February 2021
Pam Stock and Josh Sage, both with the Boone County Conservation District, will show two videos and then stick around for a discussion on Zoom. Each video is approximately 10 minutes long:
Ethnobotany of Boone County, IL in the 1800’s– A discussion on plants used by the Potawatomi and the Winnebago people. Presenter Pam Stock
For the Potawatomi and Winnebago people everyday life revolved around the use of plants for food, medicine, fiber and shelter. Plants were also used on special occasions for rituals and magic by tribal shamans. She will discuss the unique relationship that local indigenous people had with plants and the plants they most commonly used.
Pam will use a worksheet that will be send to members when they are invited to the program.
Pam Stock is a graduate of Judson College in Elgin and has a bachelor’s degree in Psychology. She worked in local school districts with special needs students, was the Outdoor Education Director at Lutheran Outdoor Ministries Center in Oregon, IL and retired from the Boone County Conservation District as the Special Events and Public Outreach Manager. She spent years in self-study in the fields of ethnobotany and folk medicine and is a Master Gardener Intern with the U of IL Extension Services.
A Natural History of Boone County, Illinois. Presenter Josh Sage
Josh Sage, the Director of Natural Resources at the Boone County Conservation District will discuss what Boone County looked like before European settlement and what events transpired that changed the landscape forever. He will also discuss the habitats that existed in Boone county before settlement, as well as the habitat types the Boone County Conservation District manages today.
Josh has worked for the Boone County Conservation District since 2001. He is a graduate of Western Illinois University and has been studying or participating in natural areas management since the late 1990’s. He resides in Boone County on an old farmstead where he enjoys tinkering, growing vegetables, and converting portions of his property to natives. He spends this time of year drinking coffee, staring at maps, and daydreaming about being in the backcountry, above tree line.