Grow Native! Committee (2015). Photo: Mervin Wallace

Grow Native! Committee

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Ronda Burnett

Committee chair

Missouri Department of Conservation

Ronda Burnett has been a Community Conservation Planner with the Missouri Department of Conservation since 2005. She helps communities connect to nature and enjoy the enhanced quality of life made possible by healthy fish, forest, and wildlife resources. Ronda holds a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture from Louisiana State University and a Master of Urban, Environmental, and Land Use Planning from the University of Kansas.

simon barker

Simon Barker

Barker Horticultural Services

Co-owner of Barker Horticultural Services LLC, Simon pursues thoughtful approaches to landscaping and

always strives for innovation. There are many approaches to design, execution and stewardship for landscapes. Using different techniques, gleaned from a lifetime of experiences, Simon melds beautiful and functional landscapes from clients’ ideas and by reading the site.

Native plants and ecosystems have become a major palette that Simon draws from in the past 20, or more, years. Their resilience, beauty and ecosystem function as well as their great diversity provides inspiration and a vast repertoire to draw from.

His work ranges from small residential landscapes to large corporate campuses and public spaces. Design, execution and long term stewardship carry ideas and vision from a first discussion to mature and long lived, beautiful landscapes.

Ethan Braasch portrait

Ethan Braasch

Lewis and Clark Community College

Ethan Braasch is the Manager of Sustainability and Campus Environment for Lewis and Clark Community College. After 8 years of experience in grounds management, ecological restoration, and environmental conservation, Ethan began spearheading Lewis and Clark’s sustainability initiatives in the summer of 2023. In this current role, Ethan still oversees landscape and greenhouse operations on campus and fundraising for the Monticello Sculpture Gardens. Having been involved in numerous prairie restorations at Lewis and Clark, Ethan is dedicated to the promotion of native plantings across Southern Illinois and beyond. Ethan currently serves as the chairman of the master site planning committee at St. Paul Lutheran Church, where he and the other committee members from the congregation endeavor to rebuild the primary school that he attended growing up. Ethan graduated from the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana in 2015 with a degree in natural resource conservation. He studied ecotourism in Costa Rica, and then went on to work in several National Parks with the Utah Conservation Corps. Ethan recently moved to a small cattle ranch near his family, where he enjoys camping, fishing, gardening, and hiking the nearby woodland trails.

simon barker

Chuck Caverly

Native Landscape Solutions

Charles “Chuck” Caverly has over 30 years experience in the landscape design, maintenance and native plant industry. Chuck joined the NLS team in July of 2014 bringing to the team both native and horticulture industry plant material and operational knowledge coupled with unique planning and zoning municipal experiences. Chuck has created numerous residential and commercial landscape design projects integrating native plants, hardscape materials, and site drainage. Through his municipal experiences, Chuck has participated in comprehensive plan development, strategic area management plan for the Howard Bend Levee District, Great Streets Initiative, and has become an active board member with the St. Louis County Municipal League in addition to being a board member of the Missouri Municipal League.

Carol Davit

Missouri Prairie Foundation
Carol Davit is the Executive Director of the Missouri Prairie Foundation, overseeing all operations of this conservation organization and land trust, including its Grow Native! program. Davit has worked for 20 years in the conservation and environmental fields in communications, development, administration, and leadership capacities. She has worked for private, nonprofit conservation groups and at the municipal and state government levels. 
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Paula Diaz

Gardenerd consultations

Paula Diaz is the owner of GardeNerd Consultations, which provides designs incorporating native plants into traditional home and business landscapes. Paula is a University of Missouri Advanced Master Gardener who actively promotes native plant gardening through the Master Gardeners Speaker’s Bureau. She is a founding and current member of Raymore Tree Board, a member of Cass County Sustainability committee, and a professional GrowNative! Member, as well as a member of the Missouri Native Plant Society. Paula serves on the University of Missouri Cass County Extension Council and was awarded the University of Missouri’s highest volunteer honor in 2013 by being named to the MU Extension’s Leaders Honor Roll.

