Chrysanthemum
Our Garden is Our Happy Place:
Why We Keep Coming Back for More
With Sheri Dorn, Ph.D.
University of Georgia, State Master Gardener Coordinator
Date: Tuesday, November 12, 2024
Time: 7:00 - 8:00 p.m. Eastern via Zoom
(Registration is required to receive the Zoom link for the live presentation. The presentation will be recorded.)
Cost:
GAONC Members- Free
Non-Members - $10 (non-refundable) - once the recording is ready to view, we'll send you a link that will be valid for 30 days. OR you can join GAONC ($20 annual membership fee), attend ALL of our presentations for free, AND have access to all of the recordings in our Video Library to view on demand.
About this Presentation:
Participants will increase knowledge of theories and empirical evidence supporting the importance of horticulture and gardening for human health and well-being.
a. Why horticulture supports health and well-being
b. Human response to plants and gardening at multiple scales
c. Human connections through plants and gardening
The presentation will be recorded for
members to view later in our Video Library.
About Our Speaker:
Like most people who are passionate about plants, Sheri was influenced as a child by grandparents and a lovely next-door-neighbor who loved plants. She likes to think it was a given that she would enjoy a profession in horticulture. After all, she won her fifth-grade spelling contest with “forsythia”! When Sheri was 12, she began mowing grass for neighbors and that progressed into pruning shrubs and opportunities to renovate landscapes. She had her first interaction with Extension in middle school when she asked the local agent for information about how to start Hawaiian wood rose seeds that her parents brought back from a trip to the islands. All throughout middle and high school, Sheri pursued science projects involving African violets, Kalanchoe, and plant tissue culture. As a senior in high school, she interned with a local landscape retail nursery and proceeded to apply early decision to Virginia Tech’s undergraduate horticulture program.
Immediately following graduation, Sheri was hired by VT’s Consumer Horticulture Extension Specialist, Dr. Diane Relf. She introduced Sheri to the human dimension of horticulture, tasking her with support to the People-Plant Council and eventually coordinating the Virginia Cooperative Extension Master Gardener Program. Relf’s strong influence on Sheri is seen in her history with Extension and Master Gardeners, her work with the National Initiative for Consumer Horticulture, and her current research interests. Sheri completed a Master’s program in Horticulture under Relf’s direction before leaving VT to pursue business opportunities. Following nearly 10 years in landscape contracting and retail nursery management, Sheri returned to Extension as an Agriculture and Natural Resources agent in Roanoke, Virginia, serving both commercial and residential audiences and coordinating a medium-sized Master Gardener program.
In 2012, Sheri was hired by the University of Georgia to coordinate the Georgia Master Gardener Extension Volunteer (MGEV) Program. She also serves as an Extension Specialist for Consumer Ornamentals. She works with agents all over the state who address consumer horticulture programming with MGEVs.
In 2019, Sheri completed a PhD in Horticulture at UGA, under the direction of Dr. Bodie Pennisi. Her dissertation chronicled the findings of a national study of Extension Master Gardeners and their motivations for supporting Extension programming. Sheri is most interested in the human dimension of horticulture, why people garden, and the community and health benefits they receive from gardening. She values opportunities to collaborate with agents and MGEVs in exploring not only the value of plants to people, but the meaningful act of gardening and tending plants. She delights in introducing people to plants and gardening and helping them to develop an “I can do this!” attitude toward plants and gardening.
*Approval of this presentation for continuing education credit is at the discretion of
your program.
