His
days as an Eagle Scout, living near the Chicago River’s North Branch, led Wayne
to become a devoted naturalist.
He has worked with the Cook County Forest Preserves, Openlands Project, North
Park Village, the Boy Scouts, Chicago Wilderness, the US Commission for UNESCO
and the Abraham Lincoln Memorial Garden in Springfield, IL. He was Illinois
Department of Natural Resources’ first chief naturalist. A founding board member
of Caretakers of the Environment, an international all-volunteer program for
high school students and teachers, he has helped numerous organizations begin
preservation programs from the Indiana Dunes to the Waukegan harbor area.
Wayne has always striven to teach young people about working with and protecting
the environment. He recently retired as a CPS horticulture and biology teacher.
At Hubbard High School he conducted the first urban horticulture classes and
while at Von Steuben Metropolitan Science Center, students did service learning
on erosion control and restoration along the North Branch of the Chicago River.