Seed Your Future - A Discussion with Executive Director Jazmin Albarran

Seed Your Future’s mission is to promote horticulture and inspire people to pursue careers working with plants. In this episode of Plants, People, Science, Sam and Lara interview Jazmin Albarran, Executive Director of Seed Your Future, to discuss the movement, its progress with attracting students to plant science careers in the years since Seed Your Future’s start in 2013, and the plan of action going forward.

For more information on Seed Your Future check out their website at https://www.seedyourfuture.org/.

To contact Seed Your Future about mentoring or networking opportunities email info@seedyourfuture.org.

To connect with Jazmin Albarran email her at jalbarran@SeedYourFuture.org.

Learn more about the American Society for Horticultural Science (ASHS) at https://ashs.org/.
HortTechnology, HortScience and the Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science are all open-access and peer-reviewed journals, published by the American Society of Horticultural Science (ASHS). Find them at journals.ashs.org.

Consider becoming an ASHS member at https://ashs.org/page/Becomeamember!

You can also find the official webpage for Plants, People, Science at ashs.org/plantspeoplesciencepodcast, and we encourage you to send us feedback or suggestions at https://ashs.org/webinarpodcastsuggestion.

Podcast transcripts are available at https://plantspeoplescience.buzzsprout.com.

On LinkedIn find Sam Humphrey at linkedin.com/in/samson-humphrey. Curt Rom is at https://www.linkedin.com/in/curt-rom-611085134/. Lena Wilson is at https://www.linkedin.com/in/lena-wilson-2531a5141/.

Thank you for listening!

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Transcript

Sam Humphrey: 0:11

Welcome. This is Plants, people Science, where we talk about all things horticulture.

Lara Brindisi: 0:16

I'm Sam Humphrey and I'm Lara Brindisi. How's your week, Sam? A lot's happened this week.

Sam Humphrey: 0:22

Yesterday I got up at 3am and I spent all day with my wonderful coworkers planting my strawberries, and I was very worried about them last night, but I checked on them today and they are looking perky and not wilted at all, so I am very happy with that. How about?

Lara Brindisi: 0:40

you? Oh, I've been very busy packing. I have a big trip coming up. I am going to a few different countries actually, so hopefully I'll be able to continue recording this podcast. But if our guests don't hear from me in the next episode or so, it's because I won't have that good of internet access. But I'll be doing my best.

Sam Humphrey: 1:06

You can't leave them on that cliffhanger here. What countries are you thinking of going to?

Lara Brindisi: 1:11

I'm going to be going to the Federated States of Micronesia actually in Pompeii and then I'll be going to Taiwan for an internship. So I'm very, very excited about that.

Sam Humphrey: 1:22

All right, hold on. This sounds like so much fun, but how does this have to do with plants?

Lara Brindisi: 1:27

Yeah, oh, true, good question. Back to plants, people and science. It's actually all three of them. So what we're doing is a baseline survey for food security as it relates to climate change. So a lot of the work that I do is really based in food, and so we're just kind of collecting that baseline survey to get the information for a future project. And then in Taiwan I'm going to be doing an internship at the World Vegetable Center. But back to your plans. Why did you have to wake up at 3 am for a harvest? That's rough, and I think it's not something that people normally think of plant scientists as having to do sometimes.

Sam Humphrey: 2:11

I think that I find it a lot easier to work alone sometimes, because when I'm organizing other people and and trying to lead a group in person, sometimes it can be really difficult to get everyone to come in on the right time and keep everyone busy. I feel like I put a lot of pressure on myself, feeling like I don't want people to have to sit around for 10 minutes as they wait for one step to finish and another step to start, and so sometimes going and being alone and taking the initial data before we plant it's been really helpful for me, so I just got up early to take data. It was nice, though. I really enjoy going out there in the morning. I'm collecting my plants from the greenhouse, and so it's dark and it's cool and it's this like greenhouse full of strawberry plants and we have supplemental lighting, so it's like a pretty purple in there and it's very nice like calming vibe and like the world is quiet because it's 3am, so just very enjoyable overall.

