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.

August 10, 2021

Man Finds Peace Among Horses, Nature

Forest Preserve District of DuPage County

When Lazaro Lara is struggling with something — be it his physical, emotional, psychological health or even social well-being, working with the Danada horses as a volunteer is his...

July 20, 2021

Couple Explores History in Preserves

Forest Preserve District of DuPage County

Brian and Joyce Ostberg are interested in all things history — natural history, pre-history, and general history. In autumn 2020, they started a YouTube channel, dubbed BeHistoric...

July 7, 2021

Exploring Nature Has Many Rewards for Family

Forest Preserve District of DuPage County

Growing up, Nick Papineau got well-acquainted with nature thanks to his parents, who took him hiking, camping and hunting. The COVID-19 pandemic last year prompted Papineau to...

December 9, 2020

Nature Helps Couple Transition into Retirement

Forest Preserve District of DuPage County

Throughout the years, nature and DuPage forest preserves have played an important role in Debby and Tom Gerhardstein’s lives as they raised their family and pursued careers.

November 23, 2020

Native Plants Connect Man to Nature

Forest Preserve District of DuPage County

John Opila and his wife Gail enjoy exploring DuPage forest preserves on foot or by bicycle. They’re also into native plant landscaping and gardening.

November 5, 2020

Woman Catches Nature Through Photography

Forest Preserve District of DuPage County

Susan Nix has always had the nature bug. She has wonderful memories of taking her kids for nature walks through the woods.

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...

September 21, 2020

Woman Shares Her Love of Nature with Others

Forest Preserve District of DuPage County

Jill Spealman recently retired from 33 years of corporate IT training and 4 years of public school teaching. But she’s not done teaching yet!