“My favorite plant would have to be an aloe vera plant, which is a succulent plant species. It’s my favorite mostly due to the fact that I can’t kill it, and it’s the plant that keeps on helping; it’s so multifunctional,” says Danielle Barber. “ I personally use it for its healing properties if I ever get a cut or a burn. I’m big on anything that is able to help someone in need.” Just like her favorite plant, Danielle is committed to helping others.

Dr. Jeanette Danielle Barber works as a researcher, but she also considers herself a change agent in the agricultural field. She strives to impact the lives of others, especially underrepresented minorities.

“My doctoral research sought to understand how to improve feelings of inclusion for minorities when entering agricultural careers,” says Danielle.  “Outcomes of the study were intended to influence senior leaders within agricultural organizations to develop policies that may lead to more satisfying work environments, greater productivity, and retention among minorities within the agricultural profession.”

Danielle notes the shortage of African Americans in agriculture, and recognizes her own experience as atypical. “From a young age, I was surrounded by leaders within the field of agriculture.” Both her grandfather and grandmother graduated from North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University (NCATSU) where they majored in Agriculture Education and went on to serve as Cooperative Extension agents in Trenton, North Carolina. Her father would later follow in his parents’ footsteps, graduating from NCATSU, and working for over thirty years as director of the Orange County Cooperative Extension Service - then becoming an Associate Administrator at NCATSU’s Cooperative Extension Service Program. They all encouraged her to study at NCATSU as well.

As a newly minted, third generation NCATSU Agriculture Education graduate, Danielle began her career as a Continuous Improvement Engineer with Kraft Foods. Her research insights led to significant cost savings, a reduction in equipment down time, and an increase in quality control for several marquee Kraft products. During this time, she also trained others and galvanized her passion for both research and education, which led her back to NCATSU to pursue her Master’s degree, also in Agricultural Education.  A Ph.D. in Agricultural & Extension Education from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (VT) quickly followed. Her outstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion within her academic department was recognized at VT when she was named as a Bouchet Honor Society Scholar - an esteemed distinction awarded to graduate students who promote diversity and excellence (Virginia Tech is one of 18 university partners with Bouchet Society chapters.)

Danielle leads by example.  In addition to her research work, Danielle volunteers her time with the Looking Forward with STEM program, a program that provides underrepresented minority students in middle school access to tutors and mentors who help expose them to STEM careers.  She feels that, “...mentorship is a critical factor for professional success, mostly due to its ability to serve as a source of information, guidance, and support…”

Her work is helping to change the perception of what it means to work with plants and inspiring the next generation to pursue their plant passion.

“My favorite thing about my work would probably have to be the positive impact I get to make on issues that I am passionate about. It is my hope that my experience could expand the views of others, as well as inspire their involvement in this field.” 

It is our hope as well, and for that reason, we’ve named Dr. Jeanette Danielle Barber as our latest Plant Champion.

 

 

- Every day, the plant world is quietly led by horticulture heroes and plant champions who make an enormous impact on our lives and the future of the planet. Seed Your Future aims to share their stories, promote horticulture, and inspire more people to pursue careers working with plants. If you would like to recommend someone to be featured, submit their story!

-Interested in other Horticulture Heroes and Plant Champions?  Read all of their stories on our Seed Your Future Horticulture Heroes and Plant Champions Page.

Photo Credits: J. Danielle Barber

Josie Walker is passionate about sustainable agriculture, food justice, and the local food movement. While she’s a vocal advocate today, that wasn’t always the case. When she was in fifth grade, she kept her interest in subsistence farming to herself because “…at 10 or 11, that’s not popular.” She didn’t get seriously interested in horticulture as a career until she dropped out of graduate school at Winston-Salem State University (she has a B.S. in mathematics from UNC-Charlotte) and volunteered for the university’s new community garden project — Simon’s Green Acre. She was hooked and knew she wanted a career working with plants.

While at Simon’s Green Acre, Josie was thrilled to learn about North Carolina A&T State University’s new program — “Urban and Community Horticulture.” She enrolled, quickly found her niche, and excelled in the program. She became involved with the North Carolina 10% Campaign as the local food ambassador to increase awareness of local food issues among students at the university. She completed another Bachelors of Science degree — this time in agricultural and environmental systems with a concentration in urban and community horticulture.

Josie became the Eastern North Carolina project coordinator for FaithLands, a coalition-led initiative that supports faith communities in making lands available for sustainable, agroecological farming, especially to those in society marginalized by virtue of class, race, gender, economic status, and other factors. She believes that:

 “ … faith communities can be integral to the local food movement to address food justice and food sovereignty by turning the land that they have been blessed to steward into productive farmland using sustainable and regenerative practices, especially in rural areas where churches and other communities of faith are the anchor institutions.”

A dynamo of energy and enthusiasm for horticulture and educating the public, Josie became the North Carolina field organizer for the Black Church Food Security Network. Her focus was on gardening and garden education for churches and their members. She tells us that, like so many organizations, the global pandemic altered her work and the work of the organization. Never one to stand-by as things change, Josie is now community garden manager/coordinator for the New Hope Church of God in Christ and serves as a board member for both Common Ground of Eastern North Carolina and North Carolina Community Garden Partners.

