PRESSROOM
Susan Prosperie Receives Nancy Benedict Memorial Award
Susan Prosperie, a Wildflower Center propagation specialist, received the 2021 Nancy Benedict Memorial Award from the Native Plant Society of Texas in honor of her conservation work.
From 2011 to 2017, Susan led the Center’s Lost Pines recovery project, an effort to help replace loblolly pines (Pinus taeda) that were destroyed in the Bastrop County Complex Fire. With the assistance of hundreds of volunteers, Susan grew more than 250,000 loblolly pines for the affected region. Her work helped rejuvenate both the Lost Pines forest and the Bastrop community.
NPSOT also recognized Susan’s contribution to Project Milkweed, the Center’s effort to help the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service engage Texas growers in the cultivation of local ecotypes that support monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) and many other beneficial insects. Known among her colleagues as the “milkweed mamma,” Susan helped grow thousands of native milkweeds (Asclepias spp.) for the project.
Susan was honored during the NPSOT’s virtual symposium, Celebrating Conservation, on Oct. 9, 2021. Watch a recording of the symposium.