February 11 was The International Day of Women and Girls in Science. To celebrate it, read about Director of Science & Research Holly Latteman.
Holly’s family was endlessly curious about everything that popped up or into the four acre yard that she grew up on, whether that was a pair of deer, birds or certain plants that were emerging. Whenever the family was traveling, she always found a garden or arboretum that she wanted to visit.
The moment Holly knew she wanted to become a scientist was in the ninth grade when she participated in the state science fair. The fair opened her eyes to see what careers and opportunities are truly accessible in the STEM field.
She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Zoology, Environmental Studies and Sociology/Anthropology from Ohio Wesleyan University, and then a Masters of Science in Environmental Studies from Ohio University. She heavily focused on the study of birds, or ornithology, where she did banding, genetic studies, blood samples and even created study skins and taxidermy.
She uses all of her knowledge and experience today as the Director of Science & Research at The Dawes Arboretum. She spends her days working with The Arboretum’s nursery, plant records and herbarium team. She manages the collection of trees at The Arboretum, as well as maintaining Dawes’ four nationally accredited collections.
Holly’s mantra is all about making science accessible for everyone. She discovered this purpose during an internship at the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, where she learned all about citizen science and how connected people are to everything and need to be able to understand it.
On Holly’s first day at The Arboretum, over six years ago, she drove in fashioning black dress pants and a bird shirt, an homage to her grandmother Antonia, who she spent warm summers birdwatching with.
Within 15 minutes, she changed into field pants and work boots, headed into the nature of The Arboretum to learn, and she wouldn’t change a thing about how she began.
As for young people who are interested in science – her one big takeaway is to keep learning.
“Don’t quit. Learn whatever you can, absorb whatever you can and ask questions as much as you can,” she said. “Don’t ever say no to an experience that you think could help you. Try to have as much knowledge and experience as possible, because you’ll never know what’s going to be useful to you in the future.”
Her favorite part of every day today is the people.
“The people that I work with make every day special,” she said. ‘The care that this team has for each other is so important, and not lost on me.”
Although there have been occasions where Holly feels like she’s been treated differently because of who she was, she has never let that affect her outlook, and she never let other people’s perceptions play a role in her choices.
Holly began as the Science and Conservation Manager in August of 2019 and has since worked her way up to the Director of Science & Research. In the coming years, she’s looking forward to The Arboretum’s centennial in 2029, continuing to quench her curiosity, but mostly – sharing The Arboretum with new people every day.
“We have so much to offer at The Arboretum,” she said. “There’s so much to discover beneath the surface. We want to help you [visitors] discover that.”