The Kentucky Native Plant Society was founded in 1986 for everyone interested in the native plants and wildflowers of Kentucky Plants are essential to both the well-being of our Commonwealth’s natural ecosystems and our enjoyment of its unique environment. With members in Kentucky and neighboring states, the Kentucky Native Plant Society is a leader in promoting education about, appreciation for, and conservation of our native flora.
Executive Board
Officers 2026-2027
- President – Kendall McDonald
- Vice-President – Rachel Cook
- Treasurer – Sally Chambers
- Secretary – Ted Brancheau
Directors
- Heidi Braunreiter
- Wes Cunningham
- Jen Koslow
- David Taylor
Immediate Past President
- Jeff Nelson
Committee Chairs
- Programs – Rachel Cook
- Volunteer Coordination – Meaghan Petix
- Field Trips – Alan Abbott
- Grants – David Taylor
- Membership – Marvin Ruffner
- Plant Conservation – Tara Littlefield
- Outreach – Open
- Communications – Jeff Nelson
- Newsletter – Ciara Knisely
- Botany Hall of Fame – Ron Jones
The Lady Slipper
- Managing Editor – Ciara Knisely
President
Vice-President
Kendall McDonald is an artist, botanist and lichenologist that grew up in Owen County, Kentucky. She developed a love for art and nature at a young age, and carried that with her into her education and career. After getting her bachelors degree in biology at Morehead State University, she started at the Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves as a heritage botanist and lichenologist. For the last 3 years, she has been an active member of the Kentucky Native Plant Society as Vice President and a co-editor for the Lady Slipper newsletter. Her passion for biodiversity permeates her art, as her collection mostly consists of paintings of Kentucky native species and landscapes.
Vice-President
Rachel Cook grew up on a small farm in central Kentucky, where her appreciation for the outdoors and all things plants began as she played along the forested creeks. She earned Bachelor’s degrees in Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences (NRES) and Environmental and Sustainability Studies (ENS) from the University of Kentucky. After graduating, Rachel spent 6 years as botanist for the Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves. Rachel is now bringing her knowledge and experience of the natural areas of Kentucky to the city of Lexington as the Director of Programming for Trees Lexington. When not working, she is tending her cut flower & native gardens, reading a book or playing with her 2 cats.
Secretary
Secretary
Ted Brancheau is an Environmental Scientist for the Water Quality Branch of the Kentucky Division of Water. His work involves various projects involving geospatial data and assisting in database management. He has previously worked in rare species conservation and land management for different state agencies and nonprofits. Ted received his B.S. in Wildlife Management and GIS Certificate from Eastern Kentucky University in 2019. He has been an active member of Kentucky Native Plant Society for a few years and served a brief stint as Treasurer for KNPS. In his spare time, Ted enjoys reading and spending time outdoors.
Treasurer
Sally Chambers is an Assistant Professor and curator of the Ronald L Jones and Berea herbaria at Eastern Kentucky University. She is a native of Kentucky, growing up in Owensboro where she often tried to convince her parents and older brothers to ‘walk-a-woods’. She obtained her B.S. in Natural Resource and Conservation Management from the University of Kentucky in 2009, followed by her Ph.D. in Plant Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Purdue University in 2014. Sally then moved to Florida where she worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Florida with Dr. Emily Sessa until 2017, followed by a position as a Research Botanist at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens until 2022. Sally is very active in the broader botanical community, acting as the Research Coordinator for the Division of Natural Areas at EKU, the Membership Secretary for the American Fern Journal, and as an Associate Editor for Applications in Plant Sciences. Her research broadly focuses on the evolutionary ecology of ferns and the conservation of rare plants.
Board Members
Director
Heidi Braunreiter is the Prescribed Fire Program Coordinator and former heritage botanist for the Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves. Her work involves planning and implementing prescribed burns to manage remnant high quality natural communities and maintain rare species populations on State Nature Preserves. Heidi also serves as the Treasurer for the Kentucky Prescribed Fire Council. She received her M.S. in Biology at Eastern Kentucky University and her B.S. in Biological Aspects of Conservation and a certificate in Environmental Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Heidi previously served as Vice President for KNPS from 2018-2023 and enjoyed planning Wildflower Weekends and the Fall Meetings for the society. In her free time, Heidi enjoys native plant gardening, practicing yoga, painting with watercolor, and hiking.
Director
Jen Koslow is an Associate Professor in Biology at Eastern Kentucky University who specializes in plant ecology. She grew up in Indiana, but has lived in several places in the eastern US before settling in Kentucky. The first native plant she recalls learning to identify was sassafras. She earned her PhD at Indiana University and her Masters in Biology at Miami University. Over the course of her career, she has studied plant diseases in natural systems, the conservation ecology of running buffalo clover, and the ecology of invasive species in Lilley Cornett Woods. She has a passion for restoring the American chestnut.
Director
David Taylor graduated from Berea College with a Biology/Agriculture degree with course work that emphasized plant sciences. He has an MS in Biology from Northeast Louisiana University with a floristic emphasis looking at the vascular flora of Washington and St. Tammany Parishes. He has 60 hours in botany from Miami University. He currently works for the USDA Forest Service with nearly 30 years as Forest Botanist for the Daniel Boone National Forest. He works with rare plant invasive species management, writes and reviews environmental documentation, and assists with various projects on the Forest. He is an advisor to the Kentucky Invasive Pest Council.
Wes Cunningham
Director
Wes is a biologist and Professional Wetland Scientist dedicated to ecological restoration in lentic, lotic, and increasingly in upland habitats. He has worked extensively with multistate teams and has participated in the full life cycle of restoration practice from proposals, resource impact investigations, and permitting to mitigation design, monitoring, and client-agency coordination through project closeout. He has practical field experience ranging from Texas to New York with expertise centering on flora, wetlands, and wildlife of the southeastern and midwest U.S. When not planning the work or working the plan, he enjoys more superfluous pursuits such as playing music and riding motorcycles.
Immediate Past President
Immediate Past President
Jeff Nelson has a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of California at Santa Barbara. Jeff worked as the IT Director of the Paducah Independent School District for 15 years, retiring in 2008. A native of California, Jeff, his wife Liz, and their son Aaron, moved to McCracken Co., Kentucky, in 1987. After building their house on their 10 acres, the family has spent the last 30+ years restoring the property from farmland to a native woodland. As a lifelong amateur naturalist, Jeff loves exploring Kentucky and learning about the rich diversity of the Commonwealth’s many ecosystems. He has been a member of the KNPS since the early 1990s and on the Board since 2017.
The Lady Slipper
Managing Editor
Ciara Knisely is a freelance writer with a background in environmental conservation and current MFA graduate student at Spalding University in Louisville. She is passionate about protecting and nurturing native species of all kinds, and paying attention to the little things — especially plants, birds and bugs. Having lived between Arizona, Indiana and Kentucky, she is proud to call Kentucky home and to write about its natural beauty.