Seed Your Future asked Josie what advice she would give to young people considering a career working with plants. She shared:

 “I would advise anyone considering the world of horticulture that they need to figure out what parts they like the best. What excites them?  Head in that direction. I figured out that I am more interested in vegetables as opposed to ornamentals and that being able to feed oneself was a huge motivator for me. Although finding jobs that appeal to my interests has been difficult at times, they always seem to appear right when I need them, so please don’t give up, but also don’t be afraid to be an entrepreneur. The more freely you give, the more freely people will give back to you.”

And what’s next for Josie?  On top of everything else, she’s pursuing a certificate in garden-based education. She just created a class for parents and children in the apartment complex near the Common Ground Food Park. Her hope is that this class will be the first of many and that she can get the residents to start container gardens and get the children excited about plants, growing, and self-sufficiency.

We love the inspiring work Josie is doing!  For this, we’ve selected her as our latest Plant Champion.

 

- Every day, the plant world is quietly led by horticulture heroes and plant champions who make an enormous impact on our lives and the future of the planet. Seed Your Future aims to share their stories, promote horticulture, and inspire more people to pursue careers working with plants. If you would like to recommend someone to be featured, submit their story!

-Interested in other Horticulture Heroes and Plant Champions?  Read all of their stories on our Seed Your Future Horticulture Heroes and Plant Champions Page.

Photo Credits: Josie Walker

When Kimberley Lough was growing up in Kentucky, she only thought of helping out in the family garden as a chore. She also remembers that after elementary school, there was no plant-education offered to her at school or home, or discussed as a career option. She set off for college and soon earned her Master’s degree in geology from the University of South Carolina. So, what brought her to where she is today – an urban farm program director, middle school agriscience teacher and FFA advisor in Florida?  Her path can teach us much about how to inspire youth to discover the wonder and joy of plants and explore pursuing a green-collar career.

When Seed Your Future talked with Kimberley about the early influences in her life that sparked her interest in horticulture, she confessed that she was not very interested in plants or the family garden. She “didn’t hate the garden chores” but she did not enjoy them either. What she did love was the fresh produce. Even then she recognized that fresh produce was so much tastier than the canned options served to her. She also has fond memories of the one and only flower whose name she knew throughout childhood – marigolds. Her city-dwelling grandmother was so proud of her small marigold border that every time Kimberley visited, her grandmother made a special effort to point them out to her and her sisters.

A chance encounter and a new job changed her career path — and life — forever. With geology degree in hand, Kimberley began work for the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service in North Carolina. The position included an educational component organized through the North Carolina State University Extension Service. It was here that Kimberley realized that as much as she enjoyed science, she really loved working with people. She dove into the deep end; and even though she was not a certified teacher, she accepted a position teaching high school science classes at a private school in Florida (no certification required). She thrived, as did her students.

Kimberley describes these experiences as her “formative years.”  She knew she was passionate about working with youth, but also felt the tug to teach in public schools (which would require a certificate). She quickly earned her teaching certificate and sought out mentors and further educational experiences to bolster her skills. Reflecting upon her own early education, Kimberley says that after middle school, she “just wanted to get through school.”  She felt that something changed for her in middle school, and she knew that being able to inspire students of middle school age could be key to setting them on a positive path for their future.

When Manatee County Schools came calling, they asked if she could teach agriculture classes. Never one to say “no,” Kimberley jumped in feet first and said “yes.”  She “… really immersed myself in the county agriculture industry” – making connections, learning all she could. A second chance encounter changed everything — again — for her.

Kimberley visited a unique greenhouse and gardening program at the county jail. She was stunned.

“I thought I had gone to the moon. I was mesmerized by the program and leader. How could he know so much and be so passionate about using plants to inspire the inmates?”  Kimberley says the greenhouses absolutely amazed her. She’d never seen plants growing in such quantities and with such beauty and variety before. She said to herself – “I want this for my students.”

And that is what she did — and does to this day. Kimberley built her school’s urban farm, hydroponics program, and small animal and horticulture program from the ground up. She credits partnerships with businesses, horticulture mentors, the Florida Nursery Growers and Landscape Association and the UF/IFAS (University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Services) as critical to the development of her school programs. Kimberley averages about 110 students a year in her agriscience program — which is an elective program at her urban middle school.

And then there’s National FFA. She cringes with embarrassment now, but when she first heard that FFA needed to be included if her school were to provide agriculture education, she asked one of the local advisors why it was such a big deal. He said, “just wait – you’ll see.”  And boy did she ever. Not only has her chapter been awarded with the National Chapter Award three times, they’ve also twice been in the National Top 10 for models for innovation (and that’s competing with high schools and middle schools).

Listening to Kimberley talk about her work is uplifting. She speaks with a bit of a lump in her throat when she says,

“…there are so many different types of learning – in classroom, virtual, in the garden, on the farm, through leadership programs, etc. … I feel like if I can just see what each student needs, I can open their eyes and excite them about something. Everyone has something in them, but not always equal opportunity to find out what that is.”

