News

(CFANS) Bryant Jones believes in the power of community — and the power of plants. This enterprising plant science senior in the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences (CFANS) has done volumes of impressive work in horticultural science — and has supported and uplifted his community through personal social justice initiatives — all as an undergraduate.

(CFANS) Online classes. That phrase brings up an array of reactions from professors and students. Along with the rest of the world, CFANS had to face the challenges of online learning abruptly this past spring, and they continue to teach in an online format as a result of the pandemic. The Department of Horticultural Science saw this challenge as a chance to get creative.

(CFANS) From the vine to the glass — delicious wines from UMN Itasca grapes debut this season. Minnesota wine lovers, raise your glasses! This season, wines made from the University of Minnesota’s (UMN) newest cold-hardy wine grape, ‘Itasca,’ are available for the first time for consumers, with more options coming next year.

(CFANS) The story of how Big River Farms and the University of Minnesota are working together to improve soil health, pollinator habitat and landscape cover has a number of intriguing “plots” — all of them centered on cover crops and intended to make the science of environmentally-friendly farming accessible and beneficial to emerging farmers.

(CFANS) Adynn Stedillie had the opportunity of a lifetime — and one that will certainly shape her future. The first-year CFANS student, who is majoring in Plant Science with a track in horticulture and minoring in Food Systems and French, participated alongside seven other Minnesotans in the Global Youth Institute hosted by the World Food Prize Foundation.

When it comes to food, smell is almost as important as taste. It’s common to take a moment to smell a glass of wine, and there are whole sections of Target devoted to the scent of apples. It may come as no surprise that aroma is one of the factors considered when developing a new fruit variety—but did you know that aroma might also be related to other fruit qualities like texture?

Instead of spending their summers lounging by the lake or binging the latest hit show, undergraduate students from across the country arrive on the Saint Paul campus with a mission. Now, as they return home for the final years of their undergraduate programs, these students share the highlights of their summer research – the good, the tough, and the eye-opening.

When it rains, it pours.  For the first time in many years, we have two faculty leaving the department for different greenery. We say farewell to Brian Horgan and John Erwin as they begin new chapters of their careers. 

The Learning Garden for Horticultural Science comes into a new era with a new name.

Our 2020 Distinguished Alumni Award winner is Dr. John M. Dole. Dr. Dole will be presenting at the Kermit Olson Memorial Lecture on February 26th in Green Hall on the Saint Paul Campus. His lecture, “A Floral Journey – Discovering the Magic of Flowers” will discuss how flowering plants are the backbone of horticulture, to all of agriculture, and how the flowers they produce are integral to our society.