Category: Professional Development

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 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 Extension, UF/IFAS CALS
Two images with a black gradient separating them; on the left are two Ph.D. students in Dr. Voiniciuc's lab working on the Botany Methods machinery; on the right is Dr. Voiniciuc inspecting the model.

Expanding Access to Lab Automation for Plant Science and Education

by Eva Sailly
March 2, 2026

In most molecular biology labs, progress still depends on highly manual workflows. From undergraduate students to senior postdoctoral fellows, a rese archer must carefully transfer microliter volumes of liquids by hand, often hundreds ... READ MORE

Category: Academics, Professional Development, UF/IFAS Research, UF/IFAS Teaching
Tags: Biofoundry, Biotechnology, BOTany Methods, Catalin Voiniciuc, Horticultural Sciences, Horticultural Sciences Department, Lab Automation, Moni Qiande, Ph.D Agronomy, Plant Physiology, Synbio, Voiniciuc Lab
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, Academics, Agribusiness, Agriculture, Crops, Farm Management, Horticulture, Pests & Disease, Professional Development, UF/IFAS Extension, 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 Extension, UF/IFAS CALS, Undergraduate
Cacao pods on tree.

Alumni Spotlight: Breeding Climate-Resilient Cacao for Mars

by Eva Sailly
October 15, 2025

Dr. Ashley DuVal, an alumna of UF/IFAS with a Ph.D. in Horticultural Sciences, has built a career devoted to ensuring that chocolate has a sustainable future. Now a Senior Scientist and cacao breeder with Mars Wrigley, Dr. DuVal works ... READ MORE

Category: Academics, Agribusiness, Agriculture, Crops, Forests, Horticulture, Professional Development, UF/IFAS Extension, UF/IFAS Extension, UF/IFAS Research, UF/IFAS Teaching, Work & Life
Tags: Agroforestry, Alumni, Alumni Feature, Cacao, Climate Resilience, Food Science, Horticultural Sciences, Mars, Plant Breeding, Sustainable Food Systems, Teaching
A green sign with the words "the Organic Gators" written in white. The sign is posted in a garden.

Undergraduate Student Spotlight: Alice Pekarsky

by Eva Sailly
September 15, 2025

Horticultural Sciences Undergraduate – Senior (Junior Graduating Early)    Alice, originally from Flagler Beach, Florida, is among the last to graduate from UF’s horticulture major. During her undergraduate studies, she gained ... READ MORE

Category: Academics, Agriculture, Professional Development, UF/IFAS Teaching
Tags: Horticultural Sciences, Organic, Student, Teaching, UF/IFAS CALS, UF/IFAS TREC, Undergraduate
View of the Teaching Farm space from above via drone.

Horticultural Sciences Teaching Farm: The Roots of Plant Sciences

by Shane Teachworth
August 22, 2025

Introduction UF’s Horticultural Sciences Teaching Farm hides a trove of opportunity.  A couple of functional buildings sit on a fenced-in lot divided into several small garden plots. It is across the street from Fifield Hall on the outskirts ... READ MORE

Category: Academics, Blog Community, Farm Management, Horticulture, Professional Development, UF/IFAS, Volunteer/Training
Tags: Dr. Saba, Dr. Zhao, Student Clubs, Teaching Farm, Zack Black
Nadia Mourad, PMCB Ph.D Candidate in Dr. Koch's Maize Greenhouse in white lab coat

Graduate Student Spotlight with Nadia Mourad: Advancing Maize Genetics

by Eva Sailly
June 29, 2025

It took one elective to pivot Nadia's initial pursuit of human health research into a Ph.D. candidate in the Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology Program. Nadia Mourad now works under the mentorship of Dr. Karen Koch, who was recently honored ... READ MORE

Category: Academics, Blog Community, Clubs & Volunteers, Curriculum, Professional Development, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Research, UF/IFAS Teaching, Volunteer/Training, Work & Life
Tags: Corn, De Sousa, Genetics, Horticultural Sciences, Karen Koch, Koch, Maize, Nadia Mourad, Plant Breeding, Plant Molecular And Cellular Biology, PMCB, Student, Teaching

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