People & Nature in January, Funding & Job Opportunities and more! | |
Dear Baltimore Office of Sustainability Friends,
With a new year upon us, Baltimore Office of Sustainability is excited to launch its themes for 2025. Nature in the City will be the theme for the first quarter of 2025.
2025 Sustainability Commission meetings will focus on quarterly themes to provide thoughtful, informative content keyed to different sustainability priorities. They will provide an array of information about City activities and insights and opportunities for action shared by an array of topical experts. The next Sustainability Commission will be held on January 15 from 4-7 pm and will focus on People and Nature. You can register to attend this virtual meeting here.
Speaking of the Sustainability Commission, we are recruiting new commissioners. If you would like to apply or share the opportunity with others, please visit the application portal here.
Following the theme of people and nature, the community spotlight below highlights the wonderful work of one of our favorite places to enjoy and learn about nature and local wildlife. We hope you'll venture out to visit it or another place you can enjoy nature this January.
Happy Reading!
The Baltimore Sustainability Team
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Community Spotlight: Carrie Murray Nature Center | | |
Pictured above: Sign at the entrance of the Carrie Murray Nature Center Photo Credit: Visit Baltimore | |
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In 1985, Baltimore City Recreation and Parks (BCRP) founded The Carrie Murray Nature Center, after receiving a donation from Orioles baseball legend, Eddie Murray. The space, located in Gwynns Falls Leakin Park, is dedicated and named after Carrie Murray, Eddie's mother.
Forty years later, the Carrie Murray Nature Center is a thriving community-driven environmental education center serving as a hub for nature-based learning and connecting residents to local wildlife, plants, and outdoor activities.
The center offers a variety of programs aimed at fostering environmental stewardship, such as nature walks, educational workshops, and school field trips. It also provides opportunities for community engagement through volunteer work, outdoor events, and eco-friendly initiatives.
By promoting a deeper understanding of the natural world, the Carrie Murray Nature Center plays an important role in preserving Baltimore’s urban green spaces.
Check out the Carrie Murray Nature Center events calendar here.
Nature Center Hours:
Monday - Saturday: 8:30am - 4:30pm
Monthly Second Sundays (May-Nov): 8:30am - 4:30pm
Trail Hours:
Monday - Saturday 8:00am - 4:30pm
Monthly Second Sundays (May-Nov): 8:00am - 4:30pm
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You don’t have to be a climate scientist or city planner to help improve the sustainability and resilience of Baltimore. Everyone has a story to tell about making Baltimore a stronger, safer, and more equitable place. We’ve been collecting stories on our website, and we invite you to share yours with us by posting on social media with the hashtag #EveryStoryCounts and/or by emailing us. | |
Environmental Offset Grant Program Opens through January 17th
The Office of Sustainability’s Environmental Grants Program is open now through January 17th!
If your organization is interested in applying, please visit our information page and check out the video from the information session hosted in December.
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Sustainability Highlights | |
Community members work together to brainstorm heat resilience strategies during a Las Vegas heat tabletop exercise in December 2022. Photo Credit: NOAA | |
Baltimore Awarded a Prize for Extreme Heat Planning Manual
The Department of Commerce and NOAA announced $700,000 to support extreme heat preparedness and response planning as part of the Inflation Reduction Act. Ten communities, including Baltimore, have received a total of $200,000 for developing manuals for extreme heat response planning, and $500,000 in funding will go to Duke University’s Heat Policy Innovation Hub for heat policy research and outreach.
Ten communities have each received a $20,000 prize for the Heat Tabletop Exercise Planning Challenge. The communities developed manuals outlining plans to run heat tabletop exercises that test local emergency heat response efforts through simulated scenarios. The exercises aim to bring state, local and tribal governments and community organizations together to determine how they can better collaborate during heat events, and assess their current heat action plans. Communities that received prizes excelled at identifying realistic scenarios, representing their whole community, showcasing creativity and maintaining high attention to detail.
“The breadth of communities across the U.S. that applied to the Heat Tabletop Exercise Planning Challenge demonstrates a growing commitment in our communities to prepare for heat risks,” said NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad, Ph.D. “Tabletop exercises can help communities determine how they can best prepare for heat’s many impacts on health, the economy and our infrastructure.”
