Catching Nature

Volunteering at Danada Equestrian Center in Wheaton the last six years has been a blessing for Deb Yatka.

Nancy Allured has been a DuPage Forest Preserve District volunteer since 2003, first at the native plant nursery at Blackwell Forest Preserve, then bird monitoring at Timber Ridge and then at West Chicago Prairie. She also reports bird data for several other preserves, including Greene Valley Forest Preserve, where she helps migrating hawks in the fall as part of the Hawkwatch program on the scenic overlook.

Rachel Davis has found many ways to connect to nature. She’s an independent artist who works in paint, print and textile processes; she teaches classes in natural dye at Morton Arboretum in Lisle and Lillstreet Art in Chicago. And she teaches preschool at Prairie School of DuPage in Wheaton, an outdoor nature-based program for children ages 3 to 5.

Sheila Liss was looking for new pastimes after retiring from her job as a high school special education teacher. She and her husband had raised their family and lived and worked in Lisle for more than 30 years.

Erika Hoffmann has developed quite a bond with Austin, a mustang at Danada Equestrian Center, since she started volunteering in 2021.

Stephanie Scurtu lives in DuPage County with her husband, Brian, their corn snakes Jimmy and Timmy, and their rats Teddy and Phoebe.

Melissa Koenig spent hours exploring the woods and Lake Michigan growing up in Door County in northern Wisconsin. As a grownup, she likes hiking, dogsledding, skijoring, cross-country skiing and bikejoring.

Before he could even walk, Fred Faller connected to nature growing up in western New York. Now he prefers doing so by bicycle or cross-country skis using online maps and GPS devices.

Nicola Germann is an educator, most recently in elementary education, including general education, special education, and English Language learners. She has also taught and coordinated coursework and corporate training for German, French, Spanish, Latin, and English as a Second Language at the community college level.

One of the paths Lonnie Morris took into nature was gardening as a kid with her father. Her family’s history of gardening has roots in her grandfather’s strawberry farm. Her father expanded what he learned from the farm with a family vegetable garden at Morris’ childhood home.