March 20th Membership Meeting: Kiwanis Park Restoration by Stephen Bybee
by Judy Lincoln, CAS Vice President
Join us on Wednesday, March 20th as we welcome Stephen Bybee to talk about his work in
Columbia’s Kiwanis Park. Stephen serves as the Project Director for Missouri Conserva&on
Corps, a local nonpro’t dedicated to engaging the community on invasive species, na&ve plants,
and climate resilience. Since 2021, Missouri Conserva&on Corps has organized more than 45
volunteer workdays in Columbia’s parks and green spaces, u&lizing community volunteers to cut
and remove invasive honeysuckle, plant na&ve plants, and serve as stewards of the
environment. MCC is generously funded by a grant from the Missouri Department of
Conserva&on and works closely with Columbia Parks and Recrea&on and with Volunteer
Columbia. Our work in Kiwanis Park has cleared over 12 acres of honeysuckle from this heavily
forested 20-acre park in central Columbia.
Besides serving as Project Director for Missouri Conserva&on Corps, Stephen is also president of
the Columbia Historic Preserva&on Commission, is a member of the Columbia Tree Board, is
vice president of the County House Branch Neighborhood Associa&on, and is an ac&ve
volunteer for groups such as Missouri River Relief, True/False Film Fes&val, Access Arts School of
Service, Boone County History and Culture Center, and the Food Bank for Central and Northeast
Missouri. Originally from Marshall, Stephen Bybee went to school at Westminster College, and
came to Columbia to study art and photography at Columbia College and at MU. He and his
wife Stacey have two children and live in Columbia. In his spare &me Stephen enjoys
photography, having worked for 25 years on two black and white documentary photography
projects in Missouri, and serving as a volunteer photographer for many different nonprofits and
community organiza&ons in Columbia.