Students’ Work in Nature Works Program Will Bloom This Spring

Students began a 12-week term in January. Applications are now open to participate in the summer program.

The newest group of Nature Works interns began a 12-week spring term with Forest Park Forever in January 2022.   

Under the mentorship of Forest Park Forever Land Management experts, they will support important work along the Park’s riparian zone (along the waterways) and on landscape maintenance and planting.

This is the second spring for the Nature Works, which has also run in summer over the past nine years. (Students can apply for the paid summer program here.) The cooperative conservation education and green workforce development program is geared toward youth throughout the St. Louis region, especially those living in St. Louis City. The program invites these high school students to grow their understanding of conservation and the green job field. Nature Works interns collaborate closely with Forest Park Forever nature reserve and horticulture professionals to restore and maintain the Park through both classroom activities and field experience. 

"I love that this program is a way for teens to connect to Forest Park,” said Ellie Stevens, Education Coordinator at Forest Park Forever. “More than half of our interns have come from St. Louis City Public Schools, and it is so much fun seeing them develop a sense of pride and ownership of their work in a place that means so much to the City.”

This spring’s interns come from a variety of backgrounds and interest areas, but all five high school seniors share an interest in nature and exploration. Among them are a soccer player, a painter and gardener, a budding ecologist, a quilter and sculptor, and a well-traveled military child who loves the fine arts.

Their activities will cover a range of winter maintenance and planting needs to maintain the Park’s greenspace, including:

• Managing unwanted plant material to improve landscapes

• Pruning shrubs and trees along the waterway to better frame views and vistas for visitors

• Seeding restored landscapes: They will seed areas along the waterway where the landscape is being improved

“They will plant new trees and shrubs throughout the area and cut back landscape material before spring growth,” said Shawnell Faber, Director of Land Management at Forest Park Forever. “Their work will enable new spring growth to be more visible and aesthetically pleasing to visitors.”

Over the years, dozens of students have developed conservation and environmental stewardship skills through the Nature Works program.

Over the years, Nature Works has helped dozens of students develop an understanding of conservation and skills needed for environmental job fields. Historically, they have worked with environmental professionals in Forest Park as well as in collaborations with other local organizations including the Missouri Department of Conservation, Missouri Botanical Garden & Shaw Nature Reserve, the Saint Louis Zoo and more. In the latest news on past interns, this year one has begun working in Montana’s Glacier National Park.

Nature Works is made possible through generous grants from the Saigh Foundation, ESCO Technologies Foundation and Cabela’s. In April 2015, Nature Works was recognized as an official partner with the U.S. Department of the Interior as a member of its 21st Century Conservation Service Corps.