2021 VIRTUAL District Conference – April 23-24, 2021

Major General Omar Jones was commissioned into the infantry in 1992 following graduation from the US Military Academy at West Point. He has led Soldiers at every echelon from the platoon to the general officer level, to include five commands, and has served with the 82nd Airborne Division, the 1st Cavalry Division, the 4th Infantry Division, the 7th Infantry Division, and the 2nd Cavalry Regiment. General Jones deployed at every rank from second lieutenant through colonel with
service in Panama, Bosnia, Bulgaria, and Kuwait and combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in Operations Research from the U.S. Military Academy, a master’s degree in National Security Strategy from the National War College, and a master’s degree in Public Administration from Harvard University. General Jones currently commands the Joint Force Headquarters for the National Capital Region and the US Army’s Military District of Washington. In that role, he is responsible for conducting homeland defense and civil support to defend and secure our Nation’s Capital. He is also responsible for four Army installations in the region, a range of worldwide Army missions, and all Army and Department of Defense
ceremonies across the Capital Region.

General Jones is a third generation native of Howard County, Maryland and he and his family currently live in Ellicott City.

Doug Tallamy is the T. A. Baker Professor of Agriculture in the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware, where he has authored 104 research publications and has taught insect-related courses for 40 years. Chief among his research goals is to better understand the many ways insects interact with plants and how such interactions determine the diversity of animal communities. His book Bringing Nature Home: How Native Plants Sustain Wildlife in Our Gardens was published by Timber Press in 2007 and was awarded the 2008 Silver Medal by the Garden Writers’ Association. The Living Landscape, co-authored with Rick Darke, was published in 2014. Doug’s new book ‘Nature’s Best Hope’ released by Timber Press in February 2020, is a New York Times Best Seller. Among his awards are the Garden Club of America Margaret Douglas Medal for Conservation and the Tom Dodd, Jr. Award of Excellence, the 2018 AHS B.Y. Morrison Communication Award and the 2019 Cynthia Westcott Scientific Writing Award.