In honor of Women’s History Month, Wild Basin would like to acknowledge Judy Walther.
Judy is an inspiring woman who served as Wild Basin’s first educational director from 1979 to 1986. In the days before any buildings existed at Wild Basin, Walther began working at the preserve, using her car as her office space. From those humble beginnings, Walther built educational programs at Wild Basin with 200 volunteers and serving 3,000 students annually. Her early years as a pioneer at Wild Basin were special ones. Working with 450 species and 227 pristine acres, Walther created an educational program that won an award from the Governor of Texas Environmental Excellence Award Program.
Thanks to Walther, university students and adult volunteers led tours for children and parents for the first time. Walther, who has a Masters in Science Education with a botany specialty, also created an easy-to-use identification key of woody plants that’s still used today. In 2011 Walther returned to Wild Basin to teach a Natural History class for St. Edward’s University New College. As Walther stated in an interview, “An important part of science is wondering, to be observant and look around,” she says. “I’m bringing it back home. Wild Basin is near and dear to my heart.” Wild Basin is lucky to have had her vision and expertise through the years!