Lara Brindisi: 3:27

Yeah, and at least it paid off right, Like your plants came out, like they were in pretty good shape, and I know what you mean with the supplemental lighting. And in my greenhouse at the university they have the high pressure sodium light, so it's that orange yellow glow and then when it's raining it looks really cool. Hopefully, you know, we have some greenhouse enthusiasts that know what we're talking about out there. Today we will be taking a little break from our normal routine of interviewing scientists who have published in the ASHS journals, and instead we will be interviewing Jasmine Albaron, who is the executive director of Seed your Future. For those of you who don't know, Seed your Future is a national movement that actually started through the American Society of Horticultural Science in concert with Longwood Gardens, and the aim of the organization is to make more young people aware that horticulture is a vital, viable and exciting career path.

Sam Humphrey: 4:23

A little background about our guest. Before she came to see your Future, Jasmine worked in mental health and youth development, so she's really passionate, and you can tell when we talk to her she's really passionate about helping students find their purpose. She also earned her bachelor's in psychology at Baylor University in Waco and right now she's getting an MBA, and she told us at the end of the podcast that by the time this episode comes out, she'll actually have taken her last class for her bachelor, for her master's degree. We're very proud of her for finishing that. So let's get started.

Lara Brindisi: 5:02

Okay, welcome. So today we have a very special guest, jasmine, would you like to introduce yourself?

Jazmin Albarran: 5:09

Hi everyone. My name is Jasmine Albron. I'm the Executive Director of Seed your Future and I've been here now a little bit over a year.

Lara Brindisi: 5:17

Can you tell us a little bit more about the Seed your Future and how it began?

Jazmin Albarran: 5:21

Yeah, so in 2013, during, actually, an ASHS conference, john Doe, mary Meyer, doug Needleman were discussing the industry, labor shortages and the decline of enrollment in plant science degrees and they said we can either keep talking about it or do something. So they took their idea to Mike Neff, which was still very basic, and they were trying to understand what this would actually become. And after further discussions with Mike, he brought in Longwood Gardens into the conversation to determine what would be the first steps for this entity, for this movement. Longwood Gardens brought in Ball into the work and then it just kind of snowballed from there and they decided as academia that one of the first things they needed to do was conduct research to really understand what are the needs of the industry.

Jazmin Albarran: 6:15

And there were three phases of research. The first phase was to talk to industry and understand well, what do they need from this entity, this organization or this movement? The second was talking to the public. So there was a telephone survey that was done across the country to understand well, what do people know about horticulture? Do they even know what that word means? What are their perceptions of the industry? And then the third phase, and we did focus groups with children so similar to understand from them. What do they know about plans, what do they know about career plans and how do they want to learn about that, so that research can be found on our website? And at that point, it still wasn't called Seed your Future and was solely led by volunteers. The first executive director was Susan Yoder, and she was hired in 2016. So Seed your Future and myself are here today because of the initiative taken by them, and they are our founders.

Sam Humphrey: 7:14

That's so cool that this actually came from discussions from the ASHS annual conference. How did you get involved with Seed your Future? When did you come into the picture picture and how did you find it?

Jazmin Albarran: 7:26

So by accident I've heard many people that say that and maybe not truly accident I had no idea this world existed but my predecessor, susan Yoder, invited me to interview for the position. She knew me from my first position and she knew that. I knew you know outreach and strategic thinking and youth development and workforce development, but I knew nothing about plants. So when she suggested I apply for this, I was like, are you sure you want me to do this? I'm a plant killer. I kill every little plant that I try my hardest, but it just does not work. Every little plant that I try my hardest but it just does not work. And she said listen, the industry will teach you about plants. You have that business acumen that this position needs to truly grow and to understand the needs and how to relate and connect with youth that we are trying to reach and teachers that we're trying to reach.

Jazmin Albarran: 8:21

So I think that speaks to the power of networking. She relooked in her network and see who might be a good fit. So you know, I think that speaks to the power of networking. Right, she relooked in her network and see who might be a good fit. So that's why I always encourage students to, no matter where they are. Work their hardest, go above and beyond network and stay in contact with people in your circle, and don't be afraid to reach out to professors and to people in the industry that one day might remember you and ask you to consider applying for a position.

