Melissa moved last year to Central Illinois from California’s fertile central Valley, so although the agricultural landscape rings familiar, she does miss being surrounded by mountain ranges.  She received her undergraduate degree from UCLA and is currently in the Master of Science program for Natural Resources at the University of Illinois and has been both a Master Gardener and a Master Naturalist. In her spare time, she is rehabbing her 1926 brick Tudor, learning Gaelic, and discovering new outdoor adventures with her dogs.