The following communities received $20,000 prizes for the challenge:
- Mobile, Alabama.
- Los Angeles, California.
- Riverside, California.
- Iowa City, Iowa.
- Baltimore, Maryland.
- Omaha, Nebraska.
- Washington County, Oregon.
- San Juan, Puerto Rico.
- Austin, Texas.
- Pierce County, Washington.
NOAA’s Regional Collaboration Network, National Centers for Environmental Information Regional Climate Services, National Weather Service Forecast Offices and National Integrated Heat Health Information System (NIHHIS) have also supported heat tabletop exercises in Miami, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Oklahoma City, Philadelphia and Charleston, South Carolina. Past tabletop exercises have helped expand tree planting efforts, improve cooling center access and inform statewide heat preparedness plans.
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2023-2024 Resident Food Equity Advisor Cohort and Food Policy and Planning Team; Photo Credit: Baltimore Department of Planning
2024 Baltimore City Food Policy & Planning Highlights
In 2024, the Baltimore City Food Policy and Planning (FPP) Division, supported by the American Rescue Plan Act funding, made key strides in improving food equity, access, and nutrition. With this funding, FPP:
- Invested $11 million in food system improvements, distributing over 4 million pounds of fresh produce and $250,00 in produce vouchers.
- Launched nutrition incentive programs, including over $200,000 in farmers market incentives and a radio campaign reaching 2.5 million people
- Enrolled 100+ patients in the Food is Medicine program, providing medically tailored meals and produce.
- Harvested 30,000 pounds of produce from the Black Butterfly Teaching Farm, supporting local organizations.
Additionally, FPP held quarterly Food PAC meetings, published a Food Access chapter in Baltimore's Comprehensive Plan, making it one of the first cities with a standalone food chapter, and concluded the 4th cohort of Resident Food Equity Advisors (RFEAs), focusing on online SNAP and digital equity.
These efforts reflect Baltimore’s commitment to building a more equitable, sustainable food system. Learn more about FPP’s work here.
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2025-26 Chesapeake Conservation and Climate Corps & Maryland Climate Corps Applications Open
Chesapeake Bay Trust is accepting applications through March 6th for two Corps programs.
The Chesapeake Conservation and Climate Corps places young adults (ages 18-25) with nonprofit organizations or government agencies for a full-time, one-year term of stipend-supported service in the environmental field. The Maryland Climate Corps offers recent Maryland High School Graduates the opportunity to engage in activities to address climate change through a full-time, stipend-supported 9 ½ month term of service.
Baltimore Office of Sustainability (BOS) plans to host Corps members for both programs.
A Chesapeake Conservation and Climate Corps member will:
- work directly with youth interns to help them develop climate leadership skills
- help promote opportunities to advance Baltimore City climate action and sustainability priorities, with a focus on informing and engaging municipal employees as well as the public around priorities identified in the Baltimore Sustainability, Climate Action, and Disaster Preparedness Plans; and,
- increase climate literacy within the City’s workforce, and among youth and residents.
BOS Maryland Climate Corps members will support the food waste reduction efforts outlined in the city's 2018 Food Waste Recovery Strategy and 2023 Solid Waste Management Plan and support environmental education goals in our 2019 Sustainability Plan. Food Waste & Engagement Associates lead data collection, coordination, education and outreach related to food waste prevention, diversion, food scrap recycling and composting. As part of the role, Food Waste & Engagement Associates will support free food scrap drop-off stations at farmers’ markets as part of Baltimore’s Food Matters program.
Other positions also will be available around Maryland.
Potential Corps members should apply through the Chesapeake Bay Trust. Learn more here.
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TreeKeepers Winter Classes - Register now to get trained as a TreeKeeper! Baltimore TreeKeepers is TreeBaltimore’s free, city-wide tree stewardship program open to all city residents interested in helping Baltimore’s trees. As a TreeKeeper, you’ll learn how to help plant and care for trees on your street, in your neighborhood, around your schools, and in your parks.
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Horticulture Culture: Unique Bark – Friday, January 17th from 1:30-3pm at Cylburn Arboretum. Join CAF garden educator, Rose, for a horticulture culture lecture and walk. The lecture will begin with classroom learning about the different textures, colors, and unique features of bark. Next, the group will walk the Cylburn grounds where Rose will highlight some of our most fascinating tree barks.
