Growing up in Idaho, Kristin Lamberson gravitated towards wild, untamed spaces. She watched as her sacred places transformed into strip malls, fast food joints, and housing developments. That sad experience motivated her to embark on a career in conservation.

Today, Kristin has taken her passion – working with nature rather than conquering it – and put it into practice. Kristin is on staff at Strawberry Plains Audubon Center, where one of her chief duties is the propagation, growing and selling of native plants through the Center’s nursery. She also maintains the native plant gardens located throughout the Center’s main campus. In addition to this, Kristin is involved with educating local residents about native plants beauty and their importance in the ecosystem.

As a TogetherGreen fellow, Kristin worked to enhance a garden expansion project at Strawberry Plains. A rain garden with native plants and a chimney swift tower were built, leading to successful chimney swift breeding seasons. In addition, interpretive signs were installed to teach visitors about the plants and animals of the area, while connecting them with the issues that face the surrounding landscape, such as storm water runoff and how it can be managed. Ephemeral ponds in this project area, that catch storm water, are important breeding grounds for numerous amphibians.

Kristin’s garden project helps display the natural beauty of the area and to demonstrate the interconnectedness of all species – humans included – in a native landscape. She hopes visitors will be inspired to alter and enhance their own landscapes to be more wildlife friendly, while protecting native landscapes where they live, so that other people’s sacred wild places won’t be lost as hers once were.