View an interview with Dean Kathryn Boor from last summer. She lauds the Department of Horticulture for its “… true clarity from the point of fundamental discovery up through problem-solving — not only research, but outreach” and for embodying “… that philosophy of the Land Grant spirit.”
Transcript from the middle of the interview:
We embed this philosophy of public scholarship throughout our entire process whether it’s education, research or outreach. I think I’ll use Horticulture as a really good example of programs where there is true clarity from the point of fundamental discovery up through problem-solving — not only research, but outreach.
For example, if have visited New York City and you have enjoyed urban trees, you have enjoyed the benefits of some of the work of Nina Bassuk in the Department of Horticulture where she studies and understands how trees and other plants can thrive in urban settings, which certainly makes those settings much more pleasant for all of us.
We have a chair in that department, Marvin Pritts, who still personally delivers outreach programs for those who are interested in growing berries, whether those are at the individual level or the larger level.
And we have students who work with both of those faculty members to ensure that not only will they carry this information on to the next generation as they enter their own careers, but they can also enact a lot of their work in practice at the time. So I think our Horticulture Department really embodies that philosophy of the Land Grant spirit.