Seminar Speakers
Biographies
ContactJAMES ALTLAND received his M.S. and Ph.D. from Auburn University, where he focused on nitrogen nutrition in landscape bedding plants. He is currently research horticulturist for the USDA in Wooster, Ohio. Prior to the USDA, he worked for over five years as nursery crop extension agent at Oregon State University's North Willamette Research and Extension Center in Aurora, Ore. James’ research specializes in container substrate management, plant nutrition and various aspects of weed control.
ContactANN CHASE finished graduate school in plant pathology at the University of California at Riverside in 1979. She worked for 14 years as a professor at the University of Florida on diseases of foliage plants, cut foliage and bedding plants before starting a family business in the foothills east of Sacramento in 1994 specializing in diagnostics, contract research, education and consulting. Chase writes magazine columns, gives talks and generally pretends she is still working for a university. The newest areas of development include a national diagnostic lab offering custom control strategies.
ContactSTEPHANIE COHEN has taught herbaceous plants and perennial design at Temple University for over 20 years. She was previously the director of the Landscape Arboretum at Temple University, Ambler. She is a contributing editor for "Fine Gardening", The HGTV Newsletter, and writes for "American Nurseryman" magazine. Cohen has received three awards from the Perennial Plant Association for design, as well as receiving their Service and Academic Award. She also has awards from Temple University, Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, and The American Nursery and Landscape Association and wrote a book on design published in the spring of 2005 called The Perennial Gardener's Design Primer, their best seller for 2005 and 2006. This book was also chosen by The Garden Writer's of America as the winner in the best overall book category. Currently she is finishing a new book, called Fallscaping, to be launched the summer of 2007.
ContactKIP CREEL, president and founder of StandPoint, Inc., a marketing research firm based in Atlanta, Georgia, has spent over 10 years in the research field. His vast experience within the green industry has led to multiple speaking invitations to share industry trends and expectations with practitioners. He is the author of multiple "green industry" research papers, including the most recent which reveals the shifting winds of consumer preferences: "Outdoor Living - A New Landscape for Consumers", and "The 2006 Grapevine Survey - Maintaining Relevance with Today's Consumer".
ContactSARAH DOANE is the Oregon Research Station Manager for The Landscape Plant Development Center. Sarah started with LPDC in 2002 and her responsibilities range from maintaining field plots to breeding new trees and shrubs.
Established in 1990, The Landscape Plant Development Center, headquartered in Minnesota, is a national, non-profit research institute that develops durable plants that are tolerant of environmental and biological stresses.
Prior to joining The Landscape Plant Development Center, Sarah worked for J. Frank Schmidt & Son Co and also as a Nursery Research Technician for Oregon State University, North Willamette Research and Extension Center. Sarah is a graduate of Southern Illinois University, with a B.S. in Plant and Soil Science.
ContactBERNIE ERVEN is professor emeritus of agricultural economics at Ohio State University. At Ohio State his teaching, extension and research activities were in human resource management, farm management and business management. He continues to teach a course in Human Resource Management in Small Businesses at Ohio State. His consulting work with small businesses through Erven HR Services LLC focuses on family business relations and human resource management. For more than thirty-five years he has worked with topics such as hiring, training, motivation, compensation, and performance evaluation. He has degrees from Ohio State University and the University of Wisconsin. He has been a visiting professor at Cornell University and is a two-time recipient of the Ohio State University Award for Distinguished Teaching. He has also received the American Agricultural Economics Association Teaching Award, a U.S. Department of Agricultural National Excellence in Teaching Award, both the Ohio State University Gamma Sigma Delta Extension and Teaching Awards, the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation Cooperative Education Award and the American Agricultural Economics Association Group Extension Award.
ContactDANIEL GILREIN holds a Master's degree in Plant Protection from Cornell and a BS degree from the College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse, N.Y. He has been at the Long Island Horticultural Research and Extension Center in Riverhead, N.Y., since 1987, currently as Extension Entomologist with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County and previously as IPM Specialist, working with pests and pest management of horticultural crops and ornamental landscape plants. He previously worked in agriculture development in East Africa.
