Erin Marteal

Erin Marteal has been exploring and advocating for the human-garden
connection through numerous and varied angles for years, from growing food for her own family to leading living classroom garden projects at local elementary schools.

Marteal has worked with the Cornell Garden-Based Learning Institute,
Ithaca Children's Garden Education Committee, and Ithaca Community Gardens developing educational programs for garden settings. She has made presentations to various community groups about the benefits of school gardening and wants to study how public gardens are engaging successfully with local schools and communities.

Through Plantations' MPS program, Marteal hopes to build on her skills in promoting gardens as essential educational settings for all ages,
cultures, and backgrounds, focusing on food and urban gardening themes
within community outreach programs.  Say's Marteal, "The garden is the
best laboratory for understanding and improving the human-environment
relationship."