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Shelley joined the Echinacea Project in 2015 making her the newest addition to our team of citizen scientists. During her brief time with the Echinacea Project, she has helped clean Echinacea heads and randomize achenes. Shelley has long been fascinated with prairies. She planted her very own prairie restoration and volunteers as a land steward at Wadsworth Prairie Nature Preserve. In her spare time, Shelley enjoys spending time outdoors restoring the native habitats on her property and exploring local natural areas.
This is one in a series of profiles recognizing the hard work and dedication of citizen scientists volunteering for the Echinacea Project at the Chicago Botanic Garden.
After retiring from a career as an industrial chemist, Aldo began volunteering at the Chicago Botanic Garden where he worked to restore and manage the Garden’s native habitats. Aldo joined our team of citizen scientists in 2001. While working with the Echinacea Project, he has cleaned Echinacea heads and counted many achenes. In fact, Aldo has counted nearly 200,000 Echinacea achenes! During his research career, Aldo helped develop numerous products used in the agriculture and horticulture industries. He holds more than 40 U.S. Patents!
This is one in a series of profiles recognizing the hard work and dedication of citizen scientists volunteering for the Echinacea Project at the Chicago Botanic Garden.
After Susan retired from her career as a nurse practitioner, she joined her sister and began volunteering at the Chicago Botanic Garden in 2011. Though she spends spring and summer working in the rose garden, Susan volunteers her time to the Echinacea Project during the winter months. She contributes to our research by cleaning Echinacea heads and counting achenes (she has counted 30,000 achenes!). Outside of her work at the Garden, Susan enjoys spending time biking, golfing, and spending time outdoors.
This is one in a series of profiles recognizing the hard work and dedication of citizen scientists volunteering for the Echinacea Project at the Chicago Botanic Garden.
After retiring from a career in sales, Bob’s lifelong enthusiasm for the outdoors led him to begin volunteering with the Chicago Botanic Garden. While working in the Garden’s prairies and woodlands, Bob helped plant native prairie, cleared brush, identified insects, and even discovered his artistic talents while sketching fungal specimens. Since joining the Echinacea Project in 2001, he has counted over 200,000 achenes! Outside of the lab, Bob remains active with the Boy Scouts of America and continues to cultivate his artistic talents through painting and photography.
This is one in a series of profiles recognizing the hard work and dedication of citizen scientists volunteering for the Echinacea Project at the Chicago Botanic Garden.
Marty, a retired high school chemistry teacher, began volunteering at the Chicago Botanic Garden in 2004. Although she remains skeptical of biology, Marty grew up gardening and enjoyed working with plants in the production garden. She joined the Echinacea Project in 2014 and has been busy scanning and counting Echinacea achenes. In her spare time, Marty enjoys spending time outdoors at her summer home in Maine. She also competes regularly in the senior Olympics with her volleyball team!
This is one in a series of profiles recognizing the hard work and dedication of citizen scientists volunteering for the Echinacea Project at the Chicago Botanic Garden.
Anne joined the Echinacea Project’s volunteer team in 2007 after learning about volunteer opportunities with the Chicago Botanic Garden through her local garden club. During her time with the Echinacea Project, she has helped with nearly every lab task from cleaning heads to counting achenes. In fact, Anne has counted more than 300,000 achenes! She also volunteers with the Garden’s seed bank helping to clean and prepare seeds for future habitat restoration. Outside of her work at the Chicago Botanic Garden, Anne works part time and is an active member of her church congregation.
This is one in a series of profiles recognizing the hard work and dedication of citizen scientists volunteering for the Echinacea Project at the Chicago Botanic Garden.
In 1993, Art retired from the Sears footwear department but he was in no hurry to occupy his spare time until one fateful day at the Chicago Botanic Garden. During this visit, Art asked a volunteer what volunteers at the Garden do. The woman replied, “WE HAVE FUN!” With those three words, Art was convinced and he has since devoted 21 years and over 11,000 volunteer hours to the Chicago Botanic Garden. Art joined the Echinacea Project just over 10 years ago. He primarily weighs achenes to determine whether they contain fertilized embryos (he has weighed more than 100,000 Echinacea achenes!) but Art has also written detailed lab protocols for weighing and x-raying achenes. Outside of his work at the Garden, Art enjoys swimming and gardening.
This is one in a series of profiles recognizing the hard work and dedication of citizen scientists volunteering for the Echinacea Project at the Chicago Botanic Garden.
After retiring from a career in which he wore a number of different caps (physicist, mathematician, professor of computer science and rocket scientist to name a few), Lou began volunteering at the Chicago Botanic Garden in 1993. Lou has put the full range of his diverse skillset to use at the Garden. For the Echinacea Project, Lou has written a computer program to mathematically describe flowering phenology in Echinacea, built face shields and scanning trays to help process Echinacea achenes in the lab, and constructed survey grids to help us locate seedlings in the field. Most recently, he created a device to help us calibrate the levels on our GPS units. In his spare time, Lou enjoys woodworking.
This is one in a series of profiles recognizing the hard work and dedication of citizen scientists volunteering for the Echinacea Project at the Chicago Botanic Garden.
After retiring from a career as a preschool teacher, Leslie began volunteering at the Chicago Botanic Garden. Although her initial volunteer work involved maintaining the outdoor gardens, she soon joined the Echinacea Project and has been a member of our volunteer team since 2009. In the lab, Leslie specializes in quality control. She checks each envelope of cleaned Echinacea material to ensure that it will produce clean scans and x-ray images. Leslie is an avid gardener and is currently enrolled in the Illinois Master Gardener course. She also enjoys attending vintage car races with her husband.
This is one in a series of profiles recognizing the hard work and dedication of citizen scientists volunteering for the Echinacea Project at the Chicago Botanic Garden.
Bill, a former state attorney, began volunteering at the Chicago Botanic Garden after his retirement in 2002. In his time at the Botanic Garden, Bill has removed invasive species from the Botanic Garden’s restored habitats, monitored rare plants through the Plants of Concern program, and helped clean and count Echinacea achenes. Since joining the Echinacea Project, he has counted over 340,000 achenes! Outside of the lab, Bill enjoys playing the piano and collecting stamps from around the world.
This is one in a series of profiles recognizing the hard work and dedication of citizen scientists volunteering for the Echinacea Project at the Chicago Botanic Garden.
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