Catching Nature

June 21, 2022

Birding, Volunteering Connect Woman to Nature

Forest Preserve District of DuPage County

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...

March 8, 2022

Woman Pursues Passion for Nature

Forest Preserve District of DuPage County

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

November 30, 2021

Love of Nature Fuels Woman's Activism

Forest Preserve District of DuPage County

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...

February 23, 2021

Scientist Explores Nature in Detail

Forest Preserve District of DuPage County

Andrew Hipp enjoys being outside, canoeing, biking and exploring.

October 20, 2020

Man Finds True Calling in Nature

Forest Preserve District of DuPage County

Denis Kania graduated from college with a degree in computer science and worked in applications development for more than 20 years. By then, he had grown tired of the corporate...

March 25, 2020

Nature is a Classroom for Teacher

Forest Preserve District of DuPage County

Kiel Smith is a firm believer that there is much to learn from nature. The science teacher at Metea Valley High School in Aurora is also a steward of the Forest Preserve...

July 24, 2019

Making a Home for Bluebirds

Forest Preserve District of DuPage County

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

July 12, 2019

Finding Mindfulness in Nature

Forest Preserve District of DuPage County

Connie SchmidtOutdoor 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...

June 25, 2019

Finding a Sweet Spot for Nature

Forest Preserve District of DuPage County

Alicia DonovanVolunteer 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...

June 12, 2019

Lombard Man a Jack-of-all-Trades for Nature

Forest Preserve District of DuPage County

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...