IOWA CITY, Iowa — Johnson County Master Gardeners and Hills Bank invite the public to attend the Community Speaker Series 2025 on Sunday, March 2, at the Extension Office, 3109 Old Hwy 218 S., Iowa City. The programs highlight soil health, native prairies and the Monarch Research Station in Marion, Iowa. Registration is required and attendance is limited to room capacity.
The free event will also be streamed live.
See more details from the Johnson County Master Gardeners:
Gardeners and anyone looking to expand their knowledge about healthy ecosystems are invited to attend a Community Speakers Series 2025 hosted by the Johnson County Master Gardeners and Hills Bank.
The presentations focus on soil health, prairie restoration and the Monarch Research Station in Marion. The free program is open to community members and designed to give gardeners of all experience levels the confidence to create beautiful, functional gardens.
The program will be presented in person on Sunday, March 2, from 1–4:30 p.m., at the Johnson County Extension Office, 3109 Old Hwy 218 South, Iowa City. There is no fee to participate, however, registration is required at https://go.iastate.edu/XR8GMT and attendance is limited to room capacity.
Three one-hour presentations will be featured.
Hillary Olson, Natural Resources Conservation Service State Soil Health Specialist, and Jeremy “JD” Hollingsworth, SE Iowa NRCS Soil Health Specialist, will address “Building Soil Health.” Olson has worked as a Soil Conservationist in multiple field offices across Iowa. This native Iowan was raised on a family row crop and farrow-to-finish hog farm in central Iowa. She received a B.S. in Animal Science and an M.S. in Soil Science from Iowa State University. Olson and her husband farm in central Iowa and have a row crop operation and a cow-calf herd. Hollingsworth worked as a Soil Conservation Technician, district technician, watershed coordinator, and Civil Engineering Technician, and at a private research farm before joining NRCS. He earned a B.S. in Agronomy from ISU. Hollingsworth lives near Packwood in southeast Iowa with his wife and two children, and farms with his Dad on the family farm. In 2013, the Hollingsworths began using no-till and cover crops and now utilize no-till and cover crops on all the acres they farm. They have raised cereal rye for cover crop seed since 2019.
Mike Fallon, University of Iowa adjunct instructor, will present “Prairie Restoration.” Mike has taught a field course at the UI Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences. Mike co-wrote the design plan for the Ashton Prairie Living Laboratory (APLL) and helped secure permission from the UI Dept. of Athletics to restore the 1-acre prototype prairie at the UI Ashton Cross Country Course. Mike and former UI undergraduate Megan Lenss were awarded a grant from UI USG to purchase native plant seeds for APLL. Prairie Restoration students hand-broadcasted the native plant seed for 1-acre and 7-acre prairie restorations at APLL. Mike is a strong advocate for both the ecological restoration of former and degraded native landscapes and experiential learning in living laboratories on the UI campus and in natural areas. Previously, Mike owned and operated Native Landscaping, L.L.C., a landscaping company that specialized in restoring native landscapes (prairie, savanna, and woodland).
Cedar Rapids native August “Augie” Bergstrom is the Station Manager at the “Monarch Research Project” in Marion. Before taking on the role of Station Manager, Bergstrom studied ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Michigan. The nonprofit organization was established in 2015 to restore and rebuild green infrastructure to support the Monarch butterfly and other native animal life in the local ecosystem and community. Bergstrom is a knowledgeable ambassador for Monarchs and native plants and frequently gives informative presentations about the butterfly’s life cycle and how to protect and build habitats.
Attendance provides continuing education credit hours. The presentation will also be streamed live on City Channel 4. The program will be recorded for rebroadcast on the City Channel 4 YouTube channel – https://citychannel4.com/live-video.html.
Program participants are encouraged to bring a reusable/refillable water bottle to the program and adopt our initiative to avoid using single-use plastics: Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. Everything we can do to help our environment makes a difference.
Note: If the weather presents hazardous travel issues, an alternate date of Sunday, March 24, has been chosen. Weather updates will be posted to social media and the JCMG Blog – https://jcmg-thymes.com/.
Organized in 1982, the Johnson County Master Gardener program is an educational and volunteer service organization of the Iowa State University (ISU) College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and ISU Extension and Outreach. JCMG supports a variety of education and community service outreach programs. Funds support Master Gardener programs, projects and operations, including Kirkwood horticulture scholarships and 4-H awards.
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