Banner photo taken by Esteban Coria at a North Chapter hike organized at West Beach led by Scott Namestnik and Nathanael Pilla on June 26, 2022.

Welcome to INPS North Chapter!

Check out our upcoming events & activities.

Candace Peterson-Smith and Heidi Gray at Elk–hart Envirofest.

Meet Our Chapter Leaders

Chris White, President

Cookie Ferguson, Vice President

Cookie is a Ranger at the Indiana Dunes National Park, where she presents interpretive programs. She is also on the Indiana Audubon board, the Dunes Calumet Audubon board, and the Indiana Master Naturalist board.

 

 

 

Scott Namestnik, Treasurer

Scott is the Botanist at the Indiana Natural Heritage Data Center, which is part of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources–Division of Nature Preserves. Much of his work involves conducting botanical inventories, assessing sites for protection consideration, and documenting and monitoring occurrences of endangered and threatened species. He has a degree in Botany with a focus in Environmental Science and over 20 years of experience with the flora of the Great Lakes region and the Midwestern United States. Scott’s written work on the flora has appeared in several peer-reviewed journals including The Michigan Botanist, The Great Lakes Botanist, Phytoneuron, Proceedings of the Indiana Academy of Science, and Rhodora, and he is co-author of Wildflowers of the Midwest (Timber Press) and Wildflowers of the Indiana Dunes National Park (Indiana University Press). He currently serves as a board member for NatureCITE and South Bend-Elkhart Audubon Society and is on the advisory council for Shirley Heinze Land Trust and the planning committee for the Indiana Dunes Birding Festival. He serves as INPS’s journal team leader and is active with the Indiana Academy of Science.

Heidi Gray, Publicity

Heidi’s love of nature began during summer vacations at family cottages in Wisconsin and continued while watching Jane Goodall’s research on TV documentaries. A high school Ecology class opened her eyes to the state of the environment, and when her three children started school, she volunteered at  Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge in Florida. After returning to Indiana, Heidi has worked as a naturalist and preserve manager for Fernwood Botanical Garden, an interpreter for St. Joseph County Parks, and a director for Potawatomi Conservatories. Heidi is now enjoying a busy retirement.

 

Amie (Amelia) Crenshaw, Secretary

Candice Peterson-Smith, Membership

Esteban Coria, Past President

Esteban is a Spanish teacher with a great interest in Botany and also Entomology, Mycology, & Conservation. He helps moderate the Indiana Native Plant Society Facebook group (41,800+ members) and is an admin for the entomology Facebook group “All Bugs Go to Kevin” (92,000+ members). He is active in a few mycology groups on Facebook such as “Indiana Mushrooms” and “Amanita of North America.” An avid nature photographer, Esteban’s photos may be accessed via his Instagram account, @este.marcor.

 

 

 

 

Keith Board Student Scholarships

Each year INPS North Chapter will award two student scholarships to qualified recipients. The scholarship is a one-year membership in INPS and registration to attend the INPS Annual Conference (held in Indianapolis area 2023) plus a stipend for travel and lodging. The applicant is required to:

  • Be currently enrolled in an accredited high school, college or university in one of the North Chapter counties (Elkhart, Kosciusko, LaGrange, Lake, La Porte, Marshall, Porter, Starke, St. Joseph Counties).
  • Submit a maximum 400-word proposal/essay describing their past, current and future career goals/involvement in any study related to the research or protection of our native flora to be received by INPS North Chapter president at north@indiananativeplants.org by September 15, 2023.
  • Provide a letter of recommendation from a current instructor.

Award recipients will be notified by a representative from North Chapter on October 1, 2023. Announcements of scholarship recipients will be posted on our Facebook page and in our chapter and state newsletters.

Remembering Keith Board

July 20, 1960–January 12, 2019

The Indiana and Chicago region botanical communities suffered a great loss with the passing of INPS member Keith Board.

Keith was a woodshop, drafting, and architecture teacher at Bremen High School for 31 years. He touched countless lives with his interests in woodworking, carpentry, photography, fishing, writing poetry and jokes, and of course, botany and visiting natural areas.

As a self-taught field botanist, Keith’s work was invaluable to our understanding of the flora of northern Indiana. He contributed immensely to Plants of the Chicago Region (Swink and Wilhelm 1994), and the monumental Flora of the Chicago Region (Wilhelm and Rericha 2017).

The huge void that has been left with his passing will never be filled, but with young students looking up to mentors such as Keith and knowing that the love of our natural world is enough, we will know that his work will not be forgotten.