Horticulture Center Staff

Jessica Chambers

The central focus of my job as Horticulture Coordinator is to develop the Horticulture Center and that entails many different aspects. It may include watering the annual beds, visiting “green” buildings, weeding, developing a web site and brochures, giving tours, planting hundreds of pumpkins seeds, writing grants, applying insecticides — basically it runs the gambit. And what a wonderful gambit it is!

As a horticulture alumna from ISU (1993) I am devoted to making this project become a reality. I wish I had had the opportunity to do such projects as receiving honors credit for designing and establishing an identification perennial bed, or maybe to have done a research study on zinnias, or perhaps to have even had the opportunity to be “Horticulture Center Assistant”. What I can do now is to make this a reality for our current students and for those that are yet to be Horticultural Redbirds!      

Mike Busing

Horticulture is a way to make the world a better place. It's a way to add beauty to our planet and the way I've chosen to put my stamp on the world. As humans we should endeavor to leave our surroundings better than we found it. I can think of no better way to accomplish this than to study and plant the gifts that God gave us. If anyone was ever born to work with their hands in the dirt, that person would be me. After 32 years in the business I still have a passion for watching things grow. The Horticulture Center is the perfect place to observe the miracles of nature.

Brittnay Whitted

While working at the Horticulture Center as an undergraduate assistant, and now graduate assistant, I have come to realize that no two days are ever the same and there are always jobs to be done. Some of my duties as an undergraduate assistant are design, install and maintain the gardens, lead educational tours (pre-school thru college age), tend to greenhouse plants, and assist in planning special events at the center. 

Being a part of the Horticulture Center has been one of the greatest opportunities I have had as a student here at ISU.  I enjoy working with Jessica and other Hort Center staff, as well as the amazing volunteers that are always there with a helping hand. As I look back on the time I have spent at the Hort Center thus far, I realize all that I have learned there and the incredible experiences I have had.  I look forward to continue helping the Horticulture Center grow and all of the great experiences along the way.