Introducing students to careers in horticulture and agriculture is very important to Kimberley. She credits her own industry mentors to opening her eyes to the diversity of careers working with plants. She says she had no idea about the art, science, technology, education and business jobs available working with plants. She works tirelessly to learn about them and bring back this knowledge to her students. And the industry has noticed her. Kimberley was introduced to the Seed Your Future movement when she was checking out the Florida Flower Trials in 2016. Jeff Gibson from the Ball Horticultural Company noticed her passion and recruited her to the movement. Kimberley (and Jeff) now serves on the Advisory Council — providing strategic counsel to the movement.

Now, back to Kimberley’s connection with her own childhood appreciation of fresh produce. Her students get to decide what they grow in their own earth boxes, in the garden, and in the hydroponics system. The most popular? Watermelon, strawberries, potatoes, yellow pear tomatoes and cilantro. What she sees in her students every day supports the research that kids who grow their own food are five times more likely to eat it — even veggies!

We asked Kimberley for her advice on how to reach kids and help them find their plant passion. She shared that,

“…kids can only connect to things that have been modeled for them. They need to see the possibilities, touch the dirt, eat the harvest they grew, experiment with science projects, dabble in botanical art, try out some cutting edge technologies. I get to be the ignition that sparks the flame. Everyone needs a spark and you can see it when the flame starts. I love it. I absolutely love being a teacher.”

Kimberly’s enthusiasm is infectious. She’s helping students find their way — even during these times of public health challenges impacting how she teaches, runs the farm and connects with kids. We've heard that students are already lobbying their parents and the school to be able to get into her elective classes next semester. It’s because of her commitment to the next generation and her passion for plants that we’ve selected Kimberley Lough as our newest Horticulture Hero.

IGNITE ON Kimberley!

 

- Every day, the plant world is quietly led by horticulture heroes and plant champions who make an enormous impact on our lives and the future of the planet. Seed Your Future aims to share their stories, promote horticulture, and inspire more people to pursue careers working with plants. If you would like to recommend someone to be featured, submit their story!

-Interested in other Horticulture Heroes and Plant Champions?  Read all of their stories on our Seed Your Future Horticulture Heroes and Plant Champions Page.

Photo Credits: Kimberley Lough and Susan E. Yoder

While major league baseball fans cannot (yet) return to the ballparks, it is still critical that the fields and stadiums be maintained. Never a simple job, this year it’s been even more challenging – but Chaz Perea, Landscape Manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers thrives under the work.

Chaz enjoys tackling new horticultural problems that he’s never had to face before. According to Chaz, working in a facility that finds new ways to challenge you increases your ability to problem solve, but he’s learned not to stress about problems when they do happen. And even though Dodger Stadium is fan-less, Chaz has his work cut out for him overseeing a crew that prepares the landscape around the stadium.

A regular day involves work that many horticulturists might not find typical. When Seed Your Future talked with him earlier this year, in addition to managing the crew that maintains the grounds around the stadium, Chaz and his crew were working on rebuilding a hillside, terraforming the ground that surrounds the stadium. They pruned hundreds of palm trees and prepared plenty of planters too. Chaz also takes care of the famous "Chavez Ravine" - calling himself and his crew the "Guardians of the Ravine." Their work includes tree pruning, shrub and ground cover maintenance, landscape construction, installation, maintenance, tending to a large irrigation system installed in the 1960's with lots of elevation change, fire code brush clearance on huge slopes, a myriad of drainage issues on slopes, asphalt work, concrete work, and fence maintenance.

The crew he manages is just a small part of the entire team who make the stadium look spectacular for every game.

“As the landscape team, we work within stadium operations. Stadium operations also includes the on-the-field grounds crew, electricians, plumbers, security, and events. So next time you are at a large sporting event (which we hope will happen soon!), know there are people in stadium operations at work all year-round to make sure everyone can enjoy the experience.”

Though the work itself might not be typical, what stays typical is his schedule. Every day, Chaz and his crew start work at 5:30 am. After his work at the stadium is done, Chaz heads over to Mt. San Antonio College where he teaches courses in horticultural science, integrated pest management, park facilities and more. The program takes a hands-on approach and celebrates industry connections. Professors like Chaz have real world experience that they share with students, exposing them to the careers that are waiting for them once they graduate. Los Angeles County provides plenty of options for field trips and internships that will ready the next generation of horticulturists. Office hours to support his students makes Chaz's days long but fulfilling.

If it seems like Chaz is always on the go then it shouldn’t be surprising that he’s always been this way. Chaz started working with plants with his first job taking care of a golf course, cutting turf while working another full time job. By getting to know the clients who played golf at the course, he started his own gardening business. This eventually allowed him to save up and take classes at the same school where he now teaches.

When asked why plants are important to him and the world, Chaz shared that "Plants increase the value of anything adjacent to it. Landscape increases the real estate value of homes/buildings made out of wood, concrete, and glass. Landscape increases health, helping patients to recover at a faster rate than patients without a view or access to landscape. Plants increase the quality of the atmosphere and cleanse bodies of water. Structures, people, air, water, all benefit from a relationship with plants."

