Horticulture Scholar

Supported by the Ryde TAFE Student Fund

2019

My interests in horticulture are many and varied, from collecting orchids to natives, with two pressing issues being the management of pests without damaging chemicals such as imidacloprid or glyphosate, and one thing I want to further learn is alternative control methods of pests/diseases. It is one of the biggest innovations we require in public and private garden situations. Another is using horticulture in the battle of climate change on a localised scale, be it planted windbreaks/shelter-belts to minimise erosion in drought-stricken areas, or maximising green spaces within cities to reduce and mitigate effects of pollution.  

I want to focus my professional career on bringing sustainable ornamental horticulture to the common urban domain. My key focus is to keep the sustainability conversation going and present it to the public by means of public gardens and community groups. 

 I would love to be in a position to provide education of some degree to schools, with programs such as horticultural and agricultural studies. This would give children and teenagers a theoretical and practical class topic with immediate importance to the world around them, great for those who have difficulty in academically heavy subjects, or have an intuition that may be otherwise untapped.