Volunteer Profile – Shirley Griffin

Shirley Griffin
© TNC

About five years ago, the Conservancy was moving its office in Sturgeon Bay and looking for help with everything from lugging boxes to cleaning. Enter Shirley Griffin, volunteer extraordinaire, who not only has a master’s degree in freshwater ecology and professional experience protecting wetlands while regulating various construction activities, but who is willing to roll up her sleeves and “help with any task, whether menial or momentous.”

In the ensuing years, Shirley has become a valuable asset, lending her knowledge, skill and energy to outdoor field work endeavors. Her accomplishments are as varied as her interests, but she has especially enjoyed “planting trees, botanizing, catching dragonflies and stewardship.” As one might guess, she is perhaps most comfortable leading wetland field trips, sharing her experience with those who participate. “I enjoy teaching when I know enough to be confident,” is how she explains it.

When asked what she is most proud of, she shares stories about the tree planting program in Door County that she has coordinated over the past four years. In so doing, Shirley found an affinity for working with the volunteer crews. It’s easy to imagine the other volunteers benefiting from the enthusiasm and commitment she brings to these endeavors. Shirley said there is a simple credo that motivates her as a volunteer: “Helping to save a piece of the world and finding friends with similar interests.”

She augments her considerable involvement with the Conservancy by serving as President of the Board of Directors of the Glacial Lakes Conservancy. She is also an active member of The Friends of Blahnick Park near Algoma. Part of her involvement there was helping design the park so as to minimize wetland impacts.

In her “free time,” Shirley gardens with her husband, a retired doctor. “He does flowers, I do vegetables.” She plays the autoharp in a barn dance band known as “Sugar on the Floor,” and recently she and son Marc built and raced a boat in Door County’s Maritime Museum Sikaflex Challenge.

Recently, Shirley accepted a part-time position with the Conservancy where she helps out in the Door Peninsula office and with coordinating land management work in the field.