Horticultural Maintenance Expert | Founder of Kinship League

Wendy Proud is a horticulturist and plant care specialist with more than three decades of hands-on experience in the nursery and landscaping industries. Her career has taken her from managing 150-acre nurseries to consulting on multi-acre civic parks, master-planned communities, and public landscapes — always with one goal: helping plants thrive and investments last. Through her educational platform, Kinship League, Wendy delivers seasonal, site-specific coaching that keeps public and community landscapes healthy, beautiful, and budget-friendly for years to come.

Steven Pitsenbarger is the garden supervisor at the Japanese Tea Garden in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park where he has worked since 2007. Steven has contributed to the Journal of the North American Japanese Garden Association, Sukiya Living, and the Mill Valley Historical Society Review. He is a former board member for both NAJGA and MVHS. In addition to his work in gardens and historical research, Steven is also a performing singer and songwriter.

Ashley Lloyd is a landscape designer and ISA Certified Arborist based on Washington’s Kitsap Peninsula. Her practice, Lloyd Landwright, focuses on site-sensitive design, ecological planting, and long-term landscape stewardship informed by arboricultural expertise. She holds a BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art and a Landscape Design Certificate from the New York Botanical Garden. https://www.lloydlandwright.com/

Anna is a master’s student in the Garden Ecology Lab at Oregon State University (OSU), advised by Dr. Gail Langellotto. She holds bachelors degrees in Soil Science and Sustainability, along with a certificate in Urban Agriculture, all from OSU. Her research focuses on microplastics in urban community garden soils, and is supported by both the Garden Ecology League and The Garden Club of America. She also serves on the board of the Oregon Society of Soil Scientists as the editor of their quarterly newsletter, The Sharpshooter. In her ever-dwindling free time she enjoys knitting, sharing food with friends, and gardening.

Learn more about Anna Perry: https://cropandsoil.oregonstate.edu/cropandsoil/article/student-spotlight-anna-perry and read the Lab Blog for more from Anna!!

Linda Ann Vorobik, PhD, is a research affiliate at the University and Jepson Herbaria, University of California, Berkeley, and at the Burke Museum Herbarium, University of Washington, in Seattle.

She is the principal illustrator for botanical publications including but not limited to Flora of North America, Volume 25 (Grasses; Barkworth, editor), The Jepson Manual: Vascular Plants of California (Baldwin, editor), The Jepson Manual: Higher Plants of California (Hickman, editor), and four floras of the California Channel Islands by Junak and Guilliams of the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden.

Linda cherishes all three West Coast states as home: she holds a PhD from the University of Oregon in Eugene, conducts field research and teaches in the Siskiyou Mountains of southwestern Oregon, and studies the flora of the Sierra Nevada, California. Linda was editor of Fremontia, the journal of the California Native Plant Society, from 2000–2006, and she conducts research on the genera Arabis and Erysimum in Oregon and California. Linda currently lives at her family home on Lopez Island, Washington.

As well as executing precise and accurate botanical illustrations for books and journals, Linda sells her color work as originals, prints, and cards, and teaches botany and botanical illustration workshops. For more information, see her website Vorobik Botanical Art.

Andrea Doonan is an award-winning residential landscape designer, certified arborist, and artist with 20 years experience in the landscape and horticulture field. Active in the design community Andrea served as San Diego district APLD president and communications chair, speaks regularly on topics ranging from water harvesting to habitat gardening, and is passionate about mentorship and collaboration. In her free time, she enjoys cooking, gardening, creating, paddling, hiking and plant nerding with her dogs and biologist husband. She’s currently working on her first book and can be followed on Instagram at @andrea.doonan.hort.design or via her website www.andreadoonan.com

Michael Geffel is a registered landscape architect doing business as LND LAB, and Research Director at Portland Botanical Gardens. In this role, he is developing the research capacity of the non-profit to establish a “living laboratory” program at the McCormick & Baxter Superfund Site around the focal areas of climate adaptation, community-based stewardship, and design. Michael has been deeply engaged throughout PBG’s due diligence process of acquiring McCormick & Baxter, helping to establish baseline site conditions, build relationships with interest holders, develop the garden vision, and share project information with the larger Portland Harbor community.

Alison Shadwell Williams is a garden designer focused on biodiverse, fire-wise, and climate-adaptive landscapes. She holds diplomas in both Garden Design and Planting Design from the prestigious London College of Garden Design, as well as certifications in sustainability, California native landscaping, climate studies, and a Level 2 Diploma from the Royal Horticultural Society. Her expertise extends far beyond plant selection—grounded in rigorous training, she integrates principles of beauty, sustainability, and ecological resilience to craft enduring, vibrant landscapes. Alison was selected to showcase her garden design The Hummingbird Haven at the RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival in July 2025.