News from the EarthWays Center

Sam, you have been a Restoration Assistant with the Outdoor Leadership Corps program since Fall of 2024, and have evolved to Assistant Crew Leader! How has your impression of this workforce program changed? When I got hired in fall last year, it definitely wasn’t what I was expecting; I expected hard work cleaning green spaces in the city, and nothing else. And while that’s a big part of the program, there’s also a&nbs...

They’re fierce, dedicated, and not afraid to get their hands dirty – it's our Outdoor Leadership Corps Restoration Assistants! We’re incredibly fortunate to have a few returning participants as well as new faces.

Our Outdoor Youth Corps Intern, Quinn Swope, was faced with the challenge of defining what an impact was and creating an experience that the participants would be proud of while channeling the best versions of themselves.

From my past experience leading the  Outdoor Leadership Corps (OLC), the spring season is always the wild card. This stems from the fact that both the weather and the wildlife  are a lot more unpredictable. One day it could be 35 degrees with a 15-degree windchill and the next week it could be 60 degrees and sunny. The spring ephemerals could be popping right on schedule, or trees could begin leafing out a lot earlier. This spring did not disappoint and threw many unpredictable curve b...

The Spring 2025 Outdoor Leadership cohort is blooming with excitement as the new season begins! Restorations Assistants (RA’s) of the Outdoor Leadership Corps (OLC) are a team of four RA’s and one Assistant Crew Lead. The team is co-captained by the Sustainability Divison’s Community Programs Supervisor, Fletcher, and the Conservation Education Instructor, Olivia Dove. As a unit the team works to complete restoration projects through the greater St. Louis region directed by our program partne...

The responsibility of coordinating and leading four cohorts of the Outdoor Youth Corps (OYC) and two cohorts of the Outdoor Leadership Corps (OLC) was confidently embraced by Fletcher, the Community Programs Supervisor, and myself, the Conservation Education Instructor. It is important to us that each participant has the best possible experience.

The Sustainability team is excited to announce that Missouri Botanical Garden has been selected to be part of the Plants and Climate Change Education (PLACCE) cohort, an initiative of the United States Botanic Garden and the American Public Gardens Association.