From Classroom to Career: High Students Dive into Aquaponics
November 14, 2024
Growing Careers and Communities: The Journey of Broch Martindale at Corteva Agriscience
Broch Martindale knows firsthand how a career in plant science can evolve over the years. His journey began in the greenhouses of his family’s nursery business. He studied horticulture in college and a dozen years ago he became a research grower for the biology team at Corteva Agriscience the publicly traded global plant protection company.
Today he works on the commercial side of the business at Corteva, where he travels the country as the national nursery and greenhouse strategic account manager. His role is to work with the largest greenhouse growers across the United States who have farms growing ornamental plants in multiple locations. Most grow for big box stores.
He uses his knowledge of agronomy to sell Corteva’s solutions to help with disease, insects and weeds. He also spends a lot of time listening to what the industry needs. And what he’s hearing from farmers, growers and others in the horticulture business is a fundamental urgency to build and attract a stronger labor force in the sector.
“When you ask a grower what their biggest challenges are, weather is No. 1, followed by the economy and labor. Those are the top three,” he explained. “None have anything to do with the product I sell. I can’t control the weather and I can’t help the economy, but I can be an advocate for a labor perspective.”
For three years, Martindale has served as an advisory member for Seed Your Future. Getting involved with Seed Your Future is one way he hopes to make an impact on the labor force. Helping growers connect with their local communities to provide education and resources is another way he seeks to make a difference in closing the gap and encouraging growth in horticulture careers. This is a goal that also aligns with Corteva’s core value of supporting community, he said.
He noted that community outreach isn’t just something he’s helping others do, but it’s something his employer models. Corteva supports initiatives in both food security and greenspace initiatives that Martindale says are essential for recruitment because they are a form of community outreach. Through pollinator gardens, outdoor classrooms and beautification efforts, Corteva is showing how agriscience is needed, Martindale said.
Taking STEM to Schools
Corteva employees are encouraged to show, share and engage with students in elementary, middle and high school about careers in science. The company offers curriculums that employees can use and have developed classroom kits to make volunteering easier. These include things such as DNA extraction in a strawberry, to learning about pollinators besides bees.
At the company’s headquarters in Indianapolis there is a visitor’s lab where Martindale said he and other Corteva colleagues can host customers, students, and other key stakeholders. For young students he likes to show a hissing cockroach and hold it in his hand, and then observe what the children do. Some step back, others come closer. He thinks there a science job for everyone but the biologist might be the student who moved in for a better look.
“What’s important is we are being science ambassadors and improving the access to science literacy and STEM,” he said.
Countless Career Paths
Corteva has more than 20,000 employees working on six continents. Like any large company, expertise is needed in numerous fields, from marketing and legal to the research and development.
“There is a job for everything that is out there, attorney, marketing, sales, biology, chemistry, analytics, automation, engineering, the list continues,” he said. “I think that is one of the things we need to emphasis, that you can have a career in agriculture or horticulture and you didn’t know that’s where you would end up.”
Corteva does a lot of college recruitment, especially for its robust intern program. Some are offered jobs at the end and undergo training to give them the tools to do and grow in their careers. The goal is to create the workforce of the future so others can have long, varied careers at Corteva.
“There is a whole host of types of science and business paths possible and you don’t have to have started in the agriculture business,” he said.
That’s a message that core to Seed Your Future mission. By sharing the stories of companies and employers in the industry, students, educators and parents have insight into the diversity of horticulture jobs and can begin to envision how they might find a meaningful place within the industry.
- Sarah Sampson is a contributing writer for Seed Your Future.
