Volunteer Spotlight: Anna Newton

Our favorite type of people – volunteers!


Volunteers enhance our outreach to the community. In this issue, we thank Anna Newton. Anna and her husband, David, are regular volunteers at Natural Resources Renewal events.

How long has she volunteered for Roseville?


Anna discovered the Natural Resources Renewal program shortly after moving to Roseville in 2015. From the beginning she was so impressed with the dedicated people who show up with their kids, even in really bad weather!
Anna Newton

Why she volunteers


Anna has a degree in biology and worked for 25 years as a naturalist for Ramsey County. Volunteering offered her a way to get to know other people and share her knowledge about nature and protecting natural resources. When walking in Reservoir Woods Park, she saw garlic mustard forming dense mats and spreading quickly and threatening the biodiversity in the park. With her background she knew she could make a difference.

Types of volunteering


Anna describes herself as a problem solver, teacher, and organizer. She wanted to stop the spread of garlic mustard but knew it was too big a problem for one person to tackle. Anna reached out to volunteer coordinator Rachel Boggs to recruit volunteers to pull garlic mustard in the park. Dozens of people showed up over the course of several weeks to help pull the garlic mustard. 

Because she volunteers


Thanks to volunteers like Anna, Roseville is able to protect its biodiversity and create habitat for native plants and animals.