Carianne Funicelli is the owner of Strategic Habitat Enhancements, a consulting firm that focuses on helping clients bring nature to their yards with strategic native plant choices. She moved to Tucson in 1998 after earning a degree in Botany specifically because she loves the native plants of the Sonoran Desert. Since then, she has become a well-known advocate for native plant conservation and restoration. She has conducted projects large and small throughout the southwest region, both in wild areas and urban landscapes. Ms. Funicelli has served as the president of the Society for Ecological Restoration, Southwest Chapter and of the Tucson Chapter of the Arizona Native Plant Society, as well as a term as the Wildlife Habitat Representative on the City of Tucson’s Landscape Advisory Committee. She has worked in the government, business, and non-profit sectors over the past 25 years.