Rhoda Maurer named Director of Horticulture

Rhoda Maurer from Geneva, NY has been named Director of Horticulture at Cornell Plantations beginning February 2. Prior to joining Plantations, she managed the grounds and greenhouses of Cornell University’s NY State Agriculture Experiment Station in Geneva, NY.
 
Before her tenure at Cornell, she was the Assistant Curator at the Scott Arboretum of Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, and has held other positions at The Elisabeth C. Miller Botanical Garden in Washington, and the Royal Horticulture Society’s Wisley Garden in the United Kingdom. Maurer holds degrees in Anthropology and Horticulture from the University of Washington, and will be completing her Masters in Science in a Changing World this May from the University of Massachusetts at Boston.
 
“I’m delighted that Rhoda will be joining Plantations,” stated Dr. Christopher Dunn, the E. N. Wilds Director of Cornell Plantations. “Her experience, matched with her enthusiasm will only serve to help keep Cornell Plantations growing forward in the years to come. Everyone at Plantations is very excited for this new chapter in our 70-long year history.”
 
Ms. Maurer states, “Plantations will allow me to connect my affection for public horticulture, concern for our environment, and community engagement alongside a talented and eager staff in new and exciting ways.  I’m excited to start an exploration of how Plantations might add value to people’s lives, inspiring collaborations to discover unforeseen possibilities for how we might connect our living collections with contemporary socio-economic-biological systems in our changing world.”
 
Maurer’s main responsibilities will be to direct the horticulture program at Plantations, curating more than 40,000 plants representing over 5,000 different taxa, setting a vision for the program with an eye towards conservation and sustainability and the management of Plantations horticulture staff including curators, gardeners, landscape architects, greenhouse staff and seasonal garden staff.  She succeeds Mary Hirshfeld who served as Plantations’ Director of Horticulture for nearly 36 years.

Get to know more about Rhoda in this short video.