Resource Tables Include…

Holden Restoration Seed Bank, Meadow City Nursery, Nature in My Backyard, Cuyahoga County Master Gardeners, Great Lakes Basin Forest Health Collaborative, and more!

Kim Lessman

Holden Seed Bank Manager

Kim is passionate about our natural world and has spent the last decade immersed in organic farming, addressing food insecurity, and saving seeds in support of a regionally-adapted seed supply. Kim’s involvement in large scale seed production and biological preservation began after processing agricultural seed crops on an organic farm in the Puget Sound. When she moved back to the Midwest in 2018, she worked with the Cleveland Seed Bank before moving to the Holden Restoration Seed Bank where her passion for working with native plant species in our bioregion and stewarding native seeds for conservation and restoration has only grown.

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Diane Bickett

Host, Eco Speaks CLE Podcast

Diane Bickett is the creator and host of ECO SPEAKS CLE, a podcast featuring Northeast Ohio’s thriving environmental community. In each episode, Diane speaks with local sustainability leaders and invites listeners to connect, learn, and live with the community and planet in mind. Diane is the retired executive director of the Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District, where she enjoyed a career creating programs that promoted sustainable solid waste management.

Sarah Eysenbach

Vegetation Research Coordinator, Cleveland Metroparks

Sarah is a Northeast Ohio native and has worked with the Cleveland Metroparks for the past 14 years. She coordinates the vegetation monitoring and assessment programs throughout the park district to assess the plant community condition, restoration projects, and recreational impacts to help inform management decisions. Sarah assists in seed collection and cleaning efforts for restoration projects and works with trees of conservation value (Chestnut, Elm, Ash, Hemlock, etc.).

Jessica Ausnehmer

President, Wild Ones Greater Cleveland

Jessica is an Ohio native who dove into her native plant journey in late 2020 and spent months studying and creating a design to turn her yard into a beautiful biodiverse native landscape and monarch waystation. She volunteers with Wild Ones both at the local chapter level and on the national membership committee. Through her service, she hopes to help people understand not only the benefits of planting native, but that there are ways to help no matter your level of knowledge or experience.

Kaleigh Obrock

Conservation Program Assistant, Pollinator Partnership

Kaleigh has a lifelong love of nature and conservation and spends as much time as she can outside hiking and exploring new areas. She graduated from Bowling Green State University with a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Biology and Ecology with a minor in Environmental Science. As an undergraduate, she was involved in multiple research studies related to the conservation of local pollinators. After graduation, she worked for the local park system’s stewardship department where she managed native plants and improved pollinator habitat. She continues to be passionate about pollinators and conducts regular surveys and volunteer programs to promote pollinator health and education in her community.