Green Team

It’s a beautiful autumn day as you walk around the NCI Frederick campus taking in the fall breeze. You can hear birds chirping in their birdhouses near the Old Farm Gate, newly planted trees swaying in the wind, and you can almost picture the bees that will be buzzing around the recently added pollinator garden.

This is the work of the Green Team Initiative—a diverse group of individuals working to make the campus more environmentally friendly.

A hawk circles high above NCI Frederick. A blackbird hops along a steam pipe, its talons clicking on the metal. Sparrows flit from tree to tree. Geese are gathered on the grass. Birds are regular visitors to NCI Frederick, and thanks to a months-long project, some now have a better chance to make the campus their home this spring.

Four young trees will soon have a home on the NCI Frederick campus, thanks to the NCI Frederick Green Team. The group is hosting an event to plant them on Tuesday, November 15, as part of an initiative to beautify the workplace and increase its ecological health. All employees are invited to attend and help.

The grounds around Building 1071 on the NCI at Frederick campus are about to receive a new ecological improvement network. It won’t come with complex equipment, nor will it add to the campus’ ubiquitous metallic sheen of steam pipes or modules encasing crucial apparatus. Instead, passersby will only see five saplings.

Take a Hike Day – September 19

Occupational Health Services and the R&W Club teamed up again to hold Take a Hike Day on September 19. About 45 employees walked or jogged the 1.3-mile course around Fort Detrick during their lunch hours. The event is designed to encourage employees to engage in physical activity, according to Sarah Hooper, RN, manager of OHS. Sports pouch kits that included a water bottle, sunscreen, and an exercise band were given out as prizes to those employees who correctly answered walking trivia questions.  The next Take a Hike Day will be held in the spring.

By Carolynne Keenan, Contributing Writer

Those looking for a cost-effective way to spruce up their yards this spring can stop by the National Cancer Institute at Frederick Green Team’s booth during the Spring Research Festival (SRF) on May 7 and 8. Pick up a free plant, donate overgrown plants from your yard, or swap for a new plant.

Everyone is invited to participate in the swap, whether you have plants to donate or not.

By Carolynne Keenan, Contributing Writer

What started out as a way for Howard Young, Ph.D., to thin out his garden last fall turned into the NCI at Frederick Green Team’s Plant Swap. The group held its Fall Plant Swap on October 24, encouraging all members of the Fort Detrick community to pick up a free plant or swap a plant of theirs for another.

“Those who love to garden introduce others to the joy of gardening,” said Dolores Winterstein, a member of the Green Team and the coordinator of the Fall Plant Swap.

Courtesy of the NCI at Frederick Green Team

The NCI at Frederick Green Team received a Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Green Champion Award honorable mention in June for the team’s plant swap initiative, begun in October 2012. 

“The Green Team has been doing a great job this past year, and it is wonderful that their efforts have been recognized by the HHS through the Green Champion Awards,” said Craig Reynolds, Ph.D., director of the NCI Office of Scientific Operations (OSO). 

By Melissa Porter, Staff Writer

Spring Plant Swap 2013

This past October, you may have seen several members of the Green Team standing in front of Building 549 giving out free plants or offering to take extra plants off your hands—this was the first Green Team Fall Plant Swap.

Courtesy of the FNL Green Team

Melissa Porter, who recently joined the staff of Craig Reynolds, Ph.D., director, Office of Scientific Operations, as administrative manager, has stepped forward to lead the Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research (FNL) Green Team in its efforts to promote a “green” work environment. “I am excited to lead the FNL Green Team and have been impressed by the enthusiasm and commitment of the FNL Green Team,” Porter said.