Chicago Botanic Gardens Adventure

I am stationed at the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore in Northeast Indiana.  It is part of the National Park Service but lake-side style.  We are right on Lake Michigan and even though I know it is a freshwater lake, it tricks me as an ocean every time I step on the beach.  It is truly a beautiful area that is only an hour by train outside Chicago that I probably would never know about unless placed here.  I’m participating in Wetland Restoration work in old property sites but I’ll go more into the details when my scheduled blogging time approaches.

Michael Pollen signing copies of his booksToday I wanted to add a special entry  because last week I got the amazing opportunity to travel up to the Chicago Botanic Garden for a lecture by Michael Pollen and the Plant Conservation Science Center grand opening.  I am certainly one of the lucky ones to be close to our headquarters and got to see first hand how amazing the gardens are.  Our awesome directors of CLM internshipsAdditionally, finally being able to meet Krissa and Marian put this experience into a new perspective because unfortunately I missed the orientation week back in June.  The science center is now equipped with labs that the public can watch in on and a fantastic green roof and other LED certifications.       The new amazing science center entrance The science center's green roof

The gardens themselves are gorgeous and I had a lot of fun taking photos of the flower arrangements all around this 300+ acres of land.  I recommend anyone to stop by if you ever get a chance to come to Chicago.  Also, if any of you do not know about Michael Pollen, he writes about how our food production is causing both health and environmental issues.  All his books are enjoyable and informative and if you are interested in these issues you should check them out.  His famous ones are called “The Omnivores Dilemma” and “In Defense of food”.    It was great hearing him speak after reading so much about what he is trying to do.  There were about 750 people attending too!!

In the roses section of the gardensa lovely rose

I’m glad this internship has allowed me to experience all aspects of the environmental field and so far has been a great learning experience at the park as well as through cool events such as these.

Christy Goff

Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore

Chesterton, Indiana

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