People and Happenings
People and Happenings
proper disposal of the Cemetery’ s hazardous materials, but also advises employees about proper disposal of hazardous materials that are found in their homes. Sustainable culture is not only part of Mount Auburn’ s mission, but is a lifestyle choice being adopted by members of our staff – a sustainable approach to living.
Mount Auburn Welcomes Two New Staff Members
This past summer Mount Auburn welcomed two new additions to the staff.
Regina Harrison, Executive Assistant to President Dave Barnett, came to Mount Auburn following several years as an Administrative Assistant in the Office of Chancellor / President Emeritus John Silber at Boston University. This experience combined with her background in anthropology and a stint in the U. S. Forest Service made Mount Auburn a natural fit. Regina has an A. B. from the University of Chicago and an M. A. from McGill University. She lives in Arlington, Mass., with her husband, Mathew Fuller, and she enjoys dance and music.
Lauren Marsh joined Mount Auburn as the Development Associate and Communications Coordinator. For the previous five years, Lauren taught high school English in her Regina Harrison( left) and Lauren hometown of Wakefield, Mass. Marsh
Prior to that, she worked as
Marketing Associate for the North Shore Music Theatre. She has a B. A. in English from Merrimack College and an M. A. in Writing and Publishing from Emerson College. She lives in Cambridge with her husband, Paul, and writes fiction in her spare time.
Staff News and Travel
President Dave Barnett attended several events throughout the fall of 2009 including the Massachusetts Horticultural Society Honorary Medals Awards Dinner in Wellesley, Mass., and the Watertown / Belmont Chamber of Commerce Awards Dinner in Watertown, Mass., in October. On January 5, 2010, he began the new year by speaking about Mount Auburn Cemetery at the Northeastern Weed Science Society’ s Annual Meeting in Cambridge. Also in late January, he attended the Annual Meeting of Directors of Large Gardens in Santa Barbara, Calif.
In June 2010, he plans to attend the Annual Conference of the American Public Gardens Association in Atlanta, Ga., where he is scheduled to speak on a panel.
Family Services Coordinator Tom Johnson and Senior Custodian Jose Rivera completed Cremation Association of North America( CANA) Cremation Certification last September.
Chief of Conservation Dave Gallagher will attend the Annual Meeting of the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works( AIC) May 11-14 in Milwaukee, Wis. He will also complete a course on masonry conservation in New York City through RESTORE, a nonprofit educational corporation that offers a range of programs and services related to the technology of building conservation.
Members of our Horticulture staff attended the New England Grows conference in Boston in February.
Seven staff members also attended the Ecological Landscaping Association Annual Conference on February 25 in Springfield, Mass.
Horticultural Curator Dennis Collins taught a class on conifers at the Arnold Arboretum on November 7, 2009. In addition, he spoke at the Trees in the Urban Landscape Symposium at the Tower Hill Botanic Garden in Boylston, Mass., on November 13, and he appeared as a panelist at Northeastern University on February 22, for a screening of bestselling author, journalist, speaker, and environmentalist Paul Tukey’ s new documentary film, A Chemical Reaction, which is about the organic lawn care movement.
Superintendent of Grounds Paul Walker and Dennis Collins arranged a trip to New York for gardening, arboriculture, and greenhouse staff in October 2009. The group visited Battery Park City, Brooklyn Botanic Garden and Green-Wood Cemetery( Brooklyn) to look at materials recycling, composting techniques, and the application of compost and compost teas in the landscape. The information obtained will be extremely helpful in clarifying our goals and strategies as we move toward making all of our maintenance practices more environmentally sensitive and sustainable.
A Milestone!
Volunteer Frances G. Pratt of Cambridge, who has been working with Historical Collections since 2004, processed her 10,000th folder on December 22, 2009, while pulling work order cards as part of a major lot correspondence processing project.
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