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Winter Plant Walk - Sunday, January 19th from 1-3pm in Gwynns Falls Leakin Park. This will be a 1.5 mile walk for adults and older children with longtime FOGFLP volunteer and trail enthusiast Thayer Young. This will be a scenic walk along the Gwynns Falls, where we will see some nice rock outcrops, signs of abandoned streetcar tracks, a champion tree, some beautiful houses, and some newly planted trees that are short enough so we can reach the buds. Meeting location provided upon registration.
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MLK Day of Service: Gwynns Falls Trail Cleanup - Monday, January 20th from 10am-1pm at Winans Meadow parking lot. This year, FOGFLP's traditional MLK Day of Service project will focus on cleaning up the area of the Gwynns Falls Trail adjacent to Franklintown Road, between Wetheredsville Road and William Street.
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The 6th Branch’s MLK Day of Service – Monday, January 20th from 8:30am-12:30pm. Join us in Oliver for The 6th Branch’s 14th annual community service event in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. We will provide all the tools you need and the right equipment to keep you safe. Look forward to a day of non-native species removal, tree pruning, and trash removal.
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Webinar: Planning & Procurement for Municipalities & Community Orgs - Thursday, February 27th at 12pm. This webinar, offered by the Maryland Clean Energy Center, is designed to equip municipal leaders and community-serving organizations with the knowledge and tools to streamline project planning and procurement processes for clean energy and sustainable initiatives.
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Job Opportunities: Baltimore City Government - City government has many job openings available, including several roles that involve coordination with the Office of Sustainability:
- A Deputy Chief of Fleet Maintenance and Deputy Chief of Fleet Administration with the Department of General Services
- A Senior Communications Planner with the Office of Emergency Management
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Chesapeake Conservation and Climate Corps & Maryland Climate Corps Positions – Deadline: March 6th. The Chesapeake Conservation and Climate Corps places young adults (ages 18-25) with nonprofit organizations or government agencies for a full-time, one-year term of stipend-supported service in the environmental field. The Maryland Climate Corps offers recent Maryland High School Graduates the opportunity to engage in activities to address climate change through a full-time, stipend-supported 9 ½ month term of service.
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Chesapeake Bay Trust: Multiple Grant Opportunities – Deadlines: various. The Chesapeake Bay Trust has several grant opportunities opening soon or currently accepting applications, including the Youth Environmental Education Grant Program and Urban Trees Award Program.
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Tips for Weathering the Winter | |
Consider using a non-toxic deicing agent on sidewalks and driveways. Examples are clay cat litter, fireplace ash, and sand. These are better for vegetation and soils as well as pets
Winterize your vehicle by checking filters and fluids and especially the pressure in your tires. Look for a free air pump to use near you.
Use electric or manual snow removal methods as opposed to gas. Nothing beats elbow grease and a good snow shovel!
If you don't have a programmable thermostat, consider installing one. Rebates are available through BGE. A new thermostat can be purchased for as little as $5.
Keep rechargeable batteries on hand for use during power loss.
Spring will be here before you know it. Until then, stay warm and live sustainably!
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We Love Feedback
Tell us what you want to hear! Do you have ideas on newsletter content? Or would you like to nominate an organization or person to be featured? Email us at sustainability@baltimorecity.gov.
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Our Mission
The Office of Sustainability develops and advocates for programs and policies that improve Baltimore's long-term environmental, social, and economic viability.
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417 E Fayette St, 8th Floor
Baltimore, MD 21202
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Newsletter Contributors: Kaylah Abrams, Fellow; Joanna Birch, Floodplain Manager; Natalie Cohen, Reimagine Middle Branch Program Manager; Amy Gilder-Busatti, Sustainability Manager; Grace Hansen, Coastal Planner; D'Andre Hawkins, Fellow; Erica Pinket, Climate & Resilience Planner; Ava Richardson, Sustainability Director; Valerie Rupp, Climate and Resilience Program Manager; Ebone Smith, Community & Youth Engagement Coordinator; Rachel Whiteheart, Environmental Planner | | | | |
