Gretchen Walters

Gretchen Walters, Bachelor of Science,
Environmental Biology, 1996
Field Botanist/Gabon Program Coordinator
(Missouri Botanical Garden).

As a good friend puts it, I am an ecosystem jumper---I grew up in the temperate zone, did graduate work in the desert, and now regularly work in the tropics. The path has been challenging and dizzying at times, but the experiences gained thus far have been enough for a lifetime.

Ever since I was ten, I have been growing and collecting plants. This passion started with my vegetable garden and continued in 4-H where I focused on spring wildflower projects. The final requirement for the project was a display at the county fair. They suggested pressing and identifying 20 wildflowers, but I was so excited that I collected 120! I continued to study plants by majoring in the Environmental and Plant Biology Department at Ohio University. While there, I not only attended a tropical biology class in Central America, I also worked with a plant ecologist, a paleobotanist, two systematists, and a horticulturist.

After graduating from OU, I worked for two years at the Planting Fields Arboretum on Long Island. As the Plant Records intern, I kept track of the hundreds of varieties of plants and later took over the historic restoration of the rhododendron garden.Working with a collection of cultivated plants that were native to other parts of the world was quite an education in plant identification. To this day, I use these experiences to identify plants in nature that I had formerly only known in a greenhouse or a garden.

Following that, I attended Arizona State University (ASU) for a Masters of Science in plant biology. Trying to find a way to tie together my interests in horticulture, taxonomy, and ecology, I settled on a project in which I utilized greenhouse and field studies to examine human impacts on Sonoran Desert vegetation. I spent two years working in the desert, not only on my thesis but also for the National Park Service and the Arizona Game and Fish Department. My time in the desert really opened up the doors to the diversity of plants in the world and I wanted more. Up until this point, I had been pinching pennies to finance my own travel. Already having visited Asia, Central America, and Africa several times on my own dime, I received a scholarship through ASU to attend an Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS) course. This two-month course was carried out in various ecosystems in Costa Rica and Panama. Based on this and other experience,I was hired at the Missouri Botanical Garden (MO). A connection I had made years earlier with an OU botany professor also helped open this door for me.

I used to daydream while staring at a map of Africa, and I secretly hoped some day to work there. And now I do--as part of my job with MO. Based in St. Louis, I help coordinate and participate in plant collecting in Gabon, Central Africa. Some of the plants we collect are screened for pharmaceutical value and others contribute to biodiversity studies of the area. As an extension of this work, we are now working on a plant checklist for a gorilla reserve. In addition to working in a unique landscape, I have attended tribal ceremonies and traveled up little known rivers in search of unknown plants. Sometimes, we are the first botanists to have visited an area--ever! Botany has proved to be an exciting combination of science, travel, language, and culture. My passport recently had extra pages added to it--I am at 13 countries and counting. As for gardening, I still count my time in greenhouses as the most enjoyable and now maintain a large organic heirloom garden that only promises to get bigger!

[Note from website administrator: The images on this page were taken
from a Missouri Botanical Garden photoessay on the Gabon Program,
which was prepared by Gretchen and her coworkers.]


			Gretchen Walters, Bachelor of Science, Environmental Biology, 1996 Field Botanist/Gabon Program Coordinator (Missouri Botanical Garden). As a good friend puts it, I am an ecosystem jumper---I grew up in the temperate zone, did graduate work in the desert, and now regularly work in the tropics. The path has been challenging and dizzying at times, but the experiences gained thus far have been enough for a lifetime. Ever since I was ten, I have been growing and collecting plants. This passion started with my vegetable garden and continued in 4-H where I focused on spring wildflower projects. The final requirement for the project was a display at the county fair. They suggested pressing and identifying 20 wildflowers, but I was so excited that I collected 120! I continued to study plants by majoring in the Environmental and Plant Biology Department at Ohio University. While there, I not only attended a tropical biology class in Central America, I also worked with a plant ecologist, a paleobotanist, two systematists, and a horticulturist. After graduating from OU, I worked for two years at the Planting Fields Arboretum on Long Island. As the Plant Records intern, I kept track of the hundreds of varieties of plants and later took over the historic restoration of the rhododendron garden.Working with a collection of cultivated plants that were native to other parts of the world was quite an education in plant identification. To this day, I use these experiences to identify plants in nature that I had formerly only known in a greenhouse or a garden. Following that, I attended Arizona State University (ASU) for a Masters of Science in plant biology. Trying to find a way to tie together my interests in horticulture, taxonomy, and ecology, I settled on a project in which I utilized greenhouse and field studies to examine human impacts on Sonoran Desert vegetation. I spent two years working in the desert, not only on my thesis but also for the National Park Service and the Arizona Game and Fish Department. My time in the desert really opened up the doors to the diversity of plants in the world and I wanted more. Up until this point, I had been pinching pennies to finance my own travel. Already having visited Asia, Central America, and Africa several times on my own dime, I received a scholarship through ASU to attend an Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS) course. This two-month course was carried out in various ecosystems in Costa Rica and Panama. Based on this and other experience,I was hired at the Missouri Botanical Garden (MO). A connection I had made years earlier with an OU botany professor also helped open this door for me. I used to daydream while staring at a map of Africa, and I secretly hoped some day to work there. And now I do--as part of my job with MO. Based in St. Louis, I help coordinate and participate in plant collecting in Gabon, Central Africa. Some of the plants we collect are screened for pharmaceutical value and others contribute to biodiversity studies of the area. As an extension of this work, we are now working on a plant checklist for a gorilla reserve. In addition to working in a unique landscape, I have attended tribal ceremonies and traveled up little known rivers in search of unknown plants. Sometimes, we are the first botanists to have visited an area--ever! Botany has proved to be an exciting combination of science, travel, language, and culture. My passport recently had extra pages added to it--I am at 13 countries and counting. As for gardening, I still count my time in greenhouses as the most enjoyable and now maintain a large organic heirloom garden that only promises to get bigger! [Note from website administrator: The images on this page were taken from a Missouri Botanical Garden photoessay on the Gabon Program, which was prepared by Gretchen and her coworkers.]
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