Mary Walsh

Mary Walsh has always thought of Highland Park as her favorite place to rest, relax and rejuvenate.  She first gained a love of the outdoors when, as a young child, she would play in Corbett’s Glen, named after her great grandfather Patrick Corbett who built the home in the Glen where her grandmother and father grew up.  Her grandmother always had a deep connection to Highland Park and would talk about how she always looked forward to “Lilac Sunday”. Mary has maintained her strong connection with nature both in her work and through various volunteer activities. She currently teaches environmental studies at Saint John Fisher College and the University of Prince Edward Island, Canada. She previously served as Director of the Leadership Training Institute for the National League of Cities in Washington, DC where she developed conferences and seminars for elected officials on topics that included environmental issues. She also served as the City Manager of Missoula, Montana, and the Manager of Training for the city of Rochester, New York. Mary was an editor with McGraw-Hill publishing company and is the author of a number of books and reports on environmental topics. Her most recent publication is Gardening in a Warming World (2017) for Cornell University’s Garden-Based Learning Program. As part of her work with Cornell she designed and delivered the Cornell University Organic and Sustainable Gardening in a Warming World Conference held in 2013. Mary is a Master Gardener and a volunteer with the Monroe County Cornell Cooperative Extension, the Eastman Museum Gardens, the Olmsted Park subcommittee of the Landmark Society and the Highland Park Conservancy. She holds a Master of Public Administration degree from New York University.