Chapter Program “Prairie Renaissance: The Role of Native Plants in Education, Culture, and Resilience”

In the past decade, Houston has experienced a prairie renaissance, marked by the development of numerous prominent pocket prairies on school and university campuses. These native plantings serve as educational tools and resilience infrastructure. Join Della Barbato, Director of Education for the Native Prairies Association of Texas, as she discusses the significance and ecosystem services of native plants and prairies. Topics will include the history of coastal prairies, their cultural influence, the implementation of school pocket prairies, and the importance of native plants for wildlife and pollinators.

About our presenter: Della Barbato, Director of Education, Native Prairies Association of Texas has served as NPAT’s Director of Education for the Deer Park Prairie since April 2018. She facilitates student and adult prairie programs, teacher workshops and field trips at schools, organizations, and on site at Deer Park Prairie. A Texas Master Naturalist (TMN) since 2006, she trains teachers other TMNs about the importance and benefits of prairies, native plants and pollinators. She collaborates and partners with other environmental organizations in the Houston area. She developed a Prairie Learning Trunk and other activities for her Prairie Programs and field trips.
Della has previously served as Education Director for two local environmental non-profits and is a board trustee for the Citizens Environmental Coalition. She is a former Montessori middle school science teacher and seed biology technician. Della has a B.S. and M.S. in horticulture from Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, with a focus on seed physiology.
Della enjoys being in nature, biking, hiking, wildlife photography, bird watching and scuba diving. Her greatest passion is travel. She has visited 29 countries.

Coastal Prairie Chapter programs are free and open to the public. This program will be held in-person at the Rosenberg Civic Center, 3825 TX-36, Rosenberg, TX 77471. A virtual option is available (information below). Please plan to arrive at our new time of 6:00 pm for social time and refreshments. The program starts at 7 pm.

Chapter members and the public may also attend via Zoom. Advance registration is required for attendance by Zoom. After registering below, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. 

TMNs Log in VMS under AT:  Native Prairie Assoc. – NPAT, HNPAT

NO ZOOM option due to connectivity issues after Beryl. Sorry for the inconvenience. The in-person meeting is still on.