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Becki was born and raised in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and has her PHD from the State University of Iowa. In 2007 she retired as Vice President of Kirkwood Community College and became an Iowa Master Gardener.

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In retirement she has served as Chair of the Iowa State Master Gardener Advisory Committee and President of the Friends of Noelridge Volunteer Group. These volunteers support the Cedar Rapids Parks and Recreation Department professionals to further the beauty and biodiversity that has made Noelridge Park an example for the city.

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Her love of nature drew her to the study of biodiversity and she developed a passion for the conservation and support of pollinators. In 2012, she was awarded the Espoma Environmental Stewardship Home Gardener Award for the development of conservation practices at her 3 acre home. In 2015 she created the Planting for Pollinators Project and co-chaired it for 5 years. Through partnerships developed with the city, county, state, and the Monarch Research Project, 10,000 acres of habitat have been added to public and private properties in Linn County Iowa.

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In 2020, Becki and her husband Dennis, moved to Winter Garden permanently to be near her grandkids. She is presently developing and rehabbing the West Orange Trail Butterfly/Pollinator Habitat Garden. If you are on the trail between Winter Garden and Oakland, you will pass it. Hope you can take a minute to stop and enjoy.

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In the summer of 2021, Becki became a member of the Bloom & Grow Garden Society. Her blog posts started on our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/springfeverinthegarden and now she has her own page here to post about monarchs, pollinators and all things garden related. If you have any questions about the blog posts, you can ask them through the website and she will get back to you.