Meet Your Neighbors

Greg Rajsky: heavy metal botanist

Greg Rajsky’s professional titles — vice president of a Wauconda association management company, where he doubles as president of the Aluminum Anodizer Council and executive director for the Extrusion Technology Foundation — fade to the background when he talks about another: natural areas steward.

With long, neatly cropped hair that shows just a hint of grey, the soft-spoken but self-assured Rajsky (pronounced “Rice-key”), 52, describes himself as “an assemblage of predilections”: pacifist, Harley rider, botanist, executive, writer, educator, vegetarian. Born in Hinsdale but now a Woodstock resident, Rajsky serves as a volunteer habitat steward in both counties: at Lone Oak Fen in McHenry County and at Bluff Savanna, part of Waterfall Glen Forest Preserve, in DuPage. His eyes glisten with excitement as he describes his sites and his work there, especially that of identifying and monitoring plant species.

Though he has no formal academic training in environmental sciences, that hasn’t stopped Rajsky from developing an encyclopedic knowledge of plants and their names, both scientific and common. He collects botanical data on woods and grasslands for the Chicago Wilderness Land Audits, and leads plant identification walks to help other plant monitors sharpen their skills, often arriving by “chopper” with engine revving.

His e-mail name, “quirkaceae,” is both a testament to his eclectic passions and a play on one of his favorite tree genera, the Quercus, or oak. One of Rajsky’s many roles is as an “Oak Keeper” for the Land Conservancy of McHenry County’s Project Quercus. Along with other volunteers, he’s gathering data on the county’s privately owned oak woodlands. By studying historical records and comparing them to present-day growth patterns, the group has already determined that the area has lost 87 percent of its oak forest since 1830. Project Quercus is now working with landowners to preserve the remaining oaks and ensure that there are new generations.

Rajsky’s lifelong passion for nature found its current expression in 1990 when, deciding to “get his hands dirty,” he attended a stewardship seminar. He remembers hearing stump speeches — delivered on top of actual tree stumps — by environmental advocates such as Stephen Packard, on the effectiveness of and need for stewards. He was hooked.

Rajsky’s management skills have stood him in good stead as an organizer for large events such as the Chicago Wilderness Wild Things conference. He co-chaired the program committee in 2005, the first conference, and in 2007. That year he also presented a session on “ecological anachronisms,” plants that have evolved in the presence of some pollinating or seed-dispersing animal that has since disappeared.

Rajsky wants to use the next Wild Things conference in February as a springboard to communicate the importance of environmental education. He also wants to help faith-based organizations become more involved in the natural world. Nature and the outdoors help nourish divine connections, he says, and all facets of religion could benefit from more outdoor experiences.

Out in the field, it’s easy to tell that nature has become second nature to Rajsky. When asked how he can possibly remember so many scientific plant names, he first looks a bit puzzled, and then replies: “They are my friends. How could I not remember the names of my friends?”

— David Rigby