2025 Consortium Member of the Year Honoree: Matt Pruett
horticulturalist, quiet waters park
WSA is thrilled to honor Matt Pruett, Horticulturalist for Anne Arundel County Rec and Parks, and Class 15 Watershed Steward, as the 2025 Consortium Member of the Year.
WSA’s Consortium of Support Professionals expand the impact of WSA programs by providing expertise and guidance to Stewards as they think through and implement projects throughout Anne Arundel County. They contribute their time and knowledge to help set Stewards up for success.
As the Horticulturalist for Quiet Waters Park, Matt helps reimagine the landscape at one of the county’s most popular parks. Over 1 million people visit Quiet Waters Park each year, and each one of them gets to see the fruits of Matt’s labor through the beautifully redesigned landscaped areas. Once barren plots of turf have been transformed with lush plantings of native plants that not only add vibrant beauty and color to the park but also support wildlife and reduce the parks maintenance costs. Thanks to Matt, slowly but surely, Quiet Waters Park is using more natives to enhance the park for people and nature.
As a member of WSA’s Watershed Steward Class 15, Matt consistently contributed tips and tricks to the field sessions such as teaching how to magically turn one plant into 6 plants through dividing perennials, to helping other Stewards with proper tool use and planting techniques. For his capstone project, Matt led a “Don’t Bug the Bugs” Program to introduce elementary school aged kids to the fascinating world of insects to help them understand and appreciate the important role bugs play in our environment.
In addition, Matt has served as a Steward Mentor for Class 16, helping to guide five capstone project teams through their project at Quiet Waters Park. Projects ranged from native plantings in container gardens that greet and educate park visitors, to a facelift to the entrance of the park, to a floating wetland project. The WSA staff were continually impressed with Matt’s level of professional support, guidance, and enthusiasm for the Steward projects that we knew Matt would make a great addition to WSA’s List of Consortium members. We are excited that Matt has agreed to stay involved as a Steward mentor for Class 17.
Clearly Matt has had a lasting impact on our Stewards, and that is why they voted him Consortium Member of the year! Congratulations, Matt and Thank you for all you’ve done for WSA and our Stewards!
