Tag: plant science

Close up of deep fuchsia hibiscus flower

Plant Science Student Spotlight: Afrifa Amoah-Mensah

by Eva Sailly
August 7, 2026

"My mom’s Jamaican, so I grew up drinking sorrel made with ginger and cinnamon from plants we grew in our backyard. Now I want to bring that same hibiscus into my own breeding projects and see what new varieties we can create. As a plant ... READ MORE

Category: 4-H & Youth, Natural Resources, UF/IFAS Teaching
Tags: Afrifa Amoah-Mensah, Biodiversity, Horticultural Sciences, Plant Breeding, Plant Science, Student, Teaching, UF/IFAS CALS
Lauren Goldsby, UF/IFAS Extension Agent, leads a hands-on blueberry workshop for community members in Bay County.

Alumni Spotlight: Lauren Goldsby’s Path to Extension

by Eva Sailly
April 13, 2026

Lauren Goldsby’s path to becoming a UF/IFAS Extension Agent in Bay County, Florida's panhandle, wasn’t linear. During her undergraduate years at UF, she worked in the Forage Breeding and Genomics Lab and the Blueberry Breeding Lab, gaining ... READ MORE

Category: Agribusiness, Agriculture, Crops, Farm Management, Home Landscapes, Horticulture, Professional Development, UF/IFAS Extension, UF/IFAS Teaching, Work & Life
Tags: Alumni, Alumni-feature, Bay County, Blueberry, Extension, Gerardo Nunez, Goldsby, Horticultural Sciences, Horticultural Sciences Department, Plant Science, Student, Teaching, UF/IFAS CALS, UF/IFAS Extension
Close-up image of the dried, saffron which is the thread-like stigma (the female reproductive part) of the Crocus sativus flower in a glass container.

A New Approach to Propagating the “World’s Most Valuable” Spice

by Eva Sailly
March 13, 2026

Often referred to as the most expensive spice in the world, saffron has been prized for thousands of years for its vibrant color, distinctive flavor, and aromatic compounds. Extracted from the red stigmas of the saffron crocus, Crocus sativus, ... READ MORE

Category: Agribusiness, Agriculture, Crops, Farm Management, Horticulture, UF/IFAS Research
Tags: Bioreactor, Controlled-environment Production Systems, Cryopreservation, Environmental Horticulture, Food Is Medicine, Horticultural Sciences, Horticultural Sciences Department, Micropropagation, Plant Science, Saffron, Vendrame Lab, Wagner Vendrame
Image of people (general public) walking through rows of strawberry fields as part of Greathouse's initiative.

Alumni Spotlight: Connecting Communities Back to Agriculture

by Eva Sailly
February 11, 2026

Extension From Day One Madelyn Greathouse is the UF/IFAS Extension Commercial Horticulture and Integrated Pest Management Agent serving Sumter and Pasco counties. She works with a wide range of growers, from blueberry and ornamental producers ... READ MORE

Category: 4-H & Youth, Agribusiness, Agriculture, Crops, Farm Management, Horticulture, Pests & Disease, Professional Development, UF/IFAS Extension, UF/IFAS Teaching, Work & Life
Tags: Alumni, Alumni-feature, Blueberry, Cade, Gerardo Nunez, Greathouse, Horticultural Sciences Department, Pasco County, Plant Science, Plant Science Major, St, Sumner County, UF/IFAS CALS, UF/IFAS Extension, Undergraduate
Dr. Huo surrounded by greenery inside an environmental horticulture ornamentals greenhouse with two of his students.

UF/IFAS Horticultural Sciences expands as Environmental Horticulture faculty and staff join the department under a shared vision

by Eva Sailly
December 17, 2025

The University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) is uniting faculty and staff from Environmental Horticulture with Horticultural Sciences Department, strengthening collaboration across teaching, research, and ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, Events, Work & Life
Tags: Environmental Horticulture, Horticultural Sciences Department, One Horticulture, Plant Science, Teaching
A eppendorf multi pipet tool. Laboratory equipment, science and research.

Graduate Student Spotlight with Gabriella Dickinson: Exploring Plant Metabolism through Biochemistry

by Eva Sailly
August 5, 2025

Gabriella Dickinson, our student spotlight, is a fourth-year Ph.D. student in the Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology (PMCB) program at the University of Florida. Working in Dr. Gilles Basset’s lab, she studies the biosynthesis of prenylated ... READ MORE

Category: Curriculum, Horticulture, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Research, UF/IFAS Teaching
Tags: Basset Lab, Graduate Student, Horticultural Sciences, Ph.D., Plant Breeding, Plant Molecular And Cellular Biology, Plant Science, PMCB, Student, Teaching, UF/IFAS CALS
A group of colorful ferns.

UF/IFAS, Miami-Dade FNGLA chapter to honor South Florida horticulture pioneers John DeMott and Charles Buster

by Lourdes Mederos
October 14, 2024

The Miami-Dade County Chapter of the Florida Nursery Growers and Landscape Association (FNGLA) will dedicate the “Charles S. Buster and John C. DeMott Greenhouse” at the UF/IFAS Tropical Research and Education Center (TREC) in Homestead ... READ MORE

Category: Agribusiness, Conservation, Events, Horticulture, SFYL Hot Topic, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Research
Tags: Alpha Foliage, Carol DeMott, Charles S. Buster And John C. DeMott Greenhouse, Charles “Chuck” Buster, Chuck Buster, Commercial Horticulture, Edward "Gilly" Evans, Edward Evans, FNGLA, Horticultural Sciences, Horticulture Pioneers, Inc., Jackie Torres, Jeffrey DeMott, John DeMott, Margie Buster, Miami-Dade Chapter Of FNGLA, Miami-Dade County Chapter Of The Florida Nursery Growers And Landscape Association, News, Plant Science, Redland Nurser, Trailblazers, Tropical Research And Education Center, UF-IFAS, Vanilla, Xingbo Wu

UF researcher investigating ‘plant diamond’ as a carbon removal powerhouse

by Kirsten Romaguera Rabin
December 4, 2023

Three-year Energy Earthshot project awarded $1.7M from U.S. Department of Energy   What surrounds a single grain of pollen may be one of the world’s best, most indestructible carbon removal tools available to humankind. A University ... READ MORE

Category: Natural Resources, UF/IFAS Research
Tags: Carbon Removal, Carbon Sequestration, Matias Kirst, Plant Science, Pollen, Poplar, Roots, U.S. Department Of Energy

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