By Holly Hooper
Michigan State University Extension is happy to share that Holly Hooper has joined the consumer horticulture team as an Extension educator. Hooper will help maintain the Veteran’s Therapy Garden in Paw Paw, Michigan, and work with Wrifton Graham, the southwest Extension Master Gardener coordinator, to support Extension Master Gardeners across southwest Michigan.
Originally from Richmond, Virginia, Hooper received a bachelor’s of science in biology at Virginia Commonwealth University in 2013, eventually moving to Michigan in 2016 to work at Michigan State University on the Integrated Crop Pollination project. She ultimately earned a master’s of science in entomology in 2019 working with former Michigan State University entomologist Matthew Grieshop investigating sanitation strategies for spotted wing Drosophila in fruit crops, as well as providing educational outreach to community gardeners of the Garden Project of the Greater Lansing Food Bank.
Hooper continued to develop and deliver science-based information for resilient food systems and landscapes since graduating from Michigan State. This has included work as the biological research director at the Kalamazoo Nature Center and the research program manager at the Kalamazoo Valley Community College at their demonstration farm, ValleyHub. This has allowed her to work on a wide range of applied topics such as supporting wildlife through native plant installations, managing invasive species, ecological surveying, plant propagation, insect pest scouting and non-chemical insect pest management.
Hooper has strong interests in gardening and community engagement, so she is excited to share her background in integrated pest management, biodiversity conservation and growing food with those across southwest Michigan.
While based out of the Van Buren County Extension Office, Hooper will also serve Berrien, Branch, Calhoun, Cass, Kalamazoo and St. Joseph counties.
This article was published by Michigan State University Extension. For more information, visit https://extension.msu.edu. To have a digest of information delivered straight to your email inbox, visit https://extension.msu.edu/newsletters. To contact an expert in your area, visit https://extension.msu.edu/experts, or call 888-MSUE4MI (888-678-3464).
Source : msu.edu