To have a long and varied career like Chaz, he has some simple advice on how to figure out if a career in horticulture is right for you.

“Get your hands dirty. You will know quickly if working with plants is for you. Then find a route to get educated. If you like working with plants, getting a horticultural education will increase your job satisfaction.”

We agree!  For his work both as a landscape professional and for preparing the next generation of green-collar professionals, we’ve named Chaz Perea our latest Plant Champion.

 

 

- Every day, the plant world is quietly led by horticulture heroes and plant champions who make an enormous impact on our lives and the future of the planet. Seed Your Future aims to share their stories, promote horticulture, and inspire more people to pursue careers working with plants. If you would like to recommend someone to be featured, submit their story!

-Interested in other Horticulture Heroes and Plant Champions?  Read all of their stories on our Seed Your Future Horticulture Heroes and Plant Champions Page.

Photo Credits: Chaz Perea

What change do you want to bring to the world?  What can you do to share your love of plants with your community?  Our newest Plant Champion, Tanner Burgdorf, asks himself these questions every time he works to inspire and build a sense of community with the students he teaches.

Tanner’s goal is to build community, using plants and education to bring people together. Placemaking and horticulture are important to him because “… plants are so important to people feeling inspired by a place. It’s what can turn places around and make them alive with color, texture, and sound. Horticulture also provides a means for landscape designs that, when on public land, provide respite and serenity to a community.” His work managing and operating the youth development program at Groundwork Bridgeport brings these goals to life.

Tanner tells us Groundwork Bridgeport “Is a community-based nonprofit that is based and has operated in Bridgeport, CT for nearly two decades. The goal of the organization is to improve Bridgeport's physical environment through grassroots efforts and initiatives that aim to beautify and revitalize the city.”  Tanner teaches high school students about horticulture, landscape design, and placemaking both indoors and outdoors. By bringing students outside, he gives hands-on experiences to youth as they learn community engagement techniques from curriculum that Tanner himself has designed. The students that he inspires are what keep Tanner excited about his job.

“My favorite aspect of my job is working with youth. They constantly inspire me, and I take great pride in our organization’s ability to form strong connections with youth as we collectively work toward a Bridgeport that is stewarded and beautified by its young people.”

Giving those young plant enthusiasts a say in how they’ll shape their community is a core goal for Groundwork Bridgeport. Tanner says that the organization’s impact and success “…is through the youth we work with each and every year. Our youth program provides a place that youth want to be at and actively participate in. It also provides opportunities for youth to give back to a community they care deeply about. The physical transformation of spaces is impactful to them and shows just how capable they are as individuals and as a group.”

When you’re as excited about plants as Tanner, you need to find a way to spread that joy. His advice is that you bring your passion to your work above all else.

“Take a broader approach to applying training and education in the profession of horticulture. When it comes to work, I am a people-person, so that meant finding a job that involved people while also applying my education in landscape architecture. My initial thought was that this was a big ask, but I found it here at Groundwork Bridgeport and since have heard of more organizations that are doing it as well. I wanted my passion to have greater reach and not be limited to individual homeowners and clients. So, my advice would be to stick true to what sort of impact you want to make and make your passion count for something.”

We agree with Tanner! Without Plant Champions, we won’t be able to inspire the next generation to find their own plant-passion and perhaps even their own green-collar career.

 

- Every day, the plant world is quietly led by horticulture heroes and plant champions who make an enormous impact on our lives and the future of the planet. Seed Your Future aims to share their stories, promote horticulture, and inspire more people to pursue careers working with plants. If you would like to recommend someone to be featured, submit their story!

-Interested in other Horticulture Heroes and Plant Champions?  Read all of their stories on our Seed Your Future Horticulture Heroes and Plant Champions Page.

Photo Credits: Groundwork Bridgeport

“So many things divide us in this small world, but growing plants is the opposite. It is something that almost everyone likes to do, though some believe they are not capable,” says our newest Plant Champion, Kathy Lewis. She dedicates her time to bringing people together through the power of plants. Kathy uses her organizing skills to support Blocks in Bloom, an outreach program of the Master Gardeners of the Cornell University Cooperative Extension in Monroe County, NY. 

Throughout Kathy’s career, she has always worked to improve the conditions in whatever community she found herself. Her first job was as a VISTA volunteer community organizer. This exposed her to work that helped everyone from youth to senior citizens. Following that, she moved to Rochester and ran programs and organizations throughout the community. “I met many people working in Rochester’s low-resource neighborhoods. Because of this I felt I could combine my passion for gardening with my knowledge of how to address community building — and Blocks in Bloom was born.”

Blocks in Bloom uses plants as a tool to bring communities together. Because of their dedication, Kathy and the other volunteers have worked on blocks with as many as 30 households. They garden side by side with homeowners and renters to make sure their knowledge is passed on, setting up celebrations and meetings to stay in touch with the community after the work is done. Kathy also notes the strong partnership of the Rochester Garden Club (a club affiliated with The Garden Club of America) as another way they reach Blocks in Bloom participants, co-hosting a winter workshop. The City of Rochester is another major partner, contributing compost, mulch, and bedding annuals to the blocks.