ContactCARL GRIMM serves as an associate solid waste planner and natural gardening/toxics reduction specialist at Metro, where he manages natural gardening programs and other initiatives aimed at reducing the home use and disposal of toxic materials. He grew up in the gardens of NW Portland and later Berkeley, California where he received a B.S. in Conservation and Resource Studies. Grimm served 15 years at the San Francisco League of Urban Gardeners as education director and habitat conservation director, where he developed and led the city and county's Home Composting Program. He also served for five years as the public director of Chicago's Garfield Park Conservatory--a 2-acres-under-glass Victorian era public living plant museum greenhouse. There he developed and led the Chicago Home Composting Program and worked with myriad of partners on planning and implementing aspects of Chicago's "green revolution," Advocates for Urban Agriculture, Chicago Organic Mayoral task force, Chicago's and Illinois' food policy councils and more. Grimm led the state of Illinois' first ever organic gardening training in an Extension Master Gardener program and taught composting and organic gardening classes throughout Chicago for Garfield Park Conservatory Alliance, University of Illinois Extension, Green Teacher Network, Chicago Botanic Garden and more.
ContactDR. CHARLIE HALL grew up in the industry on a nursery in Western North Carolina. He spent 13 years on the faculty at Texas A&M and is currently a professor of Agricultural Economics at the University of Tennessee where he focuses on the economics of producing and marketing green industry products and services. His major areas of specialization include innovative management and marketing strategies, financial analysis and benchmarking, and the situation/outlook for nursery and greenhouse crops. One of his latest research projects (partially sponsored by ANLA and PLANET) was determining the economic impact of the green industry in the United States.
ContactCHRIS HANSEN began his career at Iowa State University where he received a B.S. degree in Horticulture and Botany. During his college days he interned at Missouri Botanical Gardens in St. Louis, Mo. and the world-renowned Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania. After graduating, Hansen moved to South Carolina where he worked as Assistant Director of Horticulture for Wayside Gardens under John Elsley's direction for five years. In 2000 he became director of horticulture for Wayside Gardens and traveled the world visiting plant breeders, growers, and botanical gardens in search of the newest plants to introduce to American gardeners. Creating the Wayside catalogs for the past 10 years, this has allowed him to remain on the cutting edge of perennial plant trends in the industry and he carries this knowledge to his new job at world-renowned breeding company, Terra Nova Nurseries. In the fall of 2005, Hansen moved to Portland, Ore. and joined Terra Nova Nurseries' as director of new product development brings his enthusiasm, love of photography and passion for plants to the company.
ContactMIKE KROFF has six years of experience teaching college courses in promotion and consumer behavior and is currently an assistant professor of marketing at Montana State University. He completed a Ph.D. from Texas A&M University, a B.S. in Psychology and an M.B.A., both from Brigham Young University. In addition, he has industry experience in retail management and sales. Most recently, he received the Dean’s Award for Outstanding Performance in Teaching at Montana State University’s Business School.
ContactJEFF LOWENFELS is the Cal Ripkin of Garden columnists. His weekly column has run in the Anchorage Daily News for over 30 years without missing a week, even for vacations. An extremely popular national garden writer, Mr. Lowenfels is a former president of the Garden Writers of America, became a GWA Fellow in 1999 and was inducted into the GWA Hall of Fame, garden writing's highest honor, in 2004. His articles have appeared in numerous national gardening magazines ranging from Organic Gardening to Growing Edge. Lately he has been called the "Al Gore of Gardening", though Republicans prefer the "Ronnie Reagan of horticulture." Either way, there is no better or funnier garden speaker. Mr. Lowenfels' new book, Teaming with Microbes: A Gardener's Guide to the Soil Food Web is already in its second printing and has been reviewed as the most important gardening book of the past 25 years. It explains the soil food web and how to make it work in yards and gardens. Lowenfels is also the founder "Plant A Row for The Hungry" which has resulted in gardeners growing and donating enough food to provide 20 million meals to feed the hungry every growing season.
