Erin Presley

Erin Presley left her heart at Olbrich Botanical Gardens while interning there in 2005. After earning a bachelor’s degree in Horticulture from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, she gardened for a decade in the private sector before returning to Olbrich in 2014, where she manages the Herb, Woodland, and Pond Gardens. Her interests include native woodland plantings, sedges, low-maintenance and drought-tolerant gardening styles, recycling woody debris, and all things related to herbs and vegetables. As the 2021 inaugural winner of the American Public Gardens Association’s Future Leaders award, she is never shy when it comes to sharing the joy of gardening, with appearances on the nationally syndicated podcast Cultivating Place and The Plantastic Podcast with Dr. Jared Barnes, Wisconsin Public Radio’s Garden Talk and contributions to many print and online horticulture publications.