A presentation of the Naturally Better Landscaping Speaker Series
Avalon Theatre • 40 E Dover Street • Easton, MD 21601
Sunday, November 9, 2025 • 2–4 pm
Transforming gardens and green spaces into thriving and resilient ecosystems with Rebecca McMackin.
Ecological horticulturist Rebecca McMackin invites us to reimagine the landscapes around us, not just as places of beauty but as essential habitats that can support biodiversity, respond to climate change, and restore ecological balance. With insight, humor, and a deep understanding of plant and pollinator relationships, she will share how we can transform gardens and green spaces into thriving and resilient ecosystems.
This presentation takes place at the Avalon Theatre in Easton, MD. It is free and open to all. Advance registration is highly recommended.
About Rebecca
Rebecca McMackin is an ecologically obsessed horticulturist and garden designer. She lives in the woods of Connecticut, writing, lecturing, and designing the occasional garden. She is a public servant, dedicated to bringing beauty and biodiversity to all corners of our cities. Her TED Talk has been viewed more than a million times.
Rebecca is the Lead Horticulturist for the American Horticultural Society and a Program Associate for the Harvard Divinity School’s Thinking with Plants & Fungi Initiative. She was a Harvard Loeb Fellow in 2023, studying ecological design, the history of native plant movements, and science communication. She’s been awarded the 2023 Pollinator Advocacy Award from Pollinator Partnership and the 2024 Francis Peters Award from the City Garden Club. Her garden for the Brooklyn Museum won the Perennial Plant Association’s 2024 Award of Excellence.
Prior to all this, Rebecca spent a decade as Director of Horticulture of Brooklyn Bridge Park, where she managed 85 acres of diverse parkland organically and with an eye towards habitat creation for birds, butterflies, and soil microorganisms. Their research into cultivating urban biodiversity and ethical management strategies has influenced thousands of people and entire urban parks systems to adopt similar approaches.
In her imaginary free time, Rebecca lectures and writes about garden politics, landscape management, and pollination ecology. She was VP of the Metro Hort Group in NY and has served on the boards of the Ecological Landscape Alliance and the Torrey Botanical Society. She taught many classes at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden and the New York Botanical Garden. Her writing has been published in the New York Times, the Landscape Institute, and the Ecological Landscape Alliance. Her work has been featured on PBS’s Garden Smart, Margaret Roach’s A Way to Garden, and Jennifer Jewel’s Cultivating Place.
Rebecca holds a M.Sc. in Biology from the University of Victoria, and a M.Sc. in Landscape Design from Columbia University. She lives with her husband, arborist extraordinaire, Christopher Roddick, their 11 year old, and rescue dog, Winterberry.
Photographs courtesy of Rebecca McMackin.
Naturally Better Landscaping Speaker Series
In 2023, 2024, and 2025, Adkins Arboretum received funding from the Chesapeake Bay Trust (CBT) to provide outreach and education to local Homeowner Associations (HOAs) and the general public, supporting environmentally friendly landscaping practices.
This speaker series was developed as part of the Naturally Better Landscaping project, in partnership with ShoreRivers, Eastern Shore Land Conservancy, Pickering Creek, and Phillips Wharf, and is offered free of charge, thanks to funding from CBT and Queen Anne’s County. It is open to the general public. Not all presentations will be held at Adkins Arboretum.
