Catching Nature

Bruce Blake spent much of his childhood playing outside. But he credits an aunt with teaching him to appreciate nature.

Petra Sliwiak knew she had to change her life. At 40 years old she faced myriad health issues, suffered from depression and couldn’t sleep

I’m originally from Washington state, having lived in both a rural area, near the hills and rivers of the Cascade Mountains, and urban Seattle. I moved to the Chicago region for work.

Kathy and I are both retired, but we like to remain active. We each volunteer for various organizations both together and individually. Most of these organizations are nature focused.

Ron Olsen spends many hours at The Preserve at Oak Meadows golf course in the summer, but he doesn’t golf.

Connie Schmidt Outdoor enthusiast I have lived in Warrenville in DuPage County since 1982, raising two children with my husband Michael. We board horses and have chickens, dogs and multiple garden areas. I love my wildflower garden in the spring, cultivate perennial veggies as well as the traditional annual varieties in the summer, and enjoy awesome autumn color in my native prairie area in my front yard.

Alicia Donovan Volunteer beekeeper I'm a volunteer beekeeper at Kline Creek Farm in West Chicago. I’ve been part of their beekeeping program for over a year. I got interested in honey bees three years ago after taking a Bees and Veterinary Medicine course taught by Meghan Milbrath at Michigan State University. After the first class I was hooked. Honey bees are fascinating and I wanted to learn as much as I could about them. I continued my honey bee education and attended beekeeping classes at the University of Minnesota’s Bee Lab. I love learning about bees and other pollinators.

Jimmy Tyson learned from his father the importance of being a jack-of-all- trades in his approach to work, but Tyson has expanded that principle to his approach to nature and volunteering.

Heidi Carpenter History buff, nature photographer, tree lover I’ve loved nature from the time I was a small child. I moved from the north suburbs to Chicago to go to Columbia College and lived there for eight years.

Jane Halbur Trail Watch volunteer, nature photographer I’ve been interested in nature since early on, but I didn’t discover the DuPage forest preserves until about 2008 when I started walking around Herrick Lake Forest Preserve on my lunch hours. From there of course I discovered some of the others. Then I saw the sign for volunteers about four years ago and decided since I was already walking/enjoying the forest preserves, I might as well find out about the volunteer program.