As a young child growing up in rural Kentucky, Julie always was fasci-
Lovett talks with Jerry Wilcoxen as he takes photos of wildflowers in the park.
nated with nature. Her dream was to be a park ranger, but it wasn’t until her late 40s when it became a reality. She’s worked 16 years at Arkansas state parks, with 11 of those years at Bull Shoals-White River State Park. Her role includes researching and presenting educational/conserva-
tion programs at the park on a variety of topics, leading guided hikes and lake and river tours, teaching kayaking courses, helping develop the park’s annual Eagle Awareness program and presenting a birds of prey program at local schools, presenting programs at schools during Arkan- sas Week, and leading youth Nature Camps and a Women’s Outdoor Weekend. For those who enjoy learning about nature, listening to a park inter-
preter is like having multiple field guides at the ready. Julie stoops down and picks a leaf that to the untrained eye looks ex-
actly like poison ivy — but in fact is fragrant sumac, which doesn’t have a stem connected to its central leaf like poison ivy does, has a slightly dif- ferent leaf shape and edge, and grows a little differently.
LIVING WELL SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019 31
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