Ms. Ellen A. Katke, M.S., M.S.U.E., AMG

Deceased 10/24/2007

Posted in memory of a caring, giving, loving and dedicated person who devoted her professional career to the environment and the people who lived in it

Lessons from Nature ~ Continuing Education for Earth-Friendly People

Owner/Principal

Ellen Katke obtained her Masters Degree in Horticultural and Extension Education from Michigan State University in 1998. Her Bachelor of Science degree in Home Economics (now Human Ecology and Environment) was obtained by full scholarship at Madonna College (now Madonna University) in 1970.

Ms. Katke has been the Urban Horticulturist for Washtenaw County; an Extension 4-H fair judge for Washtenaw, Livingston, and Eaton counties; and currently writes and teaches horticulture classes for the Department of Lifelong Education at Washtenaw Community College.

Ellen is a recognized speaker at national and state conferences, as well as non-profit organizations in Michigan and Ohio. She writes free-lance articles and newsletters for various non-profit enterprises and is the former editor of the Michigan Horticultural Therapy Association’s newsletter “People~Plant Interactions”. She has authored the Michigan State University’s Master Gardener Program brochure, distributed by MSU Extension offices throughout Michigan, and currently creates and writes “The Veterans Voice” newsletter for Cheboygan County Department of Veterans Affairs.

Ms. Katke is the founder of the Washtenaw County’s Children’s Garden Party, which serves today as a model for similar events across the state, She is also the innovator behind MSU’s Junior Master Gardener Program. Her ‘Plant of the Week’ hands-on modules developed for Lincoln Consolidated Schools won district-wide acclaim. Additionally, she created, implemented and taught the Lowden Heritage Garden Project at a restored one-room schoolhouse on the Lincoln community’s school’s campus.

Ms. Katke has recently relocated to Northern Michigan from her home near Ann Arbor. Her D.B.A., Lessons from Nature, is a teaching venture that provides customized workshops and classes on horticulture-related topics for earth-friendly people in both the private and public sectors. Ellen has been a docent for the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum, and also consults on enabling and therapeutic gardens for homebound individuals.

Most notable among her clients are:

• The University of Michigan Communicative Disorders Clinic
• Monroe County Community Mental Health Authority
• Presbyterian Villages of Michigan (senior retirement village)
• Girl Scouts of America A.I.M. (Adventures in Math and Science) program
• Lourdes College (Toledo, Ohio)
• Madonna University (Livonia, Michigan)
• Immaculate Heart of Mary Sisters (Monroe, Michigan)

• Health Care Associates of Michigan (Lansing, Michigan)

Lessons from Nature has also given back to the community by participating in MDOT’s Adopt-a-Highway program, maintaining a 2 mile stretch of U.S. 23 for many years. Ms. Katke is also an active volunteer in the American Legion Post 122 Auxiliary in Wolverine, Michigan.

Ms. Katke’s interests include ecopsychology, Native American basketry, Michigania and various needle arts.

MEMBERSHIPS and AFFILIATIONS:

• American Society for Horticultural Science (ASHS)
• American Horticultural Society
• (AHS) Michigan Horticultural Therapy Association
• Chicago Botanic Gardens
• Michigan Herb Associates
• Wild Ones (Natural Landscaping Association)
• Michigan Master Gardeners (certified in 1979)
• The Nature Conservancy of Michigan
• Phi Kappa Phi (National Honor Society)
• Embroiderer’s Guild of America