Will Wellman completed his undergraduate degree in horticulture. He did internships with the Audubon Society and the National Parks Service and then went on to grab a master’s in forestry. In many ways, he was poised to do his part in not just cataloging the natural world, but helping build a knowledge base that might one day help preserve the country’s natural resources for future generations.
“I did a two-year project at the end of that forestry degree; I submitted my thesis, graduated, and not even a month later I got sick,” Wellman told CL. His illness, which became a part of his life in 2008, is a rare kidney disease called focal segmental glomerulosclerosis. It affects kids and adults; symptoms include swollen body parts, water weight, foamy urine due to high protein levels in the urine and low energy from a lack of protein in your blood. Left untreated, it leads to kidney failure and death.