Stewarding our Urban Watersheds

The Peale’s exhibition on The Future of Here: is an invitation to engage with the human impact on the waterways of the Jones Falls watershed, while also imagining a more symbiotic and hopeful time to come for our watershed and the planet. The Jones Falls was once so polluted by local industries that the city forced it into underground tunnels and culverts many decades ago. Reminders of that history and all the objects that people still leave behind – soda cans, rusty machine parts, plastic toys, broken glass – can be found everywhere along our streams. Artifacts within the exhibit force us to grapple with the intractable clash of our culture of disposability and the delicate ecosystems that envelop us. The exhibit asks us to imagine how we can be better future ancestors today to leave behind a healthier, thriving ecosystem for our distant children and more-than-human kin. Such work undoubtedly requires the collective action and care of our community, a central theme of this discussion.

This event will explore how local organizations working at the forefront of efforts for clean water and a healthy watershed envision the future of the Jones Falls watershed and how their respective organizations conceptualize the work that is needed to achieve their core mission. This discussion panel includes representatives from Blue Water Baltimore, Friends of the Jones Falls, Friends of Stony Run, and Chesapeake Bay Trust and will offer an opportunity for community members to learn about current conditions of the Jones Falls watershed, what efforts have been and are being done to care for our waterways, and both low-lift and higher commitment ways to directly contribute to these efforts.

Participating Organizations

As one of the largest environmental nonprofits in Baltimore, Blue Water Baltimore serves as a trusted watchdog and engaged protector of Baltimore’s waterways. Blue Water Baltimore’s mission is to restore the quality of Baltimore’s rivers, streams and Harbor to foster a healthy environment, a strong economy and thriving communities. Their dedicated team of scientists, arborists, horticulturalists, and advocates work every day for clean waterways and healthy neighborhoods in our city.

Friends of Stony Run is a volunteer-based organization dedicated to the protection and enjoyment of the entire Stony Run stream valley. They organize several events each year to bring volunteers together in action and work with local schools, businesses, churches and scout troops to plan impactful projects for their volunteers throughout the watershed.

Established in 2018, the Friends of The Jones Falls, Inc. is a volunteer-based organization incorporated to support and sustain the quality of life and long-term stewardship of the Jones Falls from the headwaters in Baltimore County to the Inner Harbor. Their mission is to engage communities of the Jones Falls Watershed to preserve, protect, enhance, and conserve the environmental integrity while promoting sustainable development of the Jones Falls and its watershed.

The Chesapeake Bay Trust is a nonprofit grant-making organization dedicated to improving the watersheds of the Chesapeake Bay, Maryland Coastal Bays, and Youghiogheny River. Created in 1985 by the Maryland General Assembly, our goal is to increase stewardship through grant programs, special initiatives, and partnerships that support K-12 environmental education, on-the-ground watershed restoration, community engagement, and the underlying science of these three realms.

Our discussion will be led by environmental anthropologist, Anand Pandian.

Anand Pandian is a professor of anthropology at Johns Hopkins University. Together with artist Jordan Tierney, he helped develop The Future of Here. His books include Something Between Us: The Everyday Walls of American Life and How to Take Them Down, forthcoming this spring from Stanford University Press. He also serves as a curator of the Ecological Design Collective, a community for radical ecological imagination and collaborative practice.

Meet the Panelists

Sarah Holter is the Water Quality Program Manager at Blue Water Baltimore. She manages the programmatic field operations of the Waterkeeper team through water quality monitoring, data management, and coordination of field volunteers. Being in close proximity to a body of water (fresh, brackish, or salty!) is Sarah’s MO, and she can often be found en route to a swimming hole with her dog and some watercolors.

John Marra is the Community Program Manager at Blue Water Baltimore. He manages and leads many of our eco-literacy programs, engagement activities, and green infrastructure projects. As an Eagle Scout since 1999, Americorps member, and a founding member of the Baltimore Rock Opera Society, John Marra strongly believes in the importance of teamwork, kindness, and time spent outside.

Sandy Sparks is the president of Friends of the Jones Falls. She is a retired Graphic Designer and Founding President, 1986, for Friends of Marylands’ Olmsted Parks and Landscapes and lives in Baltimore City. Ms. Sparks has been the publications designer for The Olmstedian monographs, since the 1990s. She has served as a tour guide for national/regional conferences in Baltimore, requesting Olmsted overview and as a tour guide for Wyman Park Dell and surrounding communities.

Melissa Campanella is a former high school science teacher and current research associate whose work focuses on the design of learning environments to support science and civic learning. She moved to Baltimore in 2021 to be with her long term partner, who was born and raised in the city. She attended a Non Native Invasive vine removal event hosted by The Friends of The Jones Falls in November 2023 and has been involved in a collective effort to adaptively manage the area of the trail between North Avenue and 29th street ever since.

Sarah Koser joined the Chesapeake Bay Trust in 2019. At the Trust she supports the restoration programs that include implementation projects, research efforts, and innovative county watershed and citizen engagement grant programs. She has a background in wetlands and environmental restoration with a M.S. in Environmental Engineering from Johns Hopkins University and a B.S. in Biology/Botany from the Pennsylvania State University. Sarah’s work focuses on watershed restoration and stormwater management to support policy, training, and outreach initiatives. At the Trust, Sarah enjoys working with partners to form strong grant programs that benefit the water and people in the Chesapeake Bay.

Host or Publisher The Peale Center for Baltimore History and Architecture