Kate Mapes

Quad City Botanical Center

Team Support and Special Projects

• Worked in the Living with the Land greenhouses at Walt Disney World and learned about plant presentation, showmanship, attention to detail and how to provide guests the best experience possible.
• Along with the head gardener, is responsible for maintaining the plants in the facility’s Children’s Garden and ensuring they are interesting and relevant to kids, including a fully functioning mock-up of the Mississippi River.

Black and White Menagerie: Kate has a love of black and white animals, including cows, pandas, orcas and especially penguins. She even got to meet a penguin at Sea World last year.

Dairy Contrariety: Her father, Bob DePauw, is a lactose-intolerant dairy farmer who cannot consume his own product. He raises Dutch Belted Cattle, which are black with a white band around the middle.