Despite a career in Information Technology, Tom Schweich has 40 years of experience with plant specimen collection, plant identification, and preservation and curation of plant specimens in California and Colorado, working in the eastern Mojave Desert, the eastern Sierra Nevada at Mono Lake, California, and Golden, Colorado on the east slope of the Rocky Mountains. He is also interested in the history of Colorado botany, i.e., the early expeditions and their scientists, the plants found and the names they were given, and how recent advances in genetics have changed our view of the evolution of plants and their names. The Golden open space parcel, Schweich Hill, is named after him to honor his work there. He is an active member of Stewards of Golden Open Space, a volunteer with Golden's Weedbusters and with Jefferson County Open Space.