Cindy Crosby, Brenda, Carrie Carlson, & Brittany Caldwell

Teaches at The Morton Arboretum

Cindy Crosby is the author, co-author, or contributor to more than 20 books; her most recent is "Tallgrass Conversations: In Search of the Prairie Spirit" (with Thomas Dean). She is also the author of "The Tallgrass Prairie: An Introduction" (Northwestern University Press). Cindy received her Masters in Natural Resources from University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point in 2014, and  is a trainer for the National Association of Interpretation, helping naturalists and cultural history interpreters become certified as guides. She is the steward for the Schulenberg Prairie at The Morton Arboretum, and coordinates dragonfly monitoring programs at the Arboretum, and Nachusa Grasslands in Franklin Grove, IL. Cindy blogs weekly at "Tuesdays in the Tallgrass at Wordpress", and speaks and teaches in the Midwest on natural history subjects.

Brenda has been guiding Forest Therapy walks at The Morton Arboretum since 2015. She is also an assistant trainer and mentor for The Association of Nature and Forest Therapy Guides and Programs. She has been a member of The Morton Arboretum and volunteer since 1994.  She has earned certificates in Botanical Art and Illustration and Natural History. She also has a Bachelor of Arts in Art from Northern Illinois University and a Certificate in Sustainable Landscapes from College of DuPage.

Carrie Carlson is a Chicagoland native. She earned a BA in Biology and Art from Luther College (Decorah, IA), an MFA in Scientific Illustration from the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, MI), and an MA in Printmaking from Governors State University (University Park, IL). Since 2001, she has been a full-time high school educator in the south suburbs of Chicago where she has split her years between the science and art departments; teaching Drawing, Painting, International Baccalaureate Visual Arts, as well as Biology, Biomedical Sciences, and Horticulture.  She also teaches a variety of adult art courses at the Morton Arboretum including linoleum block printing, drawing birds, and field sketching. Carrie exhibits nationally and internationally.

Brittany Caldwell, artist