JEFF H. GILLMAN
Assistant Professor, Nursery Management Specialist
University of Minnesota, Department of Horticultural Sciences

I work as a horticulturist specializing in the production and care of ornamental plants. As a middle school and high school student I never considered horticulture as a career. In fact I hated watering plants, cutting grass, and all of the other yard jobs that my parents made me do. The truth is that I still hate yard jobs. Fortunately, yard jobs have very little do with my current career.

Up until I was in the 11th grade my fondest wish was to be a veterinarian. During the 11th grade, however, I happened to get a job working for an Entomologist (Someone who studies Insects) at a nearby college. This sparked my interest in the agricultural sciences and got me started on my eventual career. I attended Franklin and Marshall college in Pennsylvania (near where I was raised) where I majored in biology and then decided to continue on by going to graduate school. I went to graduate school at the University of Georgia where I studied Entomology and did research on chemicals in plants that are poisonous to insects. After receiving my masters in Entomology I decided that I was actually more interested in the plants that made the poisonous chemicals. Because of this I went on to study Horticulture for my Ph.D. For my Ph.D. I researched a group of ornamental plants called butterfly bushes. I looked at their interactions with insects as well as the best way to grow these plants for commercial production.

I am currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Horticultural Science at the University of Minnesota. I also have the specialized title "Nursery Management Specialist". This title means that most of my research deals with the production, care, and growth of ornamental plants such as roses, elms, and maples.

The wonderful thing about horticulture is that it is so varied. My research projects cover a variety of different areas from using natural chemicals to make plants more resistant to insects and diseases to finding the best elm tree to plant in a neighborhood. To do my job I get to be an ecologist, a chemist, a botanist, and even a commercial producer of plants. Wearing many hats and doing research in many areas makes my job constantly changing and fun. I could not imagine doing anything else with my life.

Besides my job I do have some other interests. I like to run and I also like to read. My favorite books are science fiction. I also enjoy football and am still faithful to the Philadelphia Eagles even though I haven't lived in Pennsylvania for a long time.