Q: Who are you? A: M y name is Avery Holter. I’m a 27-year-old Cleveland native, but I’ve lived in several states across the U.S. with my wife, Kristen; our dog, Lana; and our cat, Loki. Q: What is your official title, and what do you do at the Museum? A: I ’m a Protection Services Supervisor. I supervise our guards and provide quality customer service to our patrons. I also do a lot of things behind the scenes to keep our patrons and employees safe. Q: How long have you worked at the Museum? A: I’ve been here more than a year now. Q: What do you like most about your position? A: I like interacting with everyone at the Museum and trying to make their day better. Q: What made you choose your position? A: I enjoy helping people and being part of something bigger. The Museum does so much for the community, and I cannot wait for the changes coming in 2024. Q: W hat is your favorite part of the Museum? Why? A: I really like the Perkins Wildlife Center. It’s nice to walk around outside and see all the animals you can find in Ohio. The Wildlife team does a great job taking care of and rehabilitating the animals. Blackjack is my favorite; I love how interactive he is. I could spend hours hanging out with that bird! He’s a great conversationalist. The Cleveland Museum of Natural History recently mourned the passing of a longtime Botany Department volunteer, Diane Lucas. As a volunteer in the herbarium—the Museum’s plant collection—Lucas left an indelible mark on the Museum. She was the driving force behind the establishment of the Museum’s moss and lichen collection, developing and expanding it over her 30-year volunteer tenure. The Museum’s resident expert on the identification of mosses and lichens, Lucas was involved in every step of cataloging the specimens, including their collection, processing, and organization. Lucas was also an avid field botanist and a regular presence on Museum field trips and research outings. Her work identifying rare and state-listed mosses assisted the Museum in securing several conservation grants over the years, which in turn led to the protection of land at the Museum’s Windsor Woods Preserve and elsewhere. Along with Curator Emeritus of Botany Dr. Jim Bissell, Lucas was instrumental in locating and Staff Spotlight: Avery Holter Protection Services Supervisor Volunteer Spotlight: Remembering Diane Lucas confirming new populations of a species of rare moss, awned dichelyma moss (Dichelyma capillaceum), which was believed to be extirpated from Ohio before being rediscovered in recent years at a number of Museum-owned natural areas, including Geneva Swamp, the Grand River Terraces, and Windsor Woods. Lucas’s volunteer efforts extended beyond the Museum. After taking botany courses at Cleveland State University and Kent State University, Lucas partnered with her professor Dr. Barbara Andreas to publish a report on the bryophytes (mosses, liverworts, and hornworts) of Jefferson County. Lucas also organized the Consortium of North American Bryophyte Herbaria, which led to the creation of a web portal (bryophyteportal.org) that tracked moss and lichen specimens in herbaria across the continent. As recently as the spring of 2022, Lucas was still making the trip to the Museum from her home in Lorain County to finish her work in the moss collection. Shortly before her passing, she commented that she had just about completed the work she had set out to do. Lucas will be profoundly missed, but her legacy will live on in the Museum bryophyte collection that she built and maintained. Volunteers like Lucas demonstrate the profound impact of committed volunteer service in Museum collections. Museum volunteers have the opportunity to play an important role in the development and management of collections that will serve as resources and research tools for generations to come. 34 | EXPLORE WINTER 2023
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