David McKinney currently ferment as the Curator of Collections and Grounds at the Iowa Arboretum & Gardens . He has a substantial setting in horticulture outreach and education , including instruct horticulture to over 500 undergraduate scholar and 200 superior gardeners in a laboratory setting . His experience include being the coordinator of extensive repeated plant trial , managing demonstration garden , and currently managing a diverse plant life collection across 160 land . He has a rage for ecology with interest group in native perennial , tree diagram , and shrubs as well as their relationships with wildlife . David has earned three grade in gardening across diverse fields .
Highlights• Manages 140 + acres of native timber and prairie at the Iowa Arboretum & Gardens• Manages 40 acres of gardens as the Curator of the Iowa Arboretum• Managed landscapes across 80 acres as a Horticulture Specialist at the Denver Zoo• Over two years of intensive inquiry on annual in emergence chambers and greenhouses as part of alumna research• Coordinated garden with over 1500 variety of perennials while collecting phenology , development , and survival data• Coordinated extensive repeated trials as part of Colorado State University ’s Flower Trial Program
Experience
As part of his undergraduate studies , David McKinney spend over three years with the Colorado State University Flower Trial Program coordinating several gardens . This program developed strong plant identification skills , an extensive understanding of individual plant direction practices , and exposed him to the world of public education and outreach . David meticulously cared for over 1500 plant life varieties and was capable to communicate their attributes ( both positive and damaging ) to the public .
As part of his graduate grade , he learned how precisely controlling the acquire environment can make plants behave however a agriculturalist want . This included education and research in plant environmental stress physiology , light , temperature , and gasoline exchange to influence plant outgrowth in both growth chambers and in the nursery .
During his metre at the university , David drop 8 semesters teaching over 500 undergraduate students ’ basic horticulture , industrial plant propagation , plant designation , and gadfly / disease designation . He then worked for the Denver Zoological Foundation as a horticulture specialist , where he supervise landscapes across 80 acres of public garden and animal enclosures . As part of his experience , David began an intensive pest direction plan in the DZF tropical hothouse by hand rearing beneficial insect . This work , meld with undergraduate entomology coursework and a credential in Hymenoptera identification , take him to rigorously search pollinator , predatory insects , and vulgar horticulture pests .
David has since relocated to the Iowa Arboretum & Gardens where he now supervises the management of 20 + estate of touch on tall-grass prairie , 100 + acres of native hardwood woodland , and 40 acres of garden and arboretum .
Education
David earned three degrees from Colorado State University , two of which are Bachelors of Science and the third a Master of Science . His undergraduate degree are in Horticulture and Environmental Horticulture with concentrations in Floriculture and Nursery & Landscape Management respectively . This background give David a strong foundation in glasshouse , baby’s room , and landscape direction while spark a passion for plant identification , garden building , and ecologically cheer planting pattern .
He die on to earn a Master of Science degree in Horticulture with an stress in Controlled Environment Horticulture where he learned decisive intellection and research skill especially in the subject of plant physiology and environmental stress physiology . David ’s research focused on measure out growth reply of annual bedding plant to rarified carbon dioxide concentrations , as well as any photosynthetic acclimatization that may have come as a result of high atomic number 6 dioxide . He also intern for five eld as an tending to Colorado State University Horticulture Extension erudition skill in outreach , grownup didactics , and educational programme construction .
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