 “The program has worked with 71 blocks from 2014 through 2019, including 665 households, all in low-resource neighborhoods (15 blocks per year). This is accomplished with 30 volunteer Block Mentors, an army of plant donors, and a small budget for expenses. Front yards are beautified with perennial flower gardens. More importantly, however, through gardening the program has strengthened the bonds within neighborhoods and built a leadership ladder from Block Captain to Block Mentor to, in some cases, Master Gardener.”  

Kathy tells us that she learned gardening through trial and “a lot of error.” “I moved from a house in the city of Rochester with a totally shady yard to 57 acres in an exurb, 30 minutes away. Suddenly, I had limitless amounts of potential garden space ranging from full sun to woodsy shade. I was in seventh heaven, and proceeded to build way too many garden beds — vegetables, perennial flowers, and containers.” I took the Master Gardener training from the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Monroe County and earned my Master Gardener certification.”

When asked what advice she would give to someone considering a career working with plants, Kathy enthusiastically advised:

“Volunteer. There is an endless list of possible ways to give back to your community through gardening — limited only by your imagination. Roll up your sleeves and get started.” 

We wholeheartedly agree!  It is for her work with Blocks in Bloom that we’ve named Kathy Lewis our newest Plant Champion.

 

 - Every day, the plant world is quietly led by horticulture heroes and plant champions who make an enormous impact on our lives and the future of the planet. Seed Your Future aims to share their stories, promote horticulture, and inspire more people to pursue careers working with plants. If you would like to recommend someone to be featured, submit their story!

-Interested in other Horticulture Heroes and Plant Champions?  Read all of their stories on our Seed Your Future Horticulture Heroes and Plant Champions Page.

Photo Credits: Kathy Lewis

Harnessing the Power of Plants to Prevent, Heal and Cure Diseases.

When Aurélie de Rus Jacquet was 14 years old, she knew she wanted to study how people across the world used plants in their culture to cure illness and heal injuries. She didn’t know the name of this career until her father gave her an article about pioneering ethnopharmacologist Pierre Cabalion – and she never could have imagined she would one day intern in the same institute.

Aurélie is fascinated by the connection between people and plants. She knows that for centuries humans have turned to the plant world to solve some of the most challenging issues – including the spread of illness and the onslaught of disease. Her current work focuses specifically on finding plant-based cures for Parkinson’s disease.

             
“Throughout history, cultures and tribes have identified plants that help them cure illness. As we tackle modern health issues, we can learn a lot by studying their methods and botanicals, and hopefully find plant based-cures for the diseases that are plaguing us today.”

Raised in France, Aurélie pursued her education first at the Ecole d'Ingenieurs de Purpan in Toulouse. When seeking out a graduate program, she found her way to Purdue University in Indiana. Her studies allowed her to travel the world to interview people about the medicinal plants they use in their culture -  then return to school to study those findings in the lab. When asked about her career path, she notes that it is a multi-disciplinary field requiring training and education in the life sciences, botany, chemistry, anthropology, and laboratory methods.

 “Ethnomedicine is the study of the traditional medicine based on bioactive compounds in plants and practiced by various ethnic groups, especially those with little access to western medicines. Ethnopharmacologists are scientists who study plant-based medicines, while ethnobotanists study a broader use of plants (culinary, cosmetic, to make tools etc.) .”

After receiving her Ph.D. (her dissertation was on Nepalese and Native American traditional medicine), she enjoyed post-doctoral fellowships in Washington and Virginia. She is now beginning work in a new lab at Laval University in Québec City, Canada.

When asked why horticulture is important to the world, she spoke to us with great passion that plants connect everyone. “Everyone needs to eat, everyone needs plants – we simply cannot live without plants.”  She said that people have used plants for thousands of years to help soothe, heal and cure – with non-plant-based pharmaceuticals being a fairly new development. She believes that by learning from native cultures around the world, then testing and validating in the lab, we can find the answers to many of the issues plaguing human health.

Aurélie’s favorite plant shows her commitment to this concept. She is a fan of red clover, Trifolium pratense - a herbaceous species of flowering plant in the bean family. She says that people around the world are eradicating it from their lawns, but it has some proven medicinal properties similar to soybean compounds that may well hold the key to a myriad of medical issues – all of which need to be studied and validated in the lab. This is the work of an ethnopharmacologist.

We here at Seed Your Future are fortunate to have Aurélie as a member of our Advisory Council. Her commitment to solving the world’s health issues is clear. We need more people working on these solutions. It is for these reasons that Aurélie de Rus Jacquet, Ph.D. is our latest horticulture hero!   

 

- Every day, the plant world is quietly led by horticulture heroes and plant champions who make an enormous impact on our lives and the future of the planet. Seed Your Future aims to share their stories, promote horticulture, and inspire more people to pursue careers working with plants. If you would like to recommend someone to be featured, submit their story!

