Staff
Bonnie Harper, Executive Director
In 2019 Bonnie Harper became the Executive Director for Open Space STL. Bonnie was born and raised in south St. Louis County. In 2006, she received a B.A. from Loyola University Chicago, majoring in Environmental Studies. She studied abroad in New Zealand, fell in love with the country, and decided to earn her Master’s in Environmental Legal Studies from the University of Auckland, New Zealand.
While abroad, she met and married her husband. She worked and traveled throughout New Zealand for ten years as an environmental planner and policy advisor for regional government agencies. She specialized in working with local communities on watershed planning and biodiversity conservation and restoration plans. In 2015, Bonnie returned to St. Louis and worked for the East-West Gateway Council of Governments as a Sustainability Planner. She now resides in Oakville with her husband and two children.
Charles Whitt, Development and Marketing Director
Charles has been passionate about the environment and is ready to help grow awareness about our programs and projects.
Recently, he has been involved personally as Chairperson for the regional chapter of The Climate Reality Project and serves on the Communications Committee for the Sierra Club.
Katie Franke, Community Conservation Program Manager
As a Master Naturalist, a Water Quality Monitor, a Sierra Club Outings Leader, and a dedicated volunteer for many organizations, you can often find Katie in the outdoors somewhere, probably pulling a tire out of a river.
Katie started her career in education, teaching middle school and high school English, then later Special Education. After Covid hit, and the world looked a little different, Katie decided to change paths, and moved into nonprofit work with Monarch Immigrant Services, working with the St. Louis City Covid Cares program. After that program ended, she decided to follow her passions… which led her to Open Space STL. As an Operation Stream Team volunteer for decades, this was the perfect fit!
Katie lives in St. Louis with her husband, two kids, two dogs, three chickens, and a turtle. She feels very fortunate to be able to dedicate her time to meaningful work, spending time with volunteers, and getting her hands dirty when the opportunities arise!
Stacy Arnold, Watershed Planning and Land Conservation Consultant
Stacy Arnold is a Watershed Planning and Land Conservation Consultant with Open Space STL , and she is an active volunteer as well. As a lifelong resident of Missouri, she grew up in the rural southwest area of the state observing and learning from water in the form of an Ozark stream and gained a deep appreciation and love for the natural world. She has devoted almost 20 years to volunteering with the Missouri Stream Team Program and working in the watershed and natural resources management field.
Stacy is accomplished in facilitating strategic planning efforts where numerous stakeholders are involved to cultivate partnerships in communities and watersheds to collaborate and create voluntary opportunities to improve water quality while achieving other goals at the same time. She has a B. A. in Environmental Studies with an emphasis in Water Resources Management from the University of Montana.
“Water has been and always will be my greatest teacher.” ~ Stacy
Nora Stark, Community Stewardship Coordinator
Nora has joined our team as an AmeriCorps member with Stream Teams United serving with Open Space STL as a Community Stewardship Coordinator.
She recently graduated from Saint Louis University in 2024 with a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science with a concentration in geoscience, so she has spent the past four years getting my hands dirty studying soil, water, and minerals. During her time at SLU, she served as President of the Wilderness Adventure Club, leading outdoor adventures all across the country!
She also had the privilege of participating in educational field trips through SLU’s Earth and Atmospheric Science Department, traveling to places like Hawaii and Washington. Despite these incredible experiences, she always wanted to return to her roots in St. Louis, a city she loves deeply.
Bonnie Harper spoke at the groundbreaking ceremony of the Brentwood Wetland Restoration Project.
Bonnie Harper (left) and Hannah Gibson (right) celebrate Operation Clean Stream 2022 during the post-cleanup picnic at Greentree Park.
Bonnie Harper (left) and Hannah Gibson (right) attended the Bass Pro Shops opening in Sunset Hills, MO to talk about our conservation programs