I have served on the board of ANPP for the past year and proudly represent ANPP on the board of the Louisiana Wildlife Federation. I'm excited to be on the steering committee with ANPP and LNPS folks for the Louisiana Native Professional Certification Program, which trains Louisiana landscape professionals in native plant ecology, identification, design, propagation, and maintenance, ultimately creating a directory for evaluating applicants or contracts for native plant-related jobs.
I moved to Arnaudville a little over a year ago to start Gulf Coast Flora, a new wholesale nursery focusing on large quantities of South Louisiana ecotype plants. We are located on a 60-acre crawfish farm on Bayou Bourbeaux near the historic Prairie des Femmes and have prairie plants growing wild on the property! I also co-own Swamp Fly, a landscape company specializing in ecological design and habitat restoration. We are a small, women-owned and operated company with crews in Baton Rouge, New Orleans, and now Acadiana too!
So much has influenced my passion for ecosystem restoration: swimming in swamps and jumping off cliffs with my wild-hearted mom, learning about snakes and mushrooms from my dad, riding horses through cold spring fed creeks with my pop on family land near the Blackbelt Prairie. Losing our house in Katrina and not ever returning to what I considered home, watching gators in the bayou at night with cousins in Lockport, fishing and crabbing with my uncles, bike rides with friends along the Mississippi River, learning that we lose a football field of land a day.
Working with native plants allows me to contribute to the place that made me. I feel so fortunate to be in the native plant community and do the work that I do!
Comentários