It’s National Volunteer Week and we are celebrating some of our amazing volunteers! Today’s Volunteer Spotlight is Billie Richardson. Billie volunteers in our Conservation and Horticulture Center on the South Shore of Kauai.
Big congratulations to Billie Richardson for her receipt of the President’s Volunteer Service Award! This award honors individuals whose service positively impacts their community and inspires those around them to take action, too. Billie uses her time and talent to protect Hawaii’s unique plants. Thanks for being such a fantastic volunteer Billie!
Billie comes from a long line of farmers, sailors, and water-men on the East Coast. She’s now a resident of Kauai but still spends her summers in Maryland and Virginia with her family. When back on Kauai, Billie is our main caretaker for Brighamia insignis, a PEP Species, and we could not ask for a better one! Billie’s deep connection with Alula inspired her to get a tattoo of her favorite plant. She plans to add a second of its pollinator, the Green Sphinx Moth. Billie is also an obsessive weed-puller, an attribute loved and appreciated by NTBG staff.
Thanks for all you do, Billie!
Brighamia insignis is just one of the thousands of native Hawaiian plant species propagated in our Conservation and Horticulture Center. NTBG staff and volunteers care for 150,000 – 300,000 plants at a time. The climate-controlled micropropagation lab and greenhouse facilities at the Conservation and Horticulture Center in the McBryde Garden currently produce over 10,000 plants per year. Many of these plants are used for habitat restoration projects throughout the tropics.