-Interested in other Horticulture Heroes and Plant Champions?  Read all of their stories on our Seed Your Future Horticulture Heroes and Plant Champions Page.

Photo Credits: Aurélie de Rus Jacquet, Ph.D.

She’s the “purple unicorn” of the plant world – a top-notch, in-the-lab plant scientist who also digs in the dirt with kids - helping them grow their green thumbs. Priscilla Randolph exudes plant-energy and lights up a room (and garden) with her enthusiasm, smile, and dedication to finding plant-based solutions to disease.

Priscilla received her Masters degree in Food and Nutritional Sciences from North Carolina Agriculture and Technical State University.  She attributes her love of plants to her grandparents. She spent her childhood summers helping them tend their vegetables and fruits. While she says she did not always enjoy it, “… I realize that those gardens my grandparents had, and working in them, established my roots in agriculture and nutrition.”

In the lab at The Center for Excellence in Post-Harvest Technologies, Priscilla spends her time extracting bioactive nutrients from different fruits and vegetables with hopes of “…discovering the right active ingredient to combat the diseases, such as diabetes, that plague our society.”  She’s passionate about her experiments and shares that “Nutrient extraction from plants has been used over the centuries to cure diseases and ailments. Horticulture is very important to our present and our future, especially in drug development.”

Not content to focus all her efforts in the lab, Priscilla jumped at the chance to join her colleagues, Dr. Leonard Williams and Shurrita Davis, in creating a community children’s garden. About three times a week Priscilla gets to spend her afternoons helping to maintain the garden and teach plant programs to kids.

Seed Your Future first met Priscilla at the American Horticultural Society’s National Child and Youth Garden Symposium in 2019.  Her role as an educator/scientist was clear to us the moment we met her. When asked about her favorite thing about her job, she shared, “I love the fact that I can see the molecular effects that fruits and vegetables have on us in the lab and then get to translate that knowledge to our children in the garden.”  We love that as well – and for that we’ve selected Priscilla as one of our Plant Champions!

 

- Every day, the plant world is quietly led by horticulture heroes and plant champions who make an enormous impact on our lives and the future of the planet. Seed Your Future aims to share their stories, promote horticulture, and inspire more people to pursue careers working with plants. If you would like to recommend someone to be featured, submit their story!

-Interested in other Horticulture Heroes and Plant Champions?  Read all of their stories on our Seed Your Future Horticulture Heroes and Plant Champions Page.

Photo Credits – All - Priscilla Randolph

 

How does a soon-to-graduate student with a degree in Biology find her way to a career working with plants, when “...horticulture wasn’t even on my radar when I was applying for jobs”?  The journey is a bit like a plant growing from a small seed. Allison Pillar, an Assistant Grower at the Chicago Botanic Garden (CBC), found her way to the green-collar career she loves by first accepting an internship in plant propagation at CBC. She quickly learned how critical plants are to the future of the planet.

“Plants enable our life on the planet. Plants would be fine without us, but humans and other animals rely on the ecosystem services provided by plants. Caring for plants (responsibly) is an important part of being good stewards of Earth so that in turn we can continue to live here.”

Allison now works full-time in the plant production department at CBC. She grows a wide variety of plants for display and for programs all around the Garden. CBC is unique in that it is a public-private partnership, owned by the Forest Preserves of Cook County and operated by the Chicago Horticultural Society. The Garden contains 27 garden areas and 4 natural areas, and has a strong commitment to plant research, conservation, and education.  That’s what Allison tells us she likes about her job - 

“I love watching the whole journey that a plant goes through from seed to mature plant ready to go out on display. It’s also amazing to be able to enjoy the displays that the plants we grow become a part of. I think that is the unique experience of working in a public garden that grows a majority of their plants in-house- you get to see the fruits of your labor!"

When asked what advice she would give to someone just starting out who is looking for their first internship or job, Allison had some “sage” words - 

“I think it’s important to broaden the scope of your search and imagine a few different paths you could take, especially at first. Horticulture wasn’t my radar as a career path when I was applying for jobs at the end of college. The plant propagation internship at the Chicago Botanic Garden really appealed to me and opened a window into the world of horticulture. I’m really glad I found this path because it feels perfect, and I also know that there are a lot more jobs within horticulture that I would enjoy doing.“

Through all of her efforts learning about and working with plants, Allison now knows exactly why she got into working with plants in the first place.  When Seed Your Future contacted her to let her know she’d been nominated as one of our Plant Champions, she shared those reasons - 

“I love my job! It’s active, fast-paced, rewarding, fun, challenging, and beautiful. At this point, I can’t imagine not working with plants. Spending time with plants is good for us physiologically and emotionally. I think more people would be excited to get involved in horticulture if they knew about the wide range of opportunities that are out there.”

It's green-collar pros like Allison who will ensure the future of our planet!  She's a Plant Champion and inspiring more champions every day.

