Jonathan grew up in the woods, by a brook, in the hills of Vermont. He lives with his family in Ann Arbor and actively brainstorms ways to grow community stewardship opportunities that are ecologically and socially relevant. He is convinced that neighborhoods can support their local ecosystem and heal themselves by rebuilding their connection to natural communities. With TSN, WildOnes, Washtenaw County, Matthaei, Honorable Harvest inspiration and so many volunteers, he shares seeds, plants, tools, knowledge, techniques and community spirit. Jonathan has worked as a programmer, software team lead, systems modeler, scrum master, volunteer stewardship lead, and kickstarter of Seeds To Community.

TSN Conference 2026

January 23rd, 2026 (Friday) // 11:20 am – 12:20 pm // Room 106 // Seeds, Community Data Access, and New AI Tools // How do we make complex native plant knowledge usable for the public? In Seeds To Community, we’ve been building simple, shareable tools—spreadsheets, posters, and seed guides—that help volunteers and the general public know when and how to collect, process, and store seeds. At our events, people often ask simple questions. Having clear, compiled information would make participation easier and more rewarding. This past year we began experimenting with Large Language Models, asking “seedy” questions of ChatGPT, testing limitations, and exploring whether agent-based systems could compile reliable guidance across 200+ native species. Our talk will describe this ongoing project: its objectives, early results, and the practical lessons learned from working with new tools. We’ll share successes and failures openly, highlight how AI might support—but not replace—community-driven knowledge, and ask you if we have yet reached a tool that scales with the human community we hope to enable.