Pioneer Prairie Cemeteries 

Chris Benda is a botanist and past president of the Illinois Native Plant Society (2015-2016).  A native of Minnesota, Chris moved to Illinois from California in 2004 and received a master's degree in Biology from the University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign in 2007.  Besides conducting botanical fieldwork worldwide, he teaches at Flora of Southern Illinois at Southern Illinois University and various classes at the Moron Arboretum, as well as leading nature tours for Camp Ondessonk. He has research appointments with the University of Illinois and Argonne National Laboratory and is an accomplished photographer and author of several publications about natural areas in Illinois.