CHEYENNE — The Cheyenne Botanic Gardens is still on the lookout for a new director after the passing of Scott Aker, the director of the Cheyenne Botanic Gardens since fall 2022.

Aker died at his home in Cheyenne on Oct. 13 due to complications from treatment for melanoma recurrence, according to the obituary provided by Kincade Funeral Chapel in Sturgis, South Dakota, which is near his hometown in Whitewood.

Before coming to Cheyenne, Aker, who had earned a master’s degree in horticulture from the University of Maryland, had previously worked as the head of the public gardens at the United States National Arboretum in Washington, D.C. The service was held in Whitewood on Oct. 25.

One of the biggest projects he worked on as director of the Botanic Gardens was an overhaul of the gardens’

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