 

 

- Every day, the plant world is quietly led by horticulture heroes and plant champions who make an enormous impact on our lives and the future of the planet. Seed Your Future aims to share their stories, promote horticulture, and inspire more people to pursue careers working with plants. If you would like to recommend someone to be featured, submit their story!

-Interested in other Horticulture Heroes and Plant Champions?  Read all of their stories on our Seed Your Future Horticulture Heroes and Plant Champions Page.

Photo Credits: Allison Pillar

Olivia Dias knows there are no limits to what you can do when you work with plants. As Manager of the Children’s Garden at Myriad Botanical Gardens in Oklahoma City, she tells us:

“Horticulture is important because it affects everyone. Whether you are improving the aesthetics of a public garden, creating floral arrangements for customers’ loved ones, designing landscapes for companies and residential areas, or producing crops to feed your community, you are exposing people to benefits and outcomes of horticulture. This field is an art as well as a science, and without it our lives would be drastically different.”

Choosing to dedicate her career to connecting horticulture to children and adults of all ages is why Joel Bramhall nominated Olivia as a Seed Your Future Horticulture Hero.  He was excited to share that Olivia recently launched "Summer Celebration Series" – a mini-festival sequence occurring monthly that features a nature-based topic such as pollinators, insects, weather and conservation. Building a remarkable list of partnerships, including The National Weather Museum and Science Center, Central Oklahoma Beekeepers Association, The Nature Conservancy, Okies for Monarchs, The Oklahoma City Zoo and Botanical Garden, and Oklahoma State University’s Insect Adventure, Joel is impressed that Olivia constantly “…works to propel the next generation towards the pursuit of horticultural career paths.”

Olivia is proud to work with the team at Myriad Botanical Gardens to host over 100 educational programs each year, including numerous festivals and public events every week that brings their community together.  What makes Olivia, and the Myriad Garden unique is that they are the only botanical garden in the U.S. to host a public school on their grounds. Called “Garden Groundbreakers,” their team meets with sixth grade students once a week to teach them about a horticultural topic. These topics include native plants, pollinators, soil, water, plant anatomy and tulip bulb planting, tree identification and illustration, propagation and healthy living. 

“I love the blend of horticulture, education, and creativity in my job; I can go outside and get my hands dirty, plan lessons, and design or build displays all in one day! The best part of it is being able to interact with visitors while I’m working in the garden or teaching a class. Kids are so curious, and I love getting to talk about a topic when they ask me what I’m doing, whether I’m watering plants, releasing beneficial insects, turning compost, working around our weather station, or seeding my raised beds. I enjoy sharing what and why I’m doing something with the goal of getting others to care about it or see the importance as well.”

Olivia was fortunate to have a family that instilled her love of plants.  Her mother ignited her passion for gardening, but Olivia hit her stride in college after taking horticulture classes through the FFA program.  She went on to complete her AAS in Horticulture Technology from Oklahoma State University-Oklahoma City.

By tapping into a large network of organizations to focus energy and resources, Olivia brings horticulture education to those who seek it. With all of her experience in horticulture, Olivia is enthusiastic about the opportunities for green collar careers  When asked what advice she would give to someone thinking about pursuing a career working with plants, Olivia says,

“This field contains more opportunities than they probably imagine, and they should take as many opportunities to explore and increase their knowledge as possible. It’s a wonderful field for anyone who enjoys being creative, focusing on details, learning, and seeing their hard work pay off.”

We agree!  And for that we’ve selected Olivia has one of our Horticulture Heroes.

 

- Every day, the plant world is quietly led by horticulture heroes and plant champions who make an enormous impact on our lives and the future of the planet. Seed Your Future aims to share their stories, promote horticulture, and inspire more people to pursue careers working with plants. If you would like to recommend someone to be featured, submit their story!

-Interested in other Horticulture Heroes and Plant Champions?  Read all of their stories on our Seed Your Future Horticulture Heroes and Plant Champions Page.

Photo Credits: Olivia Dias

Terry Garrett believes everyone should be able to enjoy gardening.  He knows it improves your health, your environment, and your community.  These are the reasons why Terry, CEO and Owner of T&L Group, started Elevated Gardens.  It all began when he saw personally how a diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) devastated his brother’s life.

“I watched as my brother lost the ability to garden, a hobby he found purpose and hope in.  Seeing his purpose and hope diminish as he became confined to an oxygen tank, unable to bend over, I decided to do something about it.  I needed to develop a garden that would be fully wheelchair accessible while still giving individuals the options to stand, rather than having to bend down as one would with a traditional garden.”

Terry knew he had to do something.  Working with his Director of Marketing, Abigail Hunt, they developed Elevated Gardens in order to bring gardening to those who have accessibility challenges.  These mini gardens are 30 inches tall, allowing for both wheelchair accessibility and gardening while standing.  By limiting the amount of bending needed, these gardens have also found use in senior living centers, nursing homes and schools.  Elevated Gardens have also designed a mobile version, easily allowing those who with limited movement to garden indoors.  

Terry understands the environmental and communal importance of horticulture.  Working with plants “... has been a means of survival since the beginning of time.  However, in our world today, horticulture is paramount as a means of improving the environmental degradation going on around us.  Gardening is a unifying activity as it is something that everyone can participate in and find joy in.”  