Lara Brindisi: 8:50

Yeah, networking is always the golden word, if you will right. So what can students do to network, whether through Seed, your Future or through any other means?

Jazmin Albarran: 9:02

Yeah, well, I think one. You know LinkedIn is such a powerful tool. Go on LinkedIn and find one companies you're interested in working in. You can email their HR directly and say, hey, I'd love to set up an informational interview. Or you can even reach out to see your feature and say, hey, I would like to meet someone at X company. Do you know anyone there? And if we do or don't, we'll try to find somebody, because we know it can be intimidating. We know it's a lot of extra work trying to find those connections. So any way that Seed your Future can support students in finding their passion and that potential future employer, we'd love to help.

Sam Humphrey: 9:42

That's wonderful advice. I remember being a younger student I'm in my master's right now and I feel like I have built up my portfolio a little bit but I remember being a student that at one point I didn't have much on there and I didn't know how to start and I was building up my experiences. But would you give so for students like that, would you give different advice? Would you say those students should still reach out, or what are your thoughts there?

Jazmin Albarran: 10:15

Oh yeah, absolutely. It doesn't matter what age you're in, right, it just the knowledge. Your questions are going to be different based on where you are. So, yeah, always, always reach out, because you just again, those connections and those introductions go a very long way, so they shouldn't feel discouraged. No, not at all, not at all.

Lara Brindisi: 10:35

Is that for any age, students like high school, middle school, college, who should be reaching out to Seed your Future?

Jazmin Albarran: 10:42

Any student. I've had high school students reach out and say hey, I'm working on this science project. I need a specialist in X, y and Z. Can you find us someone? And I will send out an email to our volunteers and our network and say, hey, this student would like to talk to a professional in botany and drones and ag, whatever that might be, and they will help us find someone and then make that connection so the student can interview the professional.

Lara Brindisi: 11:09

Great. So then I'm hearing that not only students should reach out to you, but also potential mentors or industry or anyone with a potential opportunity for those students as well.

Jazmin Albarran: 11:20

Oh, absolutely Absolutely, Because the more that we know, the more that we can help facilitate some of those connections. And if someone is willing to be, you know, even just give, give some of their time to help provide guidance or direction to someone else, regardless of their age or their grade level, we definitely appreciate that support that support.

Sam Humphrey: 12:06

That sounds like a fantastic opportunity for so many different people. I mean, I imagine myself as a graduate student. I'm interested in mentoring younger students, and faculty who are much, much older are very passionate too. I see the full spectrum of the community being interested in this sort of thing. So how should these interested people reach out to you?

Jazmin Albarran: 12:25

They just need to email me directly and say hey, I heard that you either want to connect or be a part of that connector and we'll just have conversations. I'll get to know that person based on their need, like are they wanting to help in the mentoring side, what do they know, what are their specialties, what do they really enjoy talking about, and if it's someone that needs help saying you know where do you need the support, and then I can just help facilitate connections based that way.

Lara Brindisi: 12:54

Cool, and we will share that email in the show notes and at the end. But that also reminds me. So when I was a student, I felt like I did email a lot of people and I was really struggling to figure out what I wanted to do. I don't know, I probably switched my major a hundred times. I didn't grow up always knowing that I wanted to work with plants. I kind of came into that later and, jasmine, we've talked about this a bunch Something that we had talked about before is professors being more of an advocate or teachers being more of an advocate for students, really kind of bringing those ideas to attention. So what can educators do to really show students horticulture is a viable career path?

Jazmin Albarran: 13:40

Right, thank you, and that's a really great question because professors see hundreds of students a semester, right? So if those professors know about our career profile page, we have over 100 plus different careers within the industry. If a professor sent that link out to their students twice each semester so that they are aware and they're starting to look at well, what are the different career paths I might be interested in, will be so impactful. Right, like you said, for those students to know what are the diverse things and opportunities that I can do in the industry. But it's all knowledge, right? If you don't know it's there, you're not even going to be thinking about it. So professors can definitely help in reaching students and getting them to our website to learn about the different career opportunities available to them.

