Meet the many integral members of the department and learn about their horticultural career journey in our new series, This is my Hort-Story!
Current job title: Researcher
Current lab/team: Grape Breeding
Time spent working in the Department of Horticultural Science: 4.5 years
Pronouns: She/her/hers
The thing that brought me to a career in horticulture was…
Taking the road less traveled! My career path has been a windier journey than most. I grew up in a small town in North Dakota and thought the only people who worked with plants were farmers. That wasn’t the direction I wanted to take so I started a business degree my first year of college. One computer programming class later, I knew it wasn’t a good fit for me. I decided to pivot and follow another interest and became a massage therapist. I really liked problem solving issues for people but after a few years I became bored and felt stagnant. That’s when I decided to go back to school to finish my bachelors degree. This time, I chose to study Osteopathy. During my coursework I took a biology class that was instructed by a plant biochemist and loved how she talked about plants and photosynthesis. It was at this time when I started to question the path I was headed down. From there I went on to take a flower and plant diversity class which was the catalyst for me changing my area of study. I went on to earn my bachelors, masters and PhD in Plant Biological Science from the University of Minnesota. After working as a postdoc with the Bee Lab, I ran into an old colleague (Hi, Matt Clark!) who offered me a research position to work on his grant. Since then, I’ve been a researcher on the grape breeding team.
The most enjoyable/rewarding part of my work is…
Working with grad students. I love mentoring grad students and working collaboratively while training and doing research. I’m in the unique position of getting to answer a lot of the questions students are afraid to ask their professors or advisors. It’s really rewarding being a resource for students and learning from them at the same time.
I also really love the duality of my position. I get to spend my time outside with growers and in the vineyard during the summer months, but I also get to be the scientist who asks questions and analyzes data during the cooler months of the year. It’s really the best of both worlds!
My favorite thing about working in the department is…
How many people bake! And if they don’t like to bake, they like to taste. Over the years the department has had a few bake offs including the bundt cake competition, a pi(e) day celebration, and holiday cookie exchanges. There’s always a sweet treat around which is both a positive and a negative!
When I’m not working you can find me…
Baking, reading fantasy or science fiction books, working in my yard, lifting, swimming, or hiking in the summer!