ContactHEINRICH LÖSING is a senior national nursery advisor in Germany, specializing in weed control and mechanization. Along with his extensive practical work experience throughout Europe and Asia, his has worked with Monrovia Nursery's California location and Princeton Nursery in New Jersey, as well as the North Willamette Research and Extension Center in Aurora, Ore. He is a published author on disease problems on hardy nursery stock and received his Ph.D focusing on nematodes.
ContactHANNAH MATHERS is an assistant professor and extension specialist in nursery and landscape crops at Ohio State University. Prior to moving to Columbus, Ohio, in 2000, Mathers was with Oregon State University at the North Willamette Research and Extension Center (NWREC) in Aurora, Ore. She has been published in several national trade magazines, including her regular column in Ohio Nursery and Landscape Association's Buckeye. Currently, Mathers' work schedule includes projects dealing with weed control for nurseries and landscapes, environmental modification technologies in container production, and ornamental plant fertility. She has a B.S. in Plant Science from Cornell University, a Master of Science degree in Horticulture from the University of Saskatchewan and a Ph.D. in horticulture from Michigan State University.
ContactMICHAEL "MAC" McCARTER is co-owner of Nursery Guide Marketing in Salem, Ore., which provides management and consulting services to agriculture and non-agriculture industries throughout the Willamette Valley. An authentic Oregonian, he has spent the last 35 years in the nursery industry with Northwest Shade Trees, Harts Nursery of Jefferson, Holland Bulb Co. and Rancho Flowers. He is also active in both Agri Business Council of Oregon (ABC) and Oregon Association of Nurseries (OAN). McCarter joined the Board of Directors of ABC in 2005 and is currently its President, and is a past-president of the OAN and serves on various committees for both associations. He is also the current executive director of Albany Rifle and Pistol Club.
ContactWell known in gardening circles, SUSAN McCOY is founder and president of the Garden Media Group, a public relations and marketing firm specializing in the lawn & garden industry and one of the top 10 PR agencies in Philadelphia. For more than 18 years, GMG has promoted plants and products to the outdoor living and green industries, generating consumer awareness and driving consumer demand for new plants and green products. She regularly appears on prime time radio talk shows, including Gardening with Ciscoe, Let's Talk Gardening with Mike Nowak in Chicago, and on the syndicated AARP Prime Time Radio show. GMG's clients include the giants in the industry, including Ball Horticultural, Hines Horticulture, The Conard-Pyle Co. and Florikan/dynamite Plant Food. An active member in Garden Writers Association of America, McCoy is a member of ANLA, National Gardening Association, American Horticultural Society, Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, and a speaker in the field. Prior to founding her company, she worked in both agency and corporate marketing and public relations. Involved in both the business and non-profit communities, she graduated from the University South Carolina with a Masters of Journalism, specializing in public relations and advertising.
ContactANNE M. OBARSKI is the executive director of Merchandise Concepts, a retail training service based in St Louis, Mo. She is a professional speaker and internationally published author who works with organizations who want to focus on becoming contagious. She presents sessions on customer service, communication skills and catching the eye of Gen Y. Her company's mystery shoppers, better known as Retail Snoops™, have secretly "snooped" over 2000 stores searching for excellence in customer service. Most recently, she spoke at ANLA's management clinic.
ContactAs President of Pen & Petal, Inc., a full-service advertising, marketing and PR agency for the green industry, KERSTIN OUELLET brings thorough knowledge of the international horticulture industry to the table. She received her Master's Degree in Horticulture in 1994 from the University for Applied Science in Weihenstephan near Munich, Germany. Before coming to the United States, she worked at nurseries in Germany and Denmark in various sections of the industry and continued on in her career in America as marketing director at EuroAmerican Propagators. Ouellet successfully applies her diverse work experience in her current position as well as being a renowned author of articles in trade- and consumer magazines and two books on container gardening. She currently serves on the board of directors for OFA and a member of the Garden Writers' Association, the American Horticultural Society, and the San Diego Horticultural Society.
ContactJIM OWEN is an assistant professor of nursery research and extension at Oregon State University. He is located at the North Willamette Research and Extension Center in Aurora, Ore. His research and extension program focuses on environmentally sound management practices in nursery production including substrate, nutrient, and water management with the goal of increasing crop efficiency. Owen received his Ph.D. in Horticultural Science from North Carolina State with a focus on nursery production.