Sam Humphrey: 14:33

That's so valuable too, because I imagine, like an introductory horticulture class and the professor says here's this link, or maybe even just a normal agriculture class that's not specific to horticulture, or a biology class, they could still point people in this direction. Or maybe academic advisors I don't know who are the types of people you think are most valuable for pushing this information.

Jazmin Albarran: 14:58

Yeah, I think it's all of the above. I think it's professors, I think it's academic advisors, I think it's anyone in career development right, the more people that are aware of all these resources. When a student says you know, I like technology, I like psychology, well, you can find those functions within horticulture. There's horticulture therapy. How many students have no idea that they can do that, that they can help heal someone through nature, through plants? That's an incredible career that I know many students would love to do, but they just don't know it exists.

Lara Brindisi: 15:35

Yeah, I remember being really interested in psychology since a very young age and then kind of switching to science later. But then I didn't find out about horticultural therapy until I don't know, like my last semester of college share the link as well in the show notes of where people could find the career page. But I guess that takes us into our next segment of where you plan to go in the future with Seed your Future.

Jazmin Albarran: 16:09

So one thing that we are really trying to focus now is empowering the industry. You know, the last few years we focused on creating materials for teachers to share with students, professors to share with students and in my first year here at Teacher Future, a lot of industry professionals have said I want to connect with students or I want to do more, but I don't know how. I don't know where to get started. It's very overwhelming. There might be one person dedicated to that work. So that led me and several of our volunteers to create Green Career Week, which is really giving industry a meeting in a box so they can determine, based on their capacity, how they connect to students in their community. Right, we want to teach industry to build their own internal pipeline of future employees, and that's by the community knowing about your company and positions that you have.

Sam Humphrey: 17:08

That's fantastic. I really love that. You mentioned that more and more of these industry members are coming out and saying that they want to make education and make outreach a bigger part of their role, and so it sounds like there are a lot of people that are interested. And you're doing such good work and you're trying your hardest, but I wonder what sorts of challenges you face in this.

Jazmin Albarran: 17:38

Well, even with Green Career Week, it's hard for people to figure out. Can I really do this? So helping people understand, listen, take it one bite at a time, Do what you can. You don't have to do everything at one time. So with Green Career Week, we set it up as you can either set a field trip, so inviting schools to your site. You can go to the school or just participate on social media. Right, it's trying to figure out how do you not make it overwhelming for the industry to participate, to get involved and to take those first baby steps into figuring out how to make this work for themselves.

Sam Humphrey: 18:22

That's a really low bar too. It sounds very accessible that you also allow for that social media component.

Jazmin Albarran: 18:30

Right, because that's one thing everyone can do. You can make a post, you can send out a tweet. Right, it is still time consuming to put it together and find the images, but relative to the other two options, it's one that anyone literally could be able to participate and still feel part that you are adding your voice to our mission, to Green Career Week and to, most important, educating students about the different careers opportunities in the industry.

Lara Brindisi: 19:00

Let's say I'm a student. I hear this episode, I go on the career page and I say, wow, this looks incredibly interesting to me. And then I go home to my parents and they tell me you know, our ancestors were farmers. You're not farming or there's no money in this or plants. What are you possibly going to do with that? What do those students say back to their parents?

Jazmin Albarran: 19:27

Which is a question that we get all the time and that we hear students get all the time as well, and professors. So they've had to sit down with parents and help the parent understand that all those perceptions are not real. For one, the level of satisfaction in this industry does not compare to others. I have not met a nicer and happier supportive group of people in my entire career like I have in this industry. And think about it. You're working with these beautiful products, these beautiful plants, you're feeding people. That is a different level of satisfaction that you get.

Jazmin Albarran: 20:07

So that's one thing that I tell professors and students. Talk about that career fulfillment that you'll have. Two, stress the diversity. People think that horticulture and agriculture is just the farmer in overalls, the landscaper and the person cutting the grass All very important careers, but they don't even realize the amount of technology that there already is in ag or sustainability and you can be in horticulture but an admin in graphic design and HR right. There's so many things that you can do. So it takes education of the parent as well for them to understand this is a professional industry. There is career growth and you can make money.

