The “Blackberry Queen” behind CapU’s ecological upkeep
Dev Petrovic (they/them) // Managing Editor
Eugene Lee (she/her) // Contributing Visuals
When I first met Capilano University’s groundskeeper, Jo-Ann Cook—or “forest keeper” as she prefers—she welcomed me enthusiastically, keen to connect and share her world with me. Much like anyone who has crossed paths with her, she shows how much she cares, even if you’ve just met.
“I wore my mushroom earrings for you!” She gushed, immediately jumping to nurture my interest in mushrooms and offering to take me on a guided tour of every mushroom site on campus. Her passion for teaching about the environment and her extensive knowledge of every plant on campus only brushes the surface of what makes her valuable in keeping this campus alive.
Jo-Ann has been a member of the CapU community for over two decades. She was once a student here and always pictured herself in this position. So you could say she has her dream job now. She started working at CapU in 2004 and has since become a beloved presence on the North Vancouver campus. And there is every reason for it. Along with her community oriented framework, she is also a hard worker.
She maintains 34 acres of grounds, including 12 buildings and all parking lots. Students and faculty may know her for the invasive species removal workshops she facilitates. She personally educated me on how blackberry bushes are invasive and run rampant. “My self-given nickname is the Blackberry Queen […] give me a patch of blackberries with a whopper and I’m happy,” referring to how she also repurposes the blackberry undertaking as a form of stress management.
She does a lot of that work, but invasive species removal is still only a fraction of her workload, which she says is endless. And she does it all on her own.
“It’s so overwhelming […] but right now I’m just saving lives. I’m saving the rhododendrons I put the effort into. I try to mow. I try to line trim. I try to do as much as I can.”
The other two former groundskeepers retired last year, however, the university decided not to fill the positions and Jo-Ann doesn’t anticipate that they will. I speculate from what Jo-Ann has shared with me that she may be the last unionized groundskeeper until they contract out after she retires.
Until then, she has been reaching out for support, but the help has been sporadic. “With lay offs it has been really difficult,” she says. Jo-Ann affirms that she has already identified what she needs, which includes training for the Maintenance one and Maintenance two workers. Ideally this would allow some of these tasks to be delegated.
While she remains the only person who knows the campus forestry like she does, she suggests a “plant appreciation walk” with staff so that they are also able to identify invasive plants and “know which trees are above them.” But at the root of it all, she wants the work she does to be appreciated.
“It feels like my bosses don’t realize how important it is and they think that just anyone can do it […] makes me feel like ‘oh maybe they don’t value me.’ Sometimes I go through that. I go ‘am I valued or am I not.’” Yet she doesn’t let that stop her from engaging with the community. She persists and has ideas to overcome the barriers of budget cuts in the Facilities Services and Campus Planning department.
“You’ll love this,” Jo-Ann says excitedly. Her project idea is called “adopt a plant.” The Cedar courtyard has planters in self-watering containers. “A faculty or a group like Earthworks or the early childhood group” could “adopt a planter” and then “they could put their group’s name on the front so they could bring attention to their class […] and they could plant it up with their own stuff. They could do a little friendly competition if they want.”
“It’s good because it gets people outside,” she explains, “it gives them a little bit of creativity and it helps me out.” And the best part? The project doesn’t expend her budget, “but maybe departments would be able to pitch in,” she proposes. The idea will be rolling out this fall and has gotten positive feedback so far.
With how much Jo-Ann does to protect CapU’s biodiversity, there are ways students can get involved and help out. One easy way is by preventing littering. “I do litter [operations] and that’s such a small part of my job. But it’s important. I’m the only one doing the litter. So if we could create pride.” Above all though, there is one thing she reiterates and that is that she wants people to notice and admire the plant life around them.
“Go outside and appreciate the grounds. Check out the community garden. It’s for everyone.” And if you’re curious, Jo-Ann would be overjoyed to show you around. “If you want to do a plant appreciation walk, just come find me.”