Charlotte Lorick

Head of Biodiversity Conservation

Charlotte is a naturalist and plant specialist and manages the OSGF biodiversity conservation team. She began working at Oak Spring in June 2022 and brings with her a decade of experience working in biodiversity conservation and ecology and developing research and education programs that promote resilient ecosystems on agricultural, public, and private landscapes.

At OSGF, she leads the biodiversity team to develop land management strategies that promote native biodiversity, to monitor and document the flora and fauna at OSGF, and connect with our community through landscape walks and workshops. Her work ranges from designing, installing and maintaining the Rokeby Wildlife Garden, developing conservation land management strategies for the osgf landscape, monitoring plant communities, native meadow installation and ecological restoration, researching and writing content for Fantastic Flora, and connecting the public to local wildlife. She currently serves on the Board of the Piedmont Chapter of the Virginia Native Plant Society.

She is a native of the Hudson Valley, New York and earned her undergraduate degree at Barnard College of Columbia University in New York. She moved to Virginia in 2014 to study regenerative grazing practices on a local sheep farm and work at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, VA to focus on wildlife conservation and ecology.

In her free time, she spends as much time with plants as she does at work. Her favorite things are exploring the forests in early spring looking for wildflowers, photographing plants and insects, gardening, growing native and medicinal plants and crafting herbal teas, studying and practicing herbalism, knitting, weaving, bowhunting, foraging, and just generally connecting people with the wild landscapes around us.

She is captivated by plants in all their unique personalities and roles and so choosing a favorite is a real challenge – for the moment it might be whorled milkweed (Asclepias verticillata) (which she made sure to plant in the Rokeby Wildlife Garden)…but tomorrow, who knows!?