“Diana’s tireless drive to share the word and pitch in to protect the good things in our environment is inspiring. Thank you, Diana, for all you do.”
~Wendolyn Hill, Vice President of the board of the Lyme Land Trust
Diana Furse Fiske was honored with the 2023 Lyme Land Trust Volunteer of the Year Award at the Lyme Land Trust Annual Meeting on June 16. As a community member of the Lyme Land Trust education and events committee, she has contributed much through her leadership and organizational skills. In addition, Diana is a member of the Sustainable Lyme Committee and is a founder and co-chair of the Lyme Pollinator Pathway. In all of her extensive volunteer work, in Lyme and beyond (too many to mention), she is adept at enthusiastically leveraging the interests of diverse community groups in support of our common environment. She encourages collaboration and many of her activities overlap.
Diana is excellent at organizing and promoting educational events to spread the word about the importance of protecting the environment and promoting our local food production. This year for the Lyme Land Trust, she set up the popular local farms series with public tours of local agriculture; she also organized a workshop with ecologist Jim Sirch to learn how to propagate native plants from seed; arranged for a presentation about bird migration; volunteered for Curiosity Shop – an after school program for Lyme School kids; as well as hosted an afternoon at Ballek’s Garden Center to learn about pollinators and native plants.
Most of all, Diana is a champion in the fight against invasive plants. She spreads the word beyond the borders of Lyme and pitches in with hands-on work. One of her most visible efforts is the mammoth Nix the Knotweed campaign at Whalebone Creek, as part of a town-wide effort. As president of the Friends of Whalebone Cove, Diana spearheaded the effort to successfully prevent invasive water chestnut from invading our beautiful Whalebone and Selden Coves.
The Lyme Land Trust is very fortunate to benefit from the efforts of such a passionate volunteer.
See all of the recipients of the Volunteers of the Year Awards since 2019
