Keeping up with nearly 300 Mercer volunteers can be difficult for even the most meticulous person. For Mercer volunteer and retired librarian Anne Strommer, it’s second nature. As a librarian, Strommer organized hundreds of thousands of books over her career before becoming a Mercer volunteer 20 years ago. “My husband started volunteering in the gardens. After a couple weeks, I asked if they could use a librarian.” Strommer worked in Mercer’s research library for years until it was moved to Mercer's new research facility. "The library is organized and orderly, thanks to what she started years ago," said Volunteer Coordinator Jamie Hartwell.

For Jennifer Godwin-Wyer, finding a project for the teens and children in her Mensa chapter was simple. “I thought the youth members in our chapter would enjoy and benefit from learning about the plight of the monarch and contributing to the science of helping conserve this valuable natural resource,” she said. A former geologist and nuclear physicist, Godwin-Wyer leads northwest Houston area youth in the Gulf Coast Mensa chapter of American Mensa, which is a nonprofit organization for individuals with IQs in the top 2...