Matthew Herron
Founder and Education Director Matthew grew up in Southeast Louisiana with diverse interests in creative writing, visual arts, music, and history. After graduating from LSU with B.A. in English and German in 2003, he began his career as a life-long learner and outdoor educator, teaching for summer camps, boy scouting, the university and outdoor schools such as Glen Helen Outdoor Education Center and the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont. Matthew holds a M.S. from University of Louisiana at Monroe where he studied ecological succession and restoration of floodplain forests. Since 2012, Matthew has been a strong advocate for healthy land relationships, helping to establish the Louisiana Master Naturalists of Greater Baton Rouge and the Capital Area Native Plant Society. He is passionate about biodiversity, place-based education and [re]connecting people with the land that sustains us. Matthew is the Founder and Education Director of Coastal Plains Outdoor School. 
Logan Wiedenfeld
Adjunct Instructor Logan was raised in southeast Texas and spent much of his youth fishing, hunting, and foraging in and along the marshes and mixed woods of the upper Texas Gulf Coast. While his interest in fungi didn’t develop until later, Logan was always fascinated by the flora and fauna surrounding him. In 2011, he moved from Texas to Baton Rouge to pursue his Ph. D. in English Literature at Louisiana State University. It was there, in the swamps and hardwood bottoms of the broader Baton Rouge area, that Logan’s interests as a naturalist broadened to encompass fungi. What began as an interest in foraging for the table quickly grew to a broader interest in fungal taxonomy and ecology. He has discovered several new species of mushroom, including Amanita batonrougensis and Amanita audubonensis, both of which were found in south Louisiana. He is a member of Gulf States Mycological Society and has led mushroom walks for the Louisiana Master Naturalists Group and BREC (Baton Rouge Recreation). Professionally, Logan has taught as an instructor of English at LSU, as a postdoctoral teaching fellow at Tulane, and is currently an Assistant Professor of English at Alcorn State University in western Mississippi. He is married and has three children. |
Kerri McCabe
Adjunct Instructor Kerri was born and raised in the River Valley of Arkansas where she was enthralled with nature at an early age. She attended the University of Central Arkansas with early plans to be a marine biologist, but discovered a love for plants along the way and graduated with a BS in Biology – Plant Sciences. For her graduate work at UCA, she returned to zoology, conducting her thesis work with pit vipers and ectothermic ecophysiology. She’s taught introductory biology courses at UCA, and assisted research in aquatic ecology of endemic species in the Ozark Highlands for UA – Fayetteville. She sees her recent passion for mycology as a marriage of too old loves in botany and zoology as fungi connect the other two kingdoms with their intertwining mycelium. She’s mentored by Jay Justice, President of the Arkansas Mycological Society and is a member of fifteen different mycological clubs, societies, or associations, including the Gulf States Mycological Association. She’s learned that being a mycophile is a lifestyle, and will talk mushrooms all day! She currently works for the Arkansas Division of Environmental Quality protecting Arkansas’ water resources. |
John Michael Kelly
Adjunct Instructor John Michael is a brilliant, self taught naturalist and botanist from Northwest Louisiana. He is currently working for Caddo parish parks and recreation while researching the rare, natural communities of our state. His interests are especially focused on old forests and calcareous grasslands. John Michael serves as a local coordinator for the Old Growth Forest Network. |