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Will Gibson

Down To Earth Services/Green Thumb Gardens

William Roth Gibson is the founder of Down to Earth Services, a company that is dedicated to the preservation and restoration of native plant communities. The company designs, builds and maintains landscapes working with native plants and sustainable solutions. William also co-owns Green Thumb Gardens, a retail nursery suppling native plants to the Kansas City region.  William’s background and education are in environmental history and political science. After receiving a dual degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia, he returned to the KC region and started his path as an entrepreneur. Will serves on numerous committees in the KC area including: The Kansas City Native Plant Initiative, Tree Champions, Heartland Conservation Alliance, Grow Native!, and his local Chamber Organization. Will is a vocal advocate for changes in the Green Industry and work force development. 

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Betty Grace

Grace Native Seed

Betty Grace and her husband, Jim, live on a farm in northwest Missouri and operate Grace Native Seed.  They raise, harvest and sell native grass and wildflower seed, grow plugs and plants, and run a forage-based cattle operation. The Graces have been members of Grow Native! since just after its inception, and are also long-time members of the Missouri Prairie Foundation.  Betty and Jim belong to the Missouri Native Seed Association where Betty has served as president.

Portrait photograph.

Jane Haslag

Missouri Prairie Foundation

Jane Haslag retired in 2018 after 38 years with the Jefferson City News Tribune where she served as Marketing Director. She was responsible for print and digital advertising sales as well as promotion and events for the company. Jane also served on the board of directors for the Jefferson City Area Chamber of Commerce and United Way of Central Missouri. In retirement, Jane and her husband Allan cleaned up the acreage around their home, removing invasive species and planting 3.5 acres in pollinator habitat. She is excited about the changes she’s seen to her property and is eager to share that experience with others. Jane completed the Master Pollinator Steward program through the University of Missouri Extension Center in 2021. Her hobbies include hiking, camping and nature photography.

Barb Kipfer

Barbara Kipfer

Missouri Master Naturalist

A life-long “plant person” and nature lover, Barb began to transform into a “native plant person” when her family moved to the Ozarks in 1973. Having grown up in central Kansas she already appreciated prairies! One of many pleasures of moving to Springfield was discovering the beauty of local wildflowers. She found a native plant nursery, Pan’s Gardens, and added a few to her flower beds. She doesn’t remember how she found the resource, as there was no Grow Native or internet then. She enthusiastically shares the Grow Native website with any interested person.

After retiring from nursing in 2009 she became a Missouri Master Naturalist in the Springfield Plateau Chapter. She also began converting her small yard into a native plant landscape with over 90 species. This was for the benefit of the “three B’s” – butterflies, bees and birds – but discovered that Barb and husband Bob were beneficiaries too. She enjoys sharing her love and knowledge of natives with others. Another of Barb’s passions is invasive plant species management and educating others about them.

Sue Leahy

Sue Leahy

Greenscape Gardens
Sue Leahy is Native Plants Manager at Greenscape Gardens.   She has developed a robust natives department, expanded plant offerings and developed the Greenscape Native Plant Guide for customers.   She has been gardening with natives for about 12 years and her yard is certified platinum by the St. Louis Audubon Bring Conservation Home program.  She is passionate about native plants and enjoys the increase in wildlife she now sees in her backyard.   She also serves on the board of Wild Ones St. Louis and is chair of the Outreach Committee.   
Photo of Kenny Lee

KENNY LYNN

aMEREN

Kenny Lynn has worked in the environmental division at Ameren for 38 years. He has a BS and MS from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville in biology/ecology. He and his wife have been married for 34 years and have lived in Glen Carbon, IL for almost 35 years, where they raised one son and two daughters. Kenny enjoys hiking, birding, botanizing, and collecting insects with his wife, playing guitar, cheering on the St. Louis Blues hockey team, and playing golf.

