Certificates in Native Plant Studies were awarded to ten graduates on Sunday, October 2, 2011 at New England Wild Flower Society's Annual Native Plant Lecture and Certificate Awards Program. Graduates complete a series of core courses, electives, and field trips as well as fulfilling a native plant community service requirement.  The Society is very proud of their accomplishments on behalf of native plants throughout New England.

Alan Anacheka-Nasemann - Certificate with a Focus on Field Botany

Alan put together a two-day program of natural history activities, field games, family-friendly excursions and sing-alongs for his church Family Camp this past August in the Adirondacks.

Leslie Ardison -Certificate with a Focus on Field Botany

Leslie serves as a Plant Conservation Volunteer, focusing her work in the Worcester area and northwards, and helped with care and weeding of our stock-beds here at the Garden.

Joel Carlson - Advanced Certificate with a Focus on Field Botany

Joel volunteered for the Barnstable Land Trust this past winter completing two projects: a baseline documentation of seven acres of woodland and riverfront and a determination of the bounds of a four acres parcel of woodland near the town’s wellfields. 

Risa Edelstein - Certificate with a Focus on Horticulture and Design

Risa designed a native plant garden for the Marshfield Recreation Center that included a rain garden and a dry creek that helps with storm-water runoff from their parking lot.

Catherine Goldring - Certificate with a Focus on Field Botany

Catherine volunteered with the Massachusetts Horticultural Society at Elm Bank working with children on a gardening project, explaining butterfly metamorphosis and dependence on native plants, and helping with garden maintenance.

Diane Kelly - Certificate with a Focus on Field Botany

Diane put together a comprehensive list of 411 native ferns, grasses, perennials, trees, shrubs and vines plants as a reference for their use in horticulture, with characteristics like bloomtime, color, preferred habitat, wildlife value and so on.

Lisa Mattei - Certificate with a Focus on Horticulture and Design

Lisa assisted the Society by volunteering her time and expertise as a graphic artist to our Communications Department, working with images of native plants for our publications. She also has had some fun helping with Earth Day celebrations over the years.

Aisling O'Shea - Certificate with a Focus on Field Botany

Aisling serves as a Plant Conservation Volunteer doing surveys of rare plants. She is working with the Somerville Growing Center and staffed an information table for the Society this past spring at the Arlington Ecofest.

Charles Walla - Advanced Certificate with a Focus on Field Botany

Chuck  set up a system of online book sales for our library here at Garden in the Woods, involving pricing books on botany and horticulture, setting them up for online sales, and then managing the sale itself.  It has been an enormous help to the funding of our library collection.

Ellen Withrow - Certificate with a Focus on Horticulture and Design

Ellen joined the board of the Lincoln Land Conservation Trust and Rural Land Foundation in her home town of Lincoln, MA and worked on several projects to remove invasive plants like garlic mustard and water chestnut. 

Image left to right:  Lisa Mattei; Aisling O'Shea; Alan Anacheka-Nasemann (missing from photo Leslie Ardison, Joel Carlson, Risa Edelstein, Catherine Goldring, Diane Kelly, Charles Walla, Ellen Withrow)