivation and introduces the idea of reframing as a coping method. You'll learn to turn resistance to change into acceptance. Finally, this course covers the importance of capitalizing on the career opportunities presented by organizational change.
Once logged in, simply type the name of the course in the search bar.
Need Login Assistance? Email hrtraining@umbc.edu to set up your account and to help with login difficulties. UMBC faculty and staff accounts are set up within 1 month of hire.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Visit our UMBC SkillSoft page for information on UMBC’s curated role and topic-based certificate tracks as well as professional industry certifications that align with SkillSoft courses.
SkillSoft Spotlights focus on just-in-time online learning to help you more masterfully manage yourself personally and professionally, improve your effectiveness in managing your work, and support you in skillfully leading your teams. Each course is 30 minutes or less and is curated to provide tools, strategies, and practices to accelerate your success.
This week's spotlight course is Managing Motivation during Organizational Change (22 min)
A key challenge for managers is motivating and engaging employees during times of organizational change. To survive and grow in volatile markets, organizations have to embrace change; they have to innovate and adapt. However, because change involves uncertainty, it's stressful, and it can impact employee motivation and productivity – just at a time when an organization needs everyone to pull together and give their best efforts.
In this course, you'll learn change management techniques to help you recognize and manage employee stress, as well as your own stress, during periods of change. You'll also learn about common reactions to change, and strategies for managing change to enable you to engage, motivate, and support employees.
Using Internet Explorer or Google Chrome, Login to SkillPortusing your FULL UMBC email address for both the username and password boxes.
Once logged in, simply type the name of the course in the search bar.
Need Login Assistance? Email hrtraining@umbc.edu to set up your account and to help with login difficulties. UMBC faculty and staff accounts are set up within 1 month of hire.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Visit our UMBC SkillSoft page for information on UMBC’s curated role and topic-based certificate tracks as well as professional industry certifications that align with SkillSoft courses.