About Biosphere Native Plants

Dr. Shelley Ball has spent a career building bridges between people and the natural world. As the founder of Biosphere Environmental Education, her mission is simple and enduring: to connect people to nature, and to inspire them to care about it and protect it.

Shelley holds a Ph.D. in Biology with a specialization in evolutionary ecology and population genetics of insects and was one of the pioneers of DNA Barcoding — a DNA-based tool now used globally to inventory the diversity of life on Earth. With nearly 30 years of teaching experience spanning kindergarten through graduate school, she brings a rare breadth to every educational encounter.

Whether she is guiding a youth expedition through a wilderness landscape, speaking on stage, or crouching in a meadow to identify a wildflower, Shelley brings the same infectious passion - a lifelong and deep love of nature and an unwavering belief that connecting to nature is the first step toward protecting it.

Shelley opened Biosphere Native Plants, her Ontario Native Plant nursery, in May of 2025. Her love of native plants began during her childhood. As a kid at the family cottage on Buck Lake, near Westport, ON, Shelley spent much of her free time hiking the forests around the lake, with a pocket knife and a plant identification guide in hand. No maps. No compass. Just a sense of adventure, an unquenchable curiosity, and a desire to learn about the natural world around her. All through her childhood, Shelley wanted to become a biologist, but learning challenges put that at risk. Through a lot of hard work and adapting, Shelley earned her Honours B.Sc. (with High Honours) from Carleton University, a Masters of Science from University of Toronto, and a Ph.D. from the University of Missouri (Columbia, MO). She has had post doctoral positions at the University of Guelph (DNA barcoding) and the Bio-protection Research Centre in Canterbury, New Zealand (DNA-based identification of pest and exotic insects). In 2009, Shelley returned to Canada and joined the federal public service, working as a Senior Environmental Assessment Officer for Natural Resources Canada. She recently retired from NRCan after nearly 17 years of service.