The Florida Master Gardener Program will welcome a new statewide coordinator this April.
Wendy Wilber, a UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Extension Alachua County agent, will start her new position as statewide coordinator April 10. The Florida Master Gardener Program is a volunteer-driven program that focuses on gardening and giving back to the community.
As a UF/IFAS Extension Alachua County agent, Wilber writes a Q&A column for the Gainesville Sun and teaches Florida-Friendly Landscaping and sustainable home food production. She will receive $74,599 a year in her new position, where she said she will focus more on volunteer development.
“I think that our program is really good, but I would really like to see it go to the next level, and I have some fresh ideas that I think we could implement,” Wilber said.
Wilber said she wants to promote the UF/IFAS Master Gardener Program to highlight what the program does for the community.
“I think that our population in Florida is quite large … and that the people that live here often don’t understand how their landscaping choices can affect our environment,” Wilber said.
She said the master gardeners can help educate people about gardening and landscaping to make Florida more beautiful and protect the state’s natural resources.
Michael Dukes, a professor in the UF/IFAS Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, announced Wilber’s appointment to the position.
Dukes said Wilber is experienced with the program and will help the program branch out in new directions.
“She’s seen a lot of history, and she has lots of ideas for the future of the program,” he said.
[A version of this story ran on page 8 on 3/31/2015 under the headline “IFAS agent joins Master Gardeners”]
