Since childhood, Priestley has been interested in the world of nature. Each in their own way, both of her parents were interested in the outdoors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy father was more of a gardener,\u201d she explained. \u201cHe picked wild plums and made plum jelly. We always had horses, chickens, mules, or dogs. He was oriented toward husbandry. Mother, on the other hand, was an appreciator of nature. She loved flowers and that kind of thing. She was more interested in the beauty of nature.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of her earliest memories of enjoying nature was at her great-grandmother\u2019s residence on Signal Mountain, where they enjoyed spending time in her most magical \u201cbog garden.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cShe was an avid gardener. She would take us to see her bog garden, which had native plants. The trek out to the garden is my earliest memory of nature,\u201d said Priestley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While she would develop other loves and interests over the years, nature always snuck its way into Priestley\u2019s life. She earned a Master of Science in biology at Middle Tennessee State University and a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from The University of the South (Sewanee). She taught science for years in the Franklin County School system and wrote several books about nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n SOMETHING TO SHARE.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Priestley appreciates nature\u2019s beauty and works to take care of it however she can. As a long-time resident and a graduate of Sewanee, she has been highly involved with the University, assisting in various ways. She has worked with the University\u2019s botanist, Professor Jon Evans, and the Sewanee Herbarium for several years, helping to collect, press, dry, and catalog the plants of the Sewanee campus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen he arrived, Professor Evans needed help organizing the plant collection,\u201d she explained. \u201cYolande Gottfried and I worked on it together. It was a lot of fun. We then began to venture out and discover more plants\u2014just moseying around and finding plants we didn\u2019t know lived here. I loved just being able to wander through the woods and explore\u2014 not really with a destination in mind, but just to take my time and explore. With Jon in the lead and the assistance of many students and others, we put together the inventory of plants on the campus and got it published.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to the University\u2019s website, the Sewanee Herbarium has cataloged over 1,120 species of vascular plants on Sewanee\u2019s 13,000-acre campus as part of The Domain Flora Project. In 2016, Professor Evans and his colleagues published The Vascular Flora of The University of the South, which won the Windler Award in Systematics from the Southern Appalachian Botanical Society. The Herbarium regularly hosts hikes and workshops, documents plant invasions, monitors endangered plants on the Domain, and supports plant conservation on the Cumberland Plateau.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Priestley began editing \u201cThe Sewanee Plant Press\u201d in 1997. The quarterly newsletter of the Friends of the Herbarium publicizes events sponsored each season by the Herbarium and describes current botanical and ecological projects, according to the University\u2019s website. The newsletter recently celebrated publishing its 100th issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe newsletter has been a great thing. It\u2019s a blessing to have published our 100th issue,\u201d Priestley added. \u201cJon has student interns and fellows who are interested in the Herbarium. Both the Herbarium and newsletter continue to thrive and grow.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Herbarium also sponsors a nature journaling group that Priestley helped launch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cA friend had written an article for our newsletter about nature journaling and was sponsoring a group in her home,\u201d she explained. \u201cThe group grew, and she was unable to continue it. Jon Evans agreed for the Herbarium to take over sponsorship, hosting its weekly meetings. It\u2019s interesting to watch the group grow and change.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n HER CONTRIBUTION<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Humble and kind, Priestley does not seek credit or praise for her work. She wants us to remember the first time we enjoyed the outdoors \u2014 the first time we were in raptures over the magic of our surroundings. That same magic is inside us and can still be found by moseying along the trail or just getting outside. Priestley hopes to share that the joy of nature is for everyone and can be found anywhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m outside as much as I can be,\u201d she said. \u201cEven just walking down the road is a real joy. Being outside elevates your mood. And every time you go out, you\u2019re bound to see something new.\u201d GN<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" MARY PRIESTLEY is a nature lover or an \u201cappreciator,\u201d as she calls herself. She enjoys its wonders discovered in the hills, behind the trees, and along the trails. There is always something to be found or enjoyed, but one must venture out first. It does the soul good to be among the trees and plants […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":10247,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feature"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/IMG_7261-1024x768.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/DSC09174-1024x683.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/DSC09170-1024x700.jpg\")