ContactRICHARD REGAN is a district extension agent for Oregon State University at the North Willamette Research and Extension Center in Aurora, Ore. He received his graduate degree in water and soil science from California State University at Chico. Since 1984, he has been responsible for the development of extended education and research programs in the production of nursery crops in the Willamette Valley. Regan's expertise includes shade and flowering tree production, irrigation water use and conservation, soil and container substrate management, nutrition of nursery crops and plant problem diagnosis.
ContactANDREW RISTVEY is a regional extension agent for commercial horticulture for the University of Maryland Cooperative Extension. He received his Master of Science degree from University of Maryland, Eastern Shore in 1993, and soon after, worked on restoring Chesapeake Bay shorelines in Maryland. He moved on to wetland and forest-stand delineation and then on to environmental and horticultural education at a Maryland arboretum specializing in mid-Atlantic native plants. He earned his Doctorate in Horticulture in 2004 after 6 years of research on plant nutrition and nutrient management. His present extension and research interests are plant nutrition and sustainable alternative crop production.
ContactROBIN ROSETTA has degrees in horticulture, entomology and plant protection/pest management and is an associate professor in the department of horticulture at Oregon State University. Her work focuses on extension IPM in greenhouse and nursery production. Current research areas include management of borers, pest phenology and eriophyid mites. She is the editor of the Pacific Northwest Nursery IPM website. When not working she likes to garden, ruin the harmonica and spend time with her family.
ContactDAVID SANDROCK, Ph.D. grew up on a small farm in Jefferson, Ga. During high school and college he worked for a few local landscaping firms and eventually owned and operated his own landscape business. He earned a B.S. and M.S. in Horticulture from the University of Georgia and a Ph.D. in Horticulture from Oregon State University. He currently holds a teaching and research position in the Department of Horticulture at Oregon State University where he teaches Landscape Design, Landscape Construction and Landscape Management. He conducts research on environmentally responsible landscape practices and is currently developing a center for green roof research at Oregon State University.
ContactBILL STINE is a sales and collections associate with Cash Flow Management, Portland Ore. He has conducted collection training for over 25 years for companies in the northwest. His background includes managing collection and litigations for Dun & Bradstreet, NACM Oregon Inc, GE Capital Leasing and Dex Media.
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MARC VAN IERSEL was born and raised in the Netherlands, where he received his M.S. in horticulture from Wageningen University. He moved to the US in 1990 and received his Ph.D. from the University of Arkansas in 1994. He currently is a professor in the horticulture department of the University of Georgia where he teaches plant physiology and nutrition courses. His research focuses on irrigation and fertilizer management in greenhouses and nurseries. His research has resulted in 70 papers in scientific journals and 30 articles in grower magazines.
ContactJONI WILSON is an award winning landscape designer with projects in Northern California. Her firm, "Inside Out", is located in Davis, California. Joni's passion and solid knowledge of design elements results in plans that connect the interior style and exterior architecture of a home to the outside landscape in a continuous flow which reflects each client's unique lifestyle and interests. She is certified through Association of Professional Landscape Designers (APLD) and is currently the president for the Sacramento District for the California Chapter of APLD and is active in California Landscape Contractors Association.
ContactMICHAEL YANNY has been the plant propagator at Johnson's Nursery, Inc. in Menomonee Falls, Wis. since 1980. He graduated in 1979 from the University of Wisconsin with a Bachelor's of Science degree in Horticulture and learned many of his propagation skills while working with Herbert F. Trautman of Trautman Nurseries in the late 1970's. Yanny has been responsible for developing numerous tree and shrub cultivars, including: Firebird® Crabapple, Leprechaun™ Green Ash, Redwing® Viburnum, Red Feather® Arrowwood Viburnum, Spiced Bouquet™ Viburnum, Sunset™ Buckeye, Technito® Arborvitae and Firespire™ Musclewood. He is an avid Green Bay Packers fan and in his spare time likes to read and write poetry.
English-to-Spanish simultaneous translation
Pesticide recertification credits available
