Howard Hemming, left, with HarborLAB volunteer Gil Lopez at :the Smiling Hog’s Head Ranch urban farm in LIC. The HarborLAB launch will be stabilized and beautified with plantings (many of them edible) under Lopez’s landscape design direction and in consultation with the NY State Department of Environmental Conservation. Photo by Erik Baard.

HarborLAB welcomes a new board member, Howard Hemmings! Mr. Hemmings is a Community Coordinator with the Department of Resident Engagement at the NYC Housing Authority (NYCHA). His leadership further ensures that HarborLAB will always, and with emphasis, serve the youth who most need science educational inspiration and healthy, outdoor recreation. We look forward to including free HarborLAB activities in NYCHA community calendars and newsletters, to growing with NYCHA resident volunteers and future leaders, and to helping NYCHA residents start their own environmental and paddling programs.

This is our current Board of Directors:

• Erik Baard, Founder.
• Lisa Belfast, Manager After School Programs, Hour Children.
• Howard Hemmings, Community Coordinator, Department of Resident Engagement, NYCHA.
• Joel Kupferman, Esq. Founder of the NY Environmental Law and Justice Project.
• Holly Porter-Morgan, Ph.D. Director CUNY LaGuardia Community College Environmental Science Program.
• Scott Sternbach, CUNY LaGuardia Community College Photography Program Director.

Mr. Hemmings is a graduate of Colgate University. He serves as a delegate of the Social Service Employees Union Local 371. For the past fifteen years he has served as a  Garden Coordinator for the New York City Housing Authority where he strives to provide environmental education opportunities for youth and seniors. NYCHA’s Garden and Greening program is the largest and oldest such program in the U.S.

Mr. Hemmings is a Bronx resident who grew up in Bushwick Brooklyn. He’s an avid bicyclist and community gardener.

We’re thrilled to be enlightened by Mr. Hemmings’ wisdom born of studies and experiences with this vital population. Thank you, Mr. Hemmings!