The Ah-Ha Moment

April Ellis

April Ellis is a licensed clinical social worker and is employed at the geriatric psychiatric hospital located in the San Francisco Campus for Jewish Living in San Francisco. She received her bachelor degree in Recreation Administration from California Polytechnic State University and her masters in social work from San Francisco State University. She completed her horticultural therapy certificate through Horticultural Therapy Institute and became a registered HTR in March 2023. She provides horticultural therapy groups at the acute geriatric psychiatric hospital, she built the two therapeutic gardens there and she leads indoor HT groups on skilled nursing units through ElderGrow programs. She is an active member of the California Horticultural Therapy Network.  She owns 2 pet ducks, Theodora the explorah, and Bootsie

National HT week 2023, Irene & Erin

Come listen to a different type of podcast from Irene and Erin where we talk about National Horticultural Therapy Week, how we became HTs and our goals for 2023!  

Candice Shoemaker

Dr. Shoemaker earned B.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Floriculture from Michigan State University, and a M.S. in Horticultural Therapy from Kansas State University. Prior to returning to Kansas State University as a faculty member in 2001, Dr. Shoemaker completed a post-doctoral research fellowship at Virginia Tech University, held a teaching position in horticulture at Berry College in Rome, GA, and was the first Director of the School of the Chicago Botanic Garden.

In her teaching and research faculty appointment Dr. Shoemaker became internationally recognized for her expertise and leadership in horticultural therapy and human issues in horticulture. She developed and directed the award-winning online graduate certificate program in horticultural therapy and was one of the founders of the highly successful Master of Science program in urban food systems. Her research program focused on the physical and psychological health benefits of gardening, focusing on children and older adults, and the community benefits of urban agriculture.

Dr. Shoemaker also served as department head for the Department of Horticulture and Natural Resources from 2014 – 2018 and Special Assistant to the Dean, College of Agriculture from 2018 – 2022.  During her K-State career Dr. Shoemaker held leadership positions in several national and international organizations, including Board of Directors for the American Horticultural Therapy Association, Editorial Board of the Journal of Therapeutic Horticulture and Education Chair and Executive Chair of the International People Plant Council.

Dr. Shoemaker has been recognized with many awards including the Charles A. Lewis Excellence in Research Award, the American Horticultural Therapy Association Alice Burlingame Humanitarian Service Award and the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s Excellence in College and University Teaching National Award. She was elected a fellow of the American Society of Horticultural Science in 2020.

Her email is : cshoemak@ksu.edu

 

 

SEASON 4: Libba Shortridge

Libba Shortridge is a professionally registered horticultural therapist in Atlanta, GA. She recently retired from practice at Skyland Trail, a mental health facility for adults and adolescents where she wove together her fascination with the natural
world and her awe of human nature for 15 rewarding years. She graduated from the Horticultural Therapy Institute in 2009, and in 2017 was awarded the Rhea McCandliss Professional Service Award by the American Horticultural Therapy Association for her innovative programmatic development at Skyland Trail. Libba did not set out to be a horticultural therapist. After receiving her master’s degree in landscape architecture from the University of Georgia in 1987, she practiced for 21 years in the Atlanta area. It was her signature style of collaborative work and empowering others that ultimately led her to discover the field of horticultural therapy. A well rooted, sixth generation Atlantan, Libba attributes her parents and her up bringing for the momentum which propelled her into a lifelong embrace of nature, with positivity and ingenuity. She has received many awards, including Who’s Who in American Colleges and Universities, but the greatest award of all
was the Humanitarian Award at Skyland Trail, whose recipient is chosen by the clients and colleagues. Libba is currently busy addressing the need for horticultural therapy programming for dementia care in the Atlanta area, including the design of a ground-breaking rooftop garden project at Canterbury Court in collaboration with Dr. John Zeisel, founder at I’m Still Here & the Hearthstone Institute.

Rebecca Haller

Rebecca L. Haller, HTM directs the Horticultural Therapy Institute in Denver, Colorado, is affiliate faculty for Colorado State University, writes curricula, and teaches horticultural therapy classes at sites across the U.S. She wrote for and co-edited two major textbooks: Horticultural Therapy Methods: Connecting People and
Plants in Health Care, Human Services, and Therapeutic Programs and The Profession and Practice of Horticultural Therapy – both used extensively in the US and around the world. In HT practice, she developed a vocational HT program in 1981 (still in operation) for adults with developmental disabilities and provided HT and TH for a wide array of people through Denver Botanic Gardens. She has served as president and board member of AHTA and is active on work teams with a particular interest in education and professional development. She is passionate about the healing and therapeutic benefits of gardens and gardening.

Derrick Stowell

Derrick is a certified therapeutic recreation specialist and a professionally registered horticultural therapist. He is the Education and Horticultural Therapy Program Administrator for the University of Tennessee Gardens. Derrick is responsible for creating the University of Tennessee Gardens horticultural therapy program. He holds a BA in environmental studies and outdoor recreation from Maryville College and an MS in therapeutic recreation from the University of Tennessee. Derrick received his Ph.D. in plant, soil, and environmental sciences from the University of Tennessee. 

Leah Diehl

Elizabeth (Leah) Diehl, RLA, HTM is Director of Therapeutic Horticulture at Wilmot Botanical Gardens and Lecturer in Environmental Horticulture, both at the University of Florida (UF). She is a licensed landscape architect, a master gardener, and a professionally registered horticultural therapist. She manages and teaches an undergraduate certificate program in horticultural therapy at UF, conducts research projects, and runs therapeutic horticulture programming for diverse populations, where she coordinates clients, volunteers, and students. She has given lectures, workshops, and trainings on horticultural therapy, healing gardens, and related topics to many groups in the U.S. and abroad. Leah began her work in horticultural therapy in Chicago in 1993, where she started up a therapeutic and pre-vocational program for individuals with physical and developmental disabilities at Misericordia Home. 

26. Garron Dorr.

Garron just finished his Horticulture degree in April of 2022.  He is now finishing his horticultural therapy coursework at the Horticultural Therapy Institute in the fall.   He is a newcomer to our field and would love to connect with others sharing the similar viewpoint.  "This profession is all brand new to me but theres got to be someone out there, seeing things through my lens".  Garron comes from the hospitality industry and is currently interning at the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens.  

Leigh Anne Starling

Leigh Anne Starling is a registered horticultural therapist,
a certified rehabilitation counselor, and a licensed clinical
professional counselor. She received her B.S. in
Horticulture with a concentration in horticultural therapy
from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University,
her M.S. in Rehabilitation Counseling from San Francisco
State University, and completed a post-master’s clinical
counseling program at the University of Baltimore,
Maryland.
Leigh Anne has worked in the field of horticultural therapy
for over 30 years in therapeutic, rehabilitative, and
vocational programs serving individuals of all ages and
abilities. Leigh Anne has designed and implemented
several adaptive gardens for health care facilities. As a
professional therapist, she incorporates horticultural
therapy into her practice. She served on the AHTA Board
of Directors 2007-2021.

Markus Wullimann

Markus grew up in Switzerland surrounded by plants immersed in his family's greenhouse business and obtaining a degree in Horticulture from Zurich University. Markus brought that passion to the United States in 1994 where he worked for a wholesale grower an a plant breeder before he began his career at CooperRiis, Healing Farm, in 2003. Markus worked in different capacities for CooperRiis and is now running Horticultural Therapy sessions and is HT supervisor.