Alumni Spotlight

Featuring: Dr. Ryan Stewart

Ph.D. Horticulture - Summer, 2005

Assistant Professor of Horticultural Ecophysiology
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

The path I took to where I am now wasn't very linear, but it all began when I worked at a Boy Scout camp near Yellowstone and Teton National Parks when I was in high school. It bothered me that I couldn't identify the vegetation along the trails I would hike on nearly every day. Interestingly enough, at the time and up to my freshman year at Utah State University, my career goal was to become a veterinarian, but after spending two years overseas, I realized that while I was still interested in animals, it wasn't what I was supposed to do with my life.

After returning to school, I struggled to figure out what I wanted to do in terms of changing my major. It was recommended to me to talk with the Vice President of Extension at USU. He provided me with the opportunity to work as an intern over two summers in two County Extension Offices in central Utah. I found that I enjoyed learning about plants as I did my best to answer questions about problems that people were having with plants in their gardens and yards. As much as I enjoyed it, though, the prospect of doing research on horticultural plants was even more appealing. Near the end of my second internship, I applied for graduate school at USU with the eventual goal of becoming a professor of horticulture.

In the first year of my masters program, I told my adviser that I wanted to go on to pursue a Ph.D. Among the people he suggested to work with was Dr. Bill Graves. He told me that Dr. Graves had a lot of interesting projects going on and that he would be a great person to work with. I did end up e-mailing many of the professors he suggested I contact, but Dr. Graves was the only one who seemed genuinely interested in me. After a few weeks of corresponding with Dr. Graves, I applied to Iowa State and through his assistance, I received a Plant Sciences Fellowship. I subsequently began my Ph.D. program in the fall of 2001.

Having grown up in a mountainous part of the country, it took about a year for my wife and me to adjust to the comparatively flat terrain of Iowa. (As a side note, though, having lived in Illinois for the past couple of years, I now realize that central Iowa is not flat!) We soon fell in love with Ames, though, and cherish the memories of our time spent there and the other parts of Iowa that we were able to visit.

Not only was Dr. Graves a superb adviser and mentor, the Department of Horticulture at large was a wonderful environment to learn and develop the research and teaching skills I needed to successfully enter academia as a tenure-track assistant professor. I consider myself very fortunate to have developed very warm and productive relationships with several faculty and staff members in the Department. It's always a treat to cross paths with them at the annual American Society for Horticultural Science meetings. It's very reassuring to know that I have colleagues who want to see me succeed.

Several months before I was set to graduate in the summer of 2005, Dr. Graves encouraged me to start applying for open faculty positions. He helped me out every step of the way. I owe it to him for being able to land an excellent position in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. I am currently an Assistant Professor of Horticultural Ecophysiology. I couldn't have asked for a more satisfying position. Not only do I get to teach Plant Propagation, but I am actively pursuing what I consider very interesting research in three main areas: native plant propagation, invasive plant ecophysiology, and biofuel feedstock production. The day of reckoning (i.e., the submission of my tenure package) is still a few years away, but I'm very grateful for the time I spent at Iowa State that helped me prepare for what I'm doing now.

Featuring: Dr. Michael Dosmann

M.S. Horticulture - 1998

Curator of Living Collections
The Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University

When people ask me what it is I do, I usually start out by telling them that I just tell stories about trees. To me, every plant has a story, or two, or ten..., and nothing is more rewarding than uncovering these accounts and sharing them with others. My time at Iowa State played a crucial role in getting me to this place, and it is wonderful to reflect on it now.

I became interested in natural history at a very early age, and by 16 knew that I wanted to work in some capacity at a botanic garden or arboretum. While I enjoyed the many hours working on landscape crews installing gardens for others, I wanted to nestle myself in a garden of my own, particularly one that was a collection of interesting and unusual plants. I attribute much of that direction to experiences I had as a teenager attending programs at Purdue University, where I ended up earning my BS in Public Horticulture in 1996.

After graduating from Purdue, I moved to Ames to attend Iowa State University, where I worked with Dr. Jeff Iles and earned my MS in 1998. This was a fantastic experience for me in so many ways. Jeff encouraged me to explore my fascination with trees, uncover some problem that needed investigation, take ownership of this and turn it into my thesis work. This I did, wrapping my arms around the katsura tree, Cercidiphyllum japonicum. Also, I found that coupled to the university's strong curriculum was the perfect blend of guidance, encouragement and collaboration I received from my graduate committee. In addition to the research and instructional activities, I was also exposed to some of the finest extension work in the land. This was important to me, because it reinforced my sincere belief that universities, be they public or private, have a strong public service responsibility and should not bury their heads in the sand or remain in their ivory towers. The work of ISU Horticulture exemplifies this commitment to public service.

Following my MS, I studied living collections management and curation in the United Kingdom for a year as a Martin McLaren Fellow. And for two years I was a Putnam Research Fellow at The Arnold Arboretum. After this 2nd fellowship, I became a graduate student again as a member of Cornell University's Urban Horticulture Institute, where I received my Ph.D. in 2006 studying the ecophysiology of goldenrain tree, Koelreuteria paniculata.

I am currently the Curator of Living Collections at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, which is North America's oldest public arboretum and one of the most comprehensive and well-documented collections of woody plants in the temperate world. In this job, I wear many hats and every day is different, which is quite the joy. First and foremost, I am charged with overseeing the development, conservation, and curatorial management of the Living Collections. A humbling task, this takes into account the rich legacy of plant exploration, introduction, and research that has shaped the present-day collection -- as well as the face of contemporary horticulture. Not only is plant acquisition and collecting a central part of my job, but so is the placing of these plants in this Olmsted Landscape. Once part of the Living Collections, these plants serve an array of roles, ranging from amenity to research. Particularly with respect to the latter is the ongoing documentation of the collection, which enhances and adds additional value to it. Thus, part of my job is to conduct collections-based research, which is generally in the areas of ecophysiology and biogeography. I also work a great deal with other Harvard scientists, as well as visiting researchers from around the world as they conduct studies using our collection. As a horticulturist, I am always on the look out for new plants to introduce that have proven and exemplary traits, and our rich collection is continually yielding plants that make their way into the backyard garden. I also do a fair amount of writing and teaching, which I find particularly rewarding as they give me the opportunity to tell those stories about trees -- which is what I've always wanted to do.

Past Features
Luke Dant
Gary Polking
John M. Williams
Angela Tedesco
Rolston St. Hilaire
Kimberly Hilgers
Jim Nau