‘Science is a verb’: Meet the woman leading work on Olmsted Parks' natural areas

Rain was falling on Iroquois Park, but that didn’t matter — the goats would be here soon.

Liz Mortenson Winlock was on her knees in the dirt and the downpour on that day last spring, taking measurements with a set of calipers, jotting down data in a notebook and trying to protect the paper from the rainfall.

She and her team had a narrow window to survey the land before the start of a novel experiment: bringing a herd of goats into Summit Field to help manage the prairie ecosystem and combat invasive species growth, then measuring their success against other land management methods.

Mortenson Winlock, director of natural areas for Olmsted Parks Conservancy, appreciates that her job brings her out into the field — "Science is a verb," she said — and not just behind a desk.

Recently, she's played a key role in Olmsted’s ongoing study of land management techniques alongside experts at Kentucky State University, and in conducting prescribed burns to clear invasives and make way for native grasses and pollinator habitat.

"Me from 20 years ago would be very, very surprised at where I've ended up, and what I'm doing," she said.

Mortenson Winlock studied at the University of Louisville while working the third shift at UPS, and later attended graduate school at Indiana University Bloomington, earning degrees in geography and environmental science.

“I’m a first-generation college student,” she said. “Just being able to go to school was a big deal.”

She now lives in Southern Indiana, where she raises goats. Her car displays an "I brake for goats" license plate frame.

And her current role in managing the natural areas of Olmsted's storied parks system, one of the Louisville area's most touted assets, represents an act of love to a community that supported her through a difficult time.

‘A deep sense of gratitude’

About 10 years ago, Mortenson Winlock was sick with leukemia.

"It made me feel very vulnerable," she said, but also gave her "a deep sense of gratitude" for the people and community around her.

She came out of the experience wanting to put her energy back into the community in a way that would have "longevity."

"After having been sick, I realized ... the way that you'll be remembered is probably related to the things you loved most, and put the most energy into," she said.

In Louisville, she saw people around her doing great work for water quality, environmental justice, historic preservation, climate adaptation and more, "and all of it comes together in urban parks," she said.

Protecting Louisville's natural assets

As Louisville battles worsening urban heat, shifting rainfall patterns and other symptoms of an unstable climate, its green spaces will have a bigger role as critical infrastructure.

Trees and natural areas can cool city streets, mitigate flooding and filter stormwater, saving the city millions of dollars annually, according to estimates in a 2017 Metro ordinance.

And Mortenson Winlock hopes to see long-term commitment to protecting the city's natural areas in perpetuity. Houston, for example, passed an ordinance recently to permanently protect city-owned nature preserves for their climate and environmental health benefits.

Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg and Metro Council have shown recent support for Louisville's parks, she pointed out, and more local efforts are on the horizon, including the Parks for All plan, and restoration proposals for the three forks of Beargrass Creek and other waterways.

Recently, Olmsted was one of three organizations nationally to receive funding for improving pollinator habitat on public lands from the National Environmental Education Foundation.

The grant will go toward improving 1,000 habitat acres across the city's parks, including a "butterfly and bee pollinator meadow" at Chickasaw Park in honor of Muhammad Ali.

Mortenson Winlock said the connectivity of the park and parkway system in Louisville — a network of potential pollinator habitat all around the city — was important for clinching the funding.

“I think we actually are much better off than we think we are, but ... we need to make sure that we don't endanger or lose our natural areas,” she said. "We have a really amazing system. And the lesson we could learn from other cities is to protect it now."

Connor Giffin is an environmental reporter for The Courier Journal and a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues. The program funds up to half of corps members’ salaries, but requires a portion also be raised through local community fundraising. To support local environmental reporting in Kentucky, tax-deductible donations can be made at courier-journal.com/RFA.

Learn more about RFA at reportforamerica.org. Reach Connor directly at cgiffin@gannett.com or on X @byconnorgiffin.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Olmsted natural areas director on protecting Louisville's green space