Missouri Conservationist online

Carol Davit is the Conservation Department's natural history special projects coordinator. She lives in Jefferson City but is a Gray Summit native. She also edits The Missouri Prairie Journal of the Missouri Prairie Foundation. Carol says she enjoys hiking and "botanizing" in natural communities as often as possible.

Mark Goodwin, a biology teacher in Jackson, is a dedicated hunter and angler who frequently writes for the Conservationist and other publications. He delights in sharing his love of the outdoors with his children. His next article, which will appear in November, is about hunting with his daughter.

Jim Low produces a weekly news release package for the Conservation Department and edits the "News & Almanac" section of the Conservationist. He used to tease flyfishers about all their gear, but after being bitten by the black-powder bug he bought four muzzleloaders and accumulated several house payments worth of accessories.

Charlotte Overby lives in Columbia. She hikes and camps in some of mid Missouri's wildest places. She is assistant editor of the Conservationist and coordinates production of Outside In, the Conservation Department's magazine for kids. Her next story for the magazine will be about ballooning spiders.

Pat Smith has been writing stories and riding horses in Missouri for nearly 20 years. A freelance journalist, she also teaches a class at the University of Missouri School of Journalism and remains close to rural Missouri from the Boone County farm where she lives with her family and an assortment of animals.

Tim Smith, a Conservation Department botanist, tracks the status of rare and endangered plants and aggressive, exotic plants, such as purple loosestrife. Smith lives in Jefferson City with his wife and two children and enjoys gardening and bird hunting. He recently worked on a revision of Edgar Denison's Missouri Wildflowers.