Big River Big Woods

Kendra will also explore creative ways to incorporate rain gardens into yards, parks, and public spaces, and share how you can advocate for smarter residential stormwater solutions in your neighborhood and city.

Whether you already have a rain garden or don’t know what rain gardens are, you’ll learn something in this presentation. This is a great opportunity to learn how a small rain garden can make a big difference for your local watershed, lakes, and rivers. 

Kendra Sommerfeld Bio:

Kendra Sommerfeld is the Outreach and Communications Manager at Rice Creek Watershed District, where she works to make the science of water resource management accessible and meaningful to communities throughout the watershed. In her role, she leads public engagement and education efforts around stormwater infrastructure, flood mitigation, and water quality initiatives across nearly 30 cities and townships in the metro area. She holds a bachelor’s degree in environmental science from the University of Minnesota and a master’s degree in natural resource management from Colorado State University.

Kendra’s passion for native plants and ecological restoration runs deep, rooted in years of hands-on field work with organizations including Great River Greening, The Nature Conservancy, and Prairie Restorations Inc. That experience in the field gives her a practical, grounded perspective that she brings to every presentation. Whether she is talking about rain gardens, stormwater management, or native plantings, Kendra has a gift for breaking down complex environmental topics in ways that inform, inspire, and move people to action.