By Abbey Ascolani, RORG Communications Coordinator
On a recent sunny morning in July, I was running my first 10K race along the Lakefront Trails of Chicago when I saw them. While powering through the final two miles of the course, I noticed an array of plants lining the trail and was pleasantly surprised that I not only recognized them as native plants but that I knew many of their names! Prior to being on the Red Oak Rain Garden team, I would have overlooked them with a simple, “Oh, those look nice”.
I tell this story because my time working with the Red Oak Rain Garden team has fostered a keen awareness and appreciation of rain gardens and native plants in me. Through various channels of communication I was thrilled to share our story and mission, aiming to help others understand green stormwater infrastructure, identify native plants, and appreciate how they contribute to these systems. Who knew that spotting native plants during a race would lead me to realize how far I’ve come!
About me
My name is Abbey Ascolani, and since January of 2023, I have been the Communications Coordinator for the Red Oak Rain Garden. I recently graduated from Illinois with a Bachelor of Arts in Communications and a Minor in Legal Studies. During my Junior year, I was looking to gain “real world” experience before I graduated and discovered this position through a website called Handshake. Already having a packed schedule as a student, this position allowed me wonderful flexibility while simultaneously providing opportunities to grow professionally and earning class credit for CMN 304.
I’ve always enjoyed spending time outdoors, whether hiking, biking, running, or simply relaxing with a book in a hammock. The opportunity with the Red Oak Rain Garden caught my attention because it offered a chance to deepen my connection with the environment that I love while gaining a better understanding of its significance.
In my role as Communications Coordinator, I’ve focused on storytelling, spreading our mission, and educating others about the benefits of green infrastructure. Guided by Director Eliana Brown and Assistant Director Layne Knoche, my goal was to show that a rain garden is not only a beautiful feature but also an essential tool for natural stormwater management.
Telling Stories Through Content Creation
One of the aspects I deeply valued in this position was the creative freedom to develop diverse content for our social media platforms. While social media can sometimes feel like a place for endless scrolling, I see it as a powerful tool to reach broad audiences. By sharing captivating photos and short-form videos, I aimed to make complex concepts accessible and engaging for everyone.
Over the past two years, I’ve come to appreciate the wealth of knowledge our team members and native plant enthusiasts possess—knowledge that deserves to be shared. By offering educational insights, whether it’s gardening tips or explaining the benefits of certain plants, we can inspire our audience to make positive changes in their own lives. This is why I found content creation to be such a valuable skill to develop; it allowed me to present our mission in an engaging and approachable way.
If you’re familiar with our social media pages, you might have noticed that RORG has a ‘persona’ of its own. Like its team members, RORG is proud to help manage stormwater, is thankful for its caretakers, and loves to flaunt its beautiful native plants. I’ve enjoyed crafting captions in the “voice” of RORG—it’s a great example of how our team combines our passion for education with a sense of fun.
Some of the most rewarding content I created for our social media pages has been Reels, or short-form videos, for Instagram and Facebook. Here are a few of my favorite Reels that I’ve filmed, edited, or produced:
- Pirate Pollinators
- Tulips and Bluebells
- National Dance Day
- Mosaic Tile Installation
- October Golden Hour
- Listen To The Rain
- Early Summer Blooms
- Missing My Student Visitors
Rain Garden Rumble
Without question, RORG’s annual Rain Garden Rumble was the most profound assignment I would work on each year. For those unfamiliar with Rain Garden Rumble, it is an online tournament in which 28 of our rain garden plant species “compete” against each other through a bracket system, with the winners of each round being determined by votes from our social media platforms.
Preparing for this event involved extensive planning, meetings, and scheduling, and I enjoyed every minute. During the event, I loved seeing how passionately people engaged on our social media pages, fervently defending their favorite plants (as seen in our Facebook comments!). I never imagined that a March Madness-style competition featuring native plants would become an annual highlight for me, eagerly hoping for a win by one of my favorites: Rose Mallow or Smooth Phlox.
This year, I aimed to enhance the event by designing more consistent graphics to make them easily recognizable and familiar to our audience. I’m proud of the results!
My Summer Projects as Communications Coordinator
Although my main role as Communications Coordinator was to create content for our social media pages, the summer allowed me to work on more extensive projects to further our communication goals. Here are the major projects I’ve contributed to over the past two years:
Summer 2023
- Social Media Goals and Strategies
- RORG Style Guide
- Website Development Plan
- Conducted interviews for Blog Posts
Summer 2024
- Social Media Schedule/Calendar, including analytics from posts
- Rain Garden Rumble Process Guide
- Communications Coordinator Guide
- Social Media Analytics Presentation
Working on these projects has significantly improved my ability to identify areas for enhancement and develop effective strategies to reach our goals. Collaborating with the team to share our passion for native plants was especially rewarding as we explored the best ways to engage our audience. I’ve also found great satisfaction in seeing my work evolve over time. Although I didn’t initially anticipate graphic design becoming a new skill for me, it has proved to be a valuable addition to my role and will enhance my professional portfolio.
Favorite Memories
One of my favorite memories with the Red Oak Rain Garden was staffing a display table with my cohorts on the student team. In the spring and fall, there would be a campus event called “Green Quad Day”, or eventually, “Sustainapalooza”.
I loved talking to students about RORG while enjoying the atmosphere of the live music and seeing other environmental student organizations.
Other favorite memories are all the times that I visited the rain garden to capture its beauty. When I lived on campus, I routinely made trips to the garden to take footage and pictures for our social media pages.
Even though I probably looked goofy getting close-ups of the plants by crouching down in the densely vegetated areas of the garden, the results were always worth it!
Within The Garden and Beyond
Before starting this position, I had often walked through the Red Oak Rain Garden without fully understanding its significance. Now, I’m excited to share with my peers that the “place near McKinley Health Center with the two big trees and a wooden bridge” is actually managed by a brilliant team dedicated to maintaining the garden and educating others about it.
Each visit to the garden has deepened my expertise in native plants, allowing me to identify species I had previously featured in content. My experience with the RORG team has not only enhanced my plant identification skills but also my understanding of their vital role in the environment and in green stormwater infrastructure.
Moving forward, whether enjoying the outdoors at home or visiting the Red Oak Rain Garden, I’ll always appreciate that there’s more to gardens and rain gardens than meets the eye—they all have a story. I’m genuinely thrilled to have met so many dedicated individuals committed to environmental stewardship and building meaningful connections.
Thanks To The Team
My experience would not have been as rewarding or supportive without this incredible team. From the beginning, I felt warmly welcomed by my supervisors, Eliana Brown and Layne Knoche. They embody the idea that work doesn’t have to “feel” like work, thanks to their genuine passion for what they do. Their enthusiasm not only inspired me but also provided exemplary role models to look up to.
I couldn’t have asked for a better team to start my first professional position with than the supervisors, fellow student team members, and volunteers at RORG. They’ve been instrumental in building a strong foundation for my future career. I am deeply grateful for the past two years with the team and am confident they, along with the rain garden, will continue to foster an environment that uplifts both people and plants!
Abbey Ascolani is a recent graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s College of Communication with a minor in Legal Studies. Her interests include traveling to national parks, learning about film and television, and spending quality time with family and friends. Abbey has a profound passion for the outdoors and will never say no to an opportunity to explore. During her time on the RORG Team, she made key contributions to our community and student engagement that set a standard for years to come. We will miss her greatly!
Red Oak Rain Garden 