Working to let everyone enjoy the benefits of horticulture is rewarding, but Terry knows pursuing a career in horticulture can be challenging.

“I often say that I don’t know the meaning of the word “no.”  I have always believed that hard work is the key to success, especially in the horticultural industry, as it is not only physically demanding, but also requires a lot of perseverance from a business standpoint as well. I highly recommend jumping in and interning to find out what part of the horticultural industry you are most suitable for and to find out what you enjoy.”

This small but mighty operation is an inspiration for anyone who wants to strike out and use horticulture to improve lives.  Terry’s name was submitted to Seed Your Future by Valerie Hunt and Rose Korp.  They tells us that by bringing plants to those who need them most, Terry Garrett is their (and now one of ours) Horticulture Hero.

 

- Every day, the plant world is quietly led by horticulture heroes and plant champions who make an enormous impact on our lives and the future of the planet. Seed Your Future aims to share their stories, promote horticulture, and inspire more people to pursue careers working with plants. If you would like to recommend someone to be featured, submit their story!

-Interested in other Horticulture Heroes and Plant Champions?  Read all of their stories on our Seed Your Future Horticulture Heroes and Plant Champions Page.

Photo Credits - Header and Insert, Abigail Hunt

Where There’s a Will, There’s a Way — To Become Plant Champions.

The daily business of running a family-owned nursery is hard work. It’s easy to get lost in the details of planning, growing, marketing, sales, human resources and more. But when a nursery makes sharing their plant-passion with their community and empowering their employees to be creative in this outreach — they become plant champions.

When Tim Lybarger’s name was submitted to us as a plant champion, he was honored, but insisted that it is the culture of his company that has helped him to share his plant-passion with his community. As propagation supervisor for Willoway Nurseries in Ohio, he shared that the company adopted an “open book management” style (based upon The Great Game of Business) in 2013 — and they’ve been off and running ever since.

Willoway is championing plants in exciting and inspiring ways. Seed Your Future talked with Tim and H.R. Manager Emily Showalter to learn what makes them passionate, and how they inspire the next generation to love plants and perhaps even pursue a green collar career. We were blown-away by their projects. Here’s a few:

• BLOOM! Outreach to students: Utilizing Seed Your Future’s BLOOM! activities, and the “Plants Do That” project of the National Initiative for Consumer Horticulture (a SYF partner) — Willoway staff presented two one hour sessions aimed at 3rd – 6th grade youth at a local library. They brought along different examples of seeds, presented different career paths in the horticulture industry, handed out seeds packets to children who asked or answered questions, and each child sowed sunflower seeds to take home to care for. They plan many more such offerings in the future.
• Internships: Willoway provides opportunities for college and high school students to complete a 10-15-week internship with the company. Through this program, students gain a hands-on understanding of many aspects of the green industry including production, greenhouse propagation, shipping, sales, distribution, inventory, container and field growing, and more. During the internship students are encouraged to ask questions to help them in determining possible career avenues that are open in horticulture.
• Willoway Scholarship – For thirty years, Willoway has offered an annual horticulture scholarship for a student studying horticulture at the Ohio State University Agricultural Technical Institute.
• Landscape Olympics Competition: As one of the original — and still continuing — sponsors of the Ohio Nursery and Landscape Association’s Landscape Olympics for high school students, Willoway sponsors the “Plant Install” competition each year. Their employees judge the contest and the company donates all of the plant material for the contest (this year – 20 trees, and over 400 shrubs and perennials). Tim tells Seed Your Future that this event broadens the high school education experience and introduces students to the many opportunities offered by a career in the green industry.

Emily tells us that the company is so impressed with the resources of Seed Your Future, they decided to select SYF as the recipient of a unique fundraising campaign. They ran a campaign at the nursery called Donate your Change to Make a Change. Their goal was to support 10 middle school classrooms with BLOOM! materials (at 19.50/classroom, that would be $195 total). Their employees blew this goal out of the water and they collected over $600 total. Their employees got excited about sharing their plant-passion with students. We’re grateful for this support and enthusiasm!

For all of these remarkable programs to inspire the next generation of horticulture professionals, we’ve selected Willoway Nurseries as our latest Plant Champion. When we shared the news with Emily, she said they were honored, and wanted to inspire other businesses to do the same kind of projects. In fact, she said:

“We want them to blow us out of the water – reach more students – raise more funds to support this work – and create the next generation of plant pros.” 

We say — game on!

 

-Willoway Nurseries, based in Ohio, is a third-generation family-owned wholesale grower.

- Every day, the plant world is quietly led by horticulture heroes and plant champions who make an enormous impact on our lives and the future of the planet. Seed Your Future aims to share their stories, promote horticulture, and inspire more people to pursue careers working with plants. If you would like to recommend someone to be featured, submit their story!

-Interested in other Horticulture Heroes and Plant Champions?  Read all of their stories on our Seed Your Future Horticulture Heroes and Plant Champions Page.

Photo Credits: Willoway Nurseries