Sam Humphrey: 20:52

Are there any other big misconceptions that you've seen within students or within parents? In this, anything you really want to mention that people need to keep in mind?

Jazmin Albarran: 21:03

I think those are the biggest ones. People think that you can't grow professionally Once you come into a position you're stuck there, or that the company itself isn't big enough. People don't realize how big ag and horticulture really is, especially that it's international. Everyone thinks that it's just. I don't think that public realizes how Well actually I know the public doesn't realize how complex this industry is. They don't realize how big the supply chain is. When someone looks at a plant they just see the plant and don't think twice about where it came from. Who was the breeder, how long did it take to breed the plant? Then you go to trials, then eventually you go to the showroom. That's years in the making and I feel like if the public knew that, there would be a lot more respect for this industry. Because people just see that plant and again don't realize how it got there. And you have to think about the inputs, the container, the transportation. There are so many components that if one of those isn't in place that plant is not getting to that final destination.

Lara Brindisi: 22:16

Right. So in terms of knowledge about the industry or respect for the industry, do you think there's a difference between different communities that we might see across America?

Jazmin Albarran: 22:27

I think people, especially now coming through the pandemic, have a better understanding of that emotional, physical impact to one's health through plants and nature. So I think that's there, but there still isn't that complete understanding of how complex this industry is because no one really knows, unless you're working in the industry. You don't know how long it's taking to grow them, how long it's taking to get it to the store or to you know the plant shop. So I think those in the industry know and then maybe like the their outer layers, that might have an idea. But across the country, the public themselves, they don't know how complex this industry is.

Lara Brindisi: 23:21

Right. So what do you think can be done to promote horticulture in diverse communities or the communities that are less exposed to some of these concepts?

Jazmin Albarran: 23:31

So I think it takes all of us right to finding those communities and finding those organizations that are already partnering in those communities, especially ones that are think of the ones that are focused in science or the outdoors or in nature. They're already connecting that community to a part of what we're doing and working with them. To now say well, you don't have to just enjoy the outdoors, you can work in the outdoors. And that's a messaging that I'm also wanting to work on for these coming years is that I've heard everyone saying be outdoors, enjoy nature. But it stops there. Even in our industry we're not saying and you can work with nature, and you can work with plants and flowers. So I'm trying to push everyone to add that sentence to their outreach, to their communications with the community, because most people don't realize you can have a wonderful career working with plants and flowers.

Sam Humphrey: 24:39

That's wonderful. And just a last question on diversity how has Seed your Future focused its efforts in a way that promotes the diversity of the students or the people that Seed your Future is targeting?

Jazmin Albarran: 24:56

here, taking me some time to figure out, and I thought it was going to be easier than what it is. It wasn't long within when I got here when I realized this is not a very diverse industry. I mean myself, being a person of color, I know people of color love plants and people of diverse backgrounds love plants. But again, if you don't see yourself in the space, you're not going to come. So I have struggled to find people of different backgrounds, of different ethnicities to start off as volunteers, because I can't go into a community if I don't have representation Right. So I have to start by building my own team that I can then work with and train and figure out how we can go into those communities and really be the voice. So I'm still in step one. I am still trying to find volunteers to help me with that messaging and hopefully eventually be able to get out and show how diverse these careers are and how they can be a part of this and then really making our industry diverse in many ways.

Lara Brindisi: 26:05

Yeah, and I'm sure it's also helpful. You know the more diversity that people see, so that's a step in the right direction, being a person of color yourself and being a really good role model, especially in charge of this organization. But you also mentioned how you really had no interest in horticulture before yourself, or maybe the interest was there but you hadn't really been involved with it. Has Seed your Future changed the way that you look at the industry?

Jazmin Albarran: 26:33

Oh, my goodness, I can't even begin to explain. So I always liked plants but, as I mentioned earlier, I couldn't ever keep anything alive. I think I just loved them too much and I was at overwater. I'm like you're a plant, surely you want more water right Now. I've learned to neglect, so I've learned that.

