Blooming flower bouquets and babbling brooks offer a quiet glimpse into nature’s beauty, while also inspiring incoming Illinois State University junior Genna Warnick to restore, nurture, and preserve the world around her.

From growing plants and designing floral arrangements to restoring a creek on her grandfather’s farm, Warnick dedicates herself to environmental stewardship. This fall, she will apply her love for nature and making a global impact as an environmental systems science and sustainability major.

“My family has always loved taking care of the land, and that set me on the path to look into conservation opportunities and realizing that environmental science is what I want to do,” Warnick said.

Warnick earned an associate degree from Richland Community College five years ago before taking a break from school to be with her father, in Decatur, as he battled cancer. After he sadly passed away, Warnick found joy in her work at the same flower shop that prepared the arrangement for her father’s funeral.

She also began restoring her grandfather’s dried-up creek in rural Decatur.

“Every evening, when I had free time, I would walk down to the creek and I’d start digging, and I would measure how deep I was digging—about seven or eight inches,” Warnick said.

Within three months, Warnick’s efforts allowed water to once again flow, while reestablishing a habitat for native animals, including crawdads, tadpoles, bees, and Monarch butterflies.

This success story became part of Warnick’s conservation portfolio, which helped her earn a spot with the Rocky Mountain Conservancy Conservation Corps.

In Colorado, she volunteered with a vegetation crew that worked alongside members of the Rocky Mountain National Park Service to remove invasive species and reintroduce native plants. Her experience included learning about plant identification and herbicide safety.

“I realized how much I loved it and how much I love working with that type of crew, working outdoors,” Warnick said.

Inspired to turn her passion for the environment into a career, Warnick decided to enroll at Illinois State, where she begins classes as a junior this fall as a proud recipient of a Civic Engagement Scholarship.

“The fact that they chose me and gave me this scholarship, it meant eons, and I plan to continue that type of civic engagement at Illinois State,” Warnick said.

The University’s commitment to civic engagement, combined with its strong environmental science program, were both factors in Warnick’s decision to transfer to Illinois State, which was once again recognized as a top destination for transfer students.

“ISU is actually one of the only universities I could find in the Central Illinois area that offers a very well-thought-out environmental science program,” Warnick said.

After graduating, Warnick envisions herself becoming a park ranger or an environmental science teacher who will educate and instill hope to help overcome the feeling of helplessness often associated with our environment.

“We are here to be the people who can find solutions, who can invoke change, whether through teaching other people about it or being part of the front lines of coming up with greener ways to create energy,” Warnick said.

Read about all of the students featured in our “Newest Redbirds” series at News.IllinoisState.edu.