Erica Kendall Anderson

Raised among the farms and rural landscapes of upstate New York, Erica has always been drawn to plants and gardens. She comes to Cornell Botanic Gardens’ Graduate Program in Public Garden Leadership by means of a colorful path. A Cornell undergraduate in the humanities, she pursued graduate degrees in art history from Oxford and Yale, where plants and gardens featured prominently in her research. Deciding to return to Cornell in 2007 for training in landscape architecture, she was immediately inspired by a class in horticulture, which in turn led her to a yearlong curatorial internship at Longwood Gardens. There a talk on horticultural therapy made a particular impression on her, and so her focus broadened from collections management to incorporate the whole human experience of gardens. Erica dreams of directing a public garden someday, particularly one that unites her interests in history and the arts with the promotion of physical, mental, and spiritual restoration.

Action Project: “With Healing in Mind: How Public Gardens at Colleges and Universities Can Promote Student Mental Health.”

Summer Internship: Celia Thaxter Garden, Appledore Island, Maine. Erica invites you to read her blog about this fascinating historic garden: https://islandgardener2014.wordpress.com/.

Thank You: Erica gives her sincere thanks to the Cornell Botanic Gardens donors who made this amazing growth experience possible!