Jazmin Albarran: 26:51

But so I started in May and then my first conference was Cultivate, one of the biggest conferences in the industry in Ohio, and I went there and my mind was just blown Again. I was like that person in the public that had no idea what it took to get our plants into the shops or our food into the grocery stores. And now I can't walk anywhere, like anywhere, without looking at a plant and saying, oh, I wonder who bred it and was it bred for that particular color foliage, and who's watering these plants and who's feeding it and who's taking care of it. So I am forever changed in that respect of I see more than a plant now, and I want the public to get to that point as well, and I'm hoping to learn some tricks of the trade as well so that I can keep my plants alive. That's so beautiful.

Sam Humphrey: 27:42

I love the idea of you learning that, and I've heard it called curing plant blindness. Like you are no longer blind to the plants around you and I love that. You sort of had that journey alongside the rest of Seed your Future all the students, the dozens or hundreds of students that have benefited from Seed your Future it's just wonderful to think about. So is there anything else about Seed your Future? You think we should know anything we didn't cover?

Jazmin Albarran: 28:18

I want people to know that Seed your Future wants to be a hub of knowledge related to workforce development. Now I've heard many people that they found horticulture by accident or as a second career, and we want to help people. Students find their passion, find their purpose sooner, so your listeners already know about horticulture. So then we want to help them, you know, want to help connect them to companies and industry professionals any way that we can.

Lara Brindisi: 28:48

Right, and we talked about how you know professors, teachers, educators, students themselves, parents could be a more active role there. But what about the general public? What can people do to support your missing?

Jazmin Albarran: 29:02

maybe people who aren't educators, or parents or teachers, or yeah, well, everyone knows a student, everyone knows a teacher or two in their network, right? Everyone, literally can be an ambassador for Seed your Future. Once you learn about our resources, share it with those in your community, because, even though you don't know the person likes plants, share it anyways no-transcript.

Jazmin Albarran: 29:40

Was there a mentorship, like a specific mentorship sort of program that you have? No, it's just that informal connections that we make, Like if someone says hey, because when I talk to people I tell them I have a running list, would you mind if I ever contact you if a student needs or has questions within your profession, like I had someone reach out to me and say I want to talk to a pulmonologist. It's like all right, well, let's find you one. And Desmond Lane at Auburn said anytime you have someone that has questions about pomology, send them my way.

Sam Humphrey: 30:07

That's so cool. So you have a list that's organized based on like subtopic and based on industry or academia, yep.

Jazmin Albarran: 30:15

That is exactly how it is. I'll characterize it on is it? Are they a professor? And if they're a professor, what are they teaching? What are their passions, what can they speak on? And same industry, what are their positions, what are their favorite things? Because you really want to be something that they enjoy. So I'm always asking well, what do you want to talk about? Where's your passion? Where can you find yourself supporting outside of? Just what do you do? So I try to combine all of those into my running list and then when I have someone that tells me you know, technology is their thing, I'll plug them in with different, because technology is it's a nursery, it's an ag, it's in research, it's everywhere. So those tidbits help me make matches.

Sam Humphrey: 30:59

Oh, that's fantastic. Like if I if I was a professor, I assume, so I would send you my information and sort of asked to be put on your list or or to be put as an informal mentor, and then, every once in a while, I'd get an email from you. So it wouldn't, it sounds like it wouldn't be a huge workload on each individual.

Jazmin Albarran: 31:19

Right, right, and that's what we wanted to do. We wanted to be casual, we wanted to be fun, yeah. So when a student reaches out, or industry professional that wants to make a career change, whoever it might be that's looking for that conversation I'll think about who the best fit is. I'll put some feelers out there of three potential people that that person can speak with. I'll email them first and say hey, I have someone that is interested in wanting to learn more about X, y and Z. Do you have 30 minutes of your time to speak with this person? And they'll say yes or no. And the ones that say yes, I just follow up with the introduction email and then let them take it from there.

Lara Brindisi: 32:02

Cool. Feel free to sign me up as both a mentor and a mentee. Perfect Will do the Seed. Your Future website states that the next generation is losing touch with the plants around them. Do you see this reflected around you, and why do you think this is a problem?