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Becky McMahon

DJM Ecological

Becky McMahon is a Project Ecologist and Vice President of DJM Ecological Services, Inc.   With a degree in Conservation Biology from Arizona State University, she specializes in habitat assessment, installation, and stewardship of wetlands, prairies, savannahs, woodlands, and glades.  She has directly impacted the pollinator movement within the Saint Louis metropolitan and surrounding states by working on over 70+ projects spanning private, municipal, state, and federal contracts.

Becky serves on the Board for the Open Space Council, is a certified arborist, a licensed pesticide applicator, and is OSHA 30 certified.  In her spare time she can be found climbing a tree with her daughter or hanging out with her duck and chickens.  Dirt under her nails is a sign of a day well spent.

Pete Millier

Pete Millier

University of Missouri

Pete Millier is the Director of Campus Facilities-Landscape Services and the Mizzou Botanic Garden at the University of Missouri in Columbia. The Mizzou Botanic Garden’s purpose is to support the University’s mission of education, research, and extension to better the lives of all Missourians. The ‘teaching’ by MUBG of sustainable horticulture through demonstration, programming, or outreach contributes to improved lives. MUBG is always looking for innovative programs that share these same goals and Millier believes that the work of the Grow Native! program is one program that does this.

Photo of Patti

Patti ragsdale

botanical belonging

Patti Ragsdale is Executive Director for Botanical Belonging at Happy Apple’s Farm. She is a board member for the Kansas Native Plant Society and a K-State Extension Master Naturalist in Johnson County, KS. She has been growing and selling native plants in her eastern Kansas community since 2016. It was while studying Wildlife Management at MU that she fell in love with plant taxonomy and the identification of native plants in the field. She and her husband started the non-profit Botanical Belonging in 2021 to provide native plant education and access to a wide variety of native plant species. She focuses on helping people learn about native plants through hands-on interaction in gardens, in propagation, and in natural spaces. 

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Bill Ruppert

National Nursery Products

William (Bill) Ruppert, since 1990, owns and manages the St. Louis office of National Nursery Products, a horticultural sales, marketing and consulting company representing a diversity of wholesale growers specializing in Midwest natives, selections of American natives, and non-invasive ornamental landscape plants. Ruppert is a 1980 graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia with a B.S. in ornamental horticulture and landscape design. Upon graduation, he began his horticulture career working at the University coordinating the landscape redevelopment and enhancement of the University of Missouri – Columbia campus which was a large part of (then) Chancellor Barbara S. Uehling’s campus beautification initiative. Ruppert maintains active leadership involvement with a variety of professional green industry and community service organizations including Missouri Green Industry Alliance (MoGIA), MU Ag Alumni Board of Directors, Mizzou Botanic Garden Friends Board, MU School of Natural Resources Advisory Council, MU Center for Agroforestry Advisory Board, Missouri Environmental Education Association (MEEA) Advisory Board, Landscape and Nursery Association of Greater St. Louis, Gateway Greening Board of Directors, Missouri Prairie Foundation Grow Native! Committee and Missouri Invasive Plant Council (MoIP).

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Mervin Wallace

Missouri Wildflower Nursery

Mervin Wallace, Brazito, MO, has been in the business of propagating and selling plants of Missouri genetic origin for more than 30 years. Through the years Mervin has also grown into his well-qualified role of educator. His Missouri Wildflowers Nursery catalog has become a handbook for beginning and longtime native plant gardeners.

Mervin has earned the respect of his naturalist peers and has given us more access to some very fine plants and the knowledge to grow them well.

David Young

David Young

Missouri Prairie Foundation

David B. Young is retired from the Missouri Department of Conservation where he was a wildlife regional supervisor responsible for over 100,000 acres of public lands, developing and supervising wildlife management programs in West Central Missouri. As a retiree, he is self-employed as a part-time landscape maintenance technician and is a Master Gardener Emeritus in Johnson County. His hobbies are hunting, fishing, family activities, and traveling. He holds membership in MPF (life member); CFM (life member); and NWTF.

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