“We need students who have a passion for plants and technology to look at horticulture as a career.” -Dr. Kim Williams, Kansas State University

On the third episode of the Get Up & Grow Podcast we are excited to be joined by Dr. Kim Williams of Kansas State University. Kim is a professor of Greenhouse Management who grew up as a self-declared "hybrid-farm kid," on her grandparents farm in Great Bend, Kansas. She has extensive knowledge on greenhouse and controlled environment horticulture with hydroponics and other growth mediums. She joined us today to discuss a program that her university has begun implementing in local high schools called "Plant Science with a Purpose: Storylines." This program helps teach high school students about some interesting phenomena that can occur during plant growth under various conditions. Some of the phenomena include red lettuce anthocyanin production under different LED light spectrums. The hopes of this program are to get children interested in growing and pursue horticulture as a career after graduation. With the increasing lack of interest in horticulture as a career these students need all the encouragement they can get.

We discuss some of the following:
• How she first became interested in horticulture and then became a teacher.
• The current types of horticulture careers that are available.
• Strategies for teaching young people about horticulture.
• How light can play a role in anthocyanin production.
• How important sustainability is and how it can be integrated into farms of the future.
• How creating a perfectly controlled environment can have unintended consequences.
• How kids not in the program can get started growing on their own at home.
• The book she helped co-author "Water, Root Media, and Nutrient Management for Greenhouse Crops."

Please check out the following links to what we discussed on the podcast today:

Storylines that use LED lights are available at: https://hnr.k-state.edu/horticulture-storylines/ 

K-State Horticulture resources to get started with gardening: https://hnr.k-state.edu/extension/consumer-horticulture/

Water, Root Media, and Nutrient Management for Greenhouse Crops book: https://anrcatalog.ucanr.edu/Details.aspx?itemNo=3551

This Podcast is dedicated to growers like you so we appreciate your feedback so we can provide the best experience possible for the grower community. 

Now Get Up & Grow! 

Taylor S.

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