David Kopitzke’s interest in the natural world began early, with childhood family outings to state parks and with many Boy Scout camping trips. His education furthered these interests with a Bachelor’s degree in Biology and a Master’s degree in Plant Ecology. Thereafter his career included work as Curator of Botany at the Milwaukee Public Museum, operating a native plant nursery, protecting rare plant species with the Wisconsin Bureau of Endangered Resources and teaching at the University of Wisconsin-Richland.
In addition, he has been an active member of The Nature Conservancy, The Toyama Prefectural Friends of Plants and a founding board member of the Driftless Area Land Conservancy, a land trust protecting natural, agricultural and historic sites in southwestern Wisconsin. At home he keeps busy with a huge vegetable garden, botanical illustrations and language studies. His interest in plants is not limited to the large (trees) and the colorful (flowers), but also includes the more obscure, but no less fascinating, world of mushrooms, mosses and lichens.
