Guest Column: Extension Agent Charts Diverse Paths to Careers in Horticulture
People enter careers in the horticulture industry from a wide variety of paths, and UF/IFAS Extension horticulture agents are no different. Take Donna Castro, for example.
Growing up in Buffalo, NY, Donna lived a world away from the warm and balmy gardens of Pompano Beach, FL, where she lives and works today. But as a youngster, she would escape from the cold into a neighborhood greenhouse, where a friend of her mother’s grew geraniums. It was here that she discovered the beauty of flowers arranged in a vase and learned to appreciate the skill and care that goes into growing plants. Later, when her high school guidance counselor tried to steer her into Calculus and Physics, she found herself more interested in Biology and Botany. While attending the University of Buffalo, she worked as a florist and found that more fulfilling than cramming for finals. After moving with her husband to Florida, she found a disused garden center in a Sears department store and asked if she could run a business out of there. For the next 21-and-a-half years, she was deeply involved in local horticulture as the owner of the Garden Gate Nursery. As a retailer, she learned to have her pulse on what people wanted in their landscaping, experience that still informs her extension work today.
“There’s really no typical path to a career in horticulture,” Castro says. “My own case included. I became curious about how other people came into the green industry.”
On her UF/IFAS Blogs site, Castro has started a new series about career paths to horticulture. Her hope is that she will inspire more youth and adults to take advantage of opportunities in the field.
One of the people she profiles is Indyli Brown, tree specialist and environmental landscape supervisor for the City of Plantation. He’s played a pivotal role in rewriting the city’s landscape code to make the tree canopy more resilient and sustainable. His career started more than 24 years ago, when he took a summer job as a maintenance worker for the city. Through hard work he slowly acquired the licenses and certifications he needed to advance his career.
Anand Persad, (right) CEO of Tetra Energy Sciences.
Photo by City of Plantation, Parks Dept. | Photo Courtesy UF/IFAS
Castro says that these qualifications are the key to building a career as a green industry professional. “Many people enter landscaping through municipal channels, working with the city or county parks departments. In some counties, having a GI-BMP or arborist certification is a requirement. Even when it’s not required, being ISA, FNGLA certified, or having an FDACS pesticide applicator license will open doors that lead to more employment and higher salaries.”
Castro herself is an ISA-certified arborist and a certified LIAF landscape inspector. At the Broward County Extension office, she helps landscapers train for pest control applicator licensing, Green Industries Professional Best Management Practices (GI-BMP) certification, and Florida-Friendly Landscaping Certified Professional (FFL-CP) designation.
Castro landed in her role as an Extension educator in 2018 after Sears went bankrupt and she was forced to close the nursery. As a Master Gardener volunteer, she learned about an opening at the Broward County Extension office and soon joined the team, where Michael Orfenedes, Ph.D., became her mentor.
Orfanedes’ path led him originally to agronomy and weed science, in which he got his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois. However, course work in trees and ornamental plants changed his life. After working with Extension at Cornell University, he and his family moved to Broward County, where he began teaching basic and advanced tree-trimming courses. He went on to get certifications in tree risk assessment (TRAQ) and prescription pruning (PPQ), and he trains people in how they can get qualified too.
So, whether you come from academia, a summer job, or a greenhouse in upstate New York, the paths into the world of professional horticulture are many-branched. That’s why, in Broward County, and in all the 67 counties throughout Florida, UF/IFAS Extension fills a crucial role in providing education and training to newcomers to the green industries so that they can turn their passions into a rewarding career.
Andra Johnson, Ph.D., is the Dean of UF/IFAS Extension and a champion for science-based solutions that serve Florida's agriculture and natural resources.