Jazmin Albarran: 32:22

Yeah, I feel that people don't know where their food comes from anymore. Most people just think it's the grocery store. We all spend too much time on our phones and not enough time outside, which again the pandemic changed that a little bit, and so hopefully people that found that new love and connection with the outdoors, plants and flowers will continue. But for the most part there is a disconnect with nature which can be very healing. So hopefully again people will reconnect and those that haven't will find their way there.

Sam Humphrey: 32:59

That's wonderful, and this is probably very different when you look at it on a national scale. Right, us here in America might be losing a little bit of that connection to agriculture, but it's completely different in many other countries. Does Seed your Future, work internationally or have plans to?

Jazmin Albarran: 33:22

So I would love to. While we are an American-based movement, anyone in the world can use our resources. Our resources are online, so I tell people all the time, no matter where you are, go for it, look at our research, look at those career profiles. You can still get an understanding of what's out there and the companies that are working in this space. I would love to see Green Career Week become international Right, everyone around the world highlighting this wonderful industry and all the careers associated with it. So Green Career Week we are promoting it in the, in the US and also in Canada. So baby steps, but I think that promoting you know internationally as well will help us with diversity, will help people really learn about all of the careers, and that we want that diversity, and I think it's a great selling point. You know students to be able to tell a student you can travel the world through horticulture. I think we'd have a lot of takers.

Lara Brindisi: 34:22

Absolutely. I mean, that's one of the reasons that I found myself in horticulture, because you know why not pick a career where, if the plants that you're working on are from these beautiful tropical regions or you know, Europe or Asia, Africa, anywhere Sounds incredible? Yeah, anywhere.

Sam Humphrey: 34:41

Sounds incredible, yeah, and working with such amazing people too. At the ASHS conference this year, there were just so many people from different fields that I had never met before and fields that I maybe hadn't ever really thought hard about, and people with very different life experiences from me. So I, yeah, I'm excited to see how Seed your Future continues to develop, and I really hope that the international aspect can be brought out more in the future. Thank you for this important work that you've been doing for our field. I can't say that I've gotten very involved with being a mentor in the past, but after this conversation, I'm thinking I'll sign up and I'm just I'm really excited about this, thank you for sharing of professionals right, the next generation of employees.

Jazmin Albarran: 35:35

Seed your Future can't do it alone. We're happy to create the resources and we're happy to get things going, but it literally is going to take everyone in the industry, no matter where you are, to be a support to Seed your Future and the industry.

Sam Humphrey: 35:57

Remind us where we can find you or where we can contact Seed your Future we can find you or where we can contact Seed your Future.

Jazmin Albarran: 36:05

Yeah, Okay, so you can reach me at my email address, which is the letter J, my last name A-L-B-S-M-Boy-A-R-R-A-N. At SeedYourFutureorg. You can follow Seed your Future on our different socials. We're on Facebook, on Twitter and Instagram.

Lara Brindisi: 36:20

Yes, Jasmine. Thank you so much. If you would like more information about Seed your Future, you can go to seedyourfutureorg. For more information about career or internship opportunities, you can visit seedyourfutureorg slash careers or seedyourfutureorg slash internships.

Sam Humphrey: 36:40

And to contact Seed your Future for networking or mentoring opportunities. You can email info at seedyourfutureorg.

Lara Brindisi: 36:50

If you'd like more information about the American Society for Horticultural Science in general, you can go to ashsorg Sam. If people want to follow your work. What's the best?

Sam Humphrey: 37:02

way. You can find me on LinkedIn at Samson Humphrey Laren. What about?

Lara Brindisi: 37:06

you. You can follow me on Instagram, at ThePlantPhD, or on LinkedIn with the tag Lara.

Sam Humphrey: 37:11

Berdizi. This information will all be included in the show notes. So thanks for joining us. Stay tuned for our next podcast episode.

Lara Brindisi: 37:20

ASHS podcasts are made possible by member dues and volunteerism. Please go to ashsorg to learn more. If you are not already a member of ASHS, we invite you to join us. Ashs is a not-for-profit and your donations are tax deductible. This episode was hosted by Sam Humphrey and Lara Brindisi. Special thanks to our audio engineer, Alex Fraser, our research team, Lena Wilson and Andrew Komatz, our ASHS support team, Sarah Powell and Sally Murphy, and our musician, John Clark.