Gus is SGI’s Native Seed Program Collections Manager. Gus began as SGI’s Seed Technician in 2023. His interest in native seeds started when he began volunteering for SGI in August, 2022. Gus attended Virginia Commonwealth University, where he studied scientific illustration before entering a year of AmeriCorps service as an Environmental Educator. When he moved to Tennessee, he was introduced to SGI's work and is excited to have the opportunity to participate in grassland restoration efforts.

Email: gus.rasich@segrasslands.org

Ashton is a Seed Collection Technician at SGI. She is originally from Kentucky and is a Murray State University alumna with a B.S. in Horticulture. During her first year of employment at the Nashville Zoo she primarily had her hands in the dirt at the historical farm, the Zoo's largest pollinator and native gardens. While awaiting her primary goal of managing the Zoo's two greenhouses, her passion for native species took root and flourished, outcompeting her love for greenhouse cultivation. As she began to witness how much habitat loss and lack of biodiversity was all around her, she was determined to set herself on a path of restoration and to return into the field. She is now a part of SGI to help propagate her love for natives to those around her, in her community, and beyond into the southeast through the collection of seeds. 

ashton.crowe@segrasslands.org