Linda Chalker-Scott:
CLASS OF 1974
Washington High SchoolClass of 1974
Tacoma, WA
SUNY at BuffaloClass of 1997
Buffalo, NY
Oregon State UniversityClass of 1978
Corvallis, OR
Iva Alice Mann Junior High SchoolClass of 1971
Tacoma, WA
Idlewild Elementary SchoolClass of 1968
Tacoma, WA
Linda's Story
Life
In 1974 I left Tacoma for Corvallis and Oregon State University, where I received my bachelorÂs and masterÂs training in marine biology. After my MS in 1981 I put the PhD on hold and took a position at Reed College in Portland, teaching general biology labs. Though the educational work was satisfying, I missed the research component and knew I needed to return to school for my PhD. So it was back to Oregon State, but this time in horticulture and a whole new set of organisms to study. After Jim and I both completed our PhDs in horticulture, we left for Buffalo, NY where I got my first academic position as a plant physiologist in the biology department at SUNY College at Buffalo.
After receiving tenure and promotion in 1995, I was contacted by a friend from graduate school who told me that the Center for Urban Horticulture at UW was seeking a faculty member in the area of landscape plant management. With my two colleagues with strengths in ecological restoration and invasion biology, I spent six years in a dynamic environmental horticulture program focusing on sustainable landscape management of human-altered environments. I ...Expand for more
also became a certified arborist to strengthen my understanding of urban forest management.
It was during this time that disaster struck; in May 2001 CUH was firebombed by ecoterrorists and we lost our entire facility. We were left without labs and were housed in construction trailers. Severely hampered by the lack of lab space, I spent an increasing amount of time giving seminars to professional groups and to gardening enthusiasts. So when the extension horticulture position in Puyallup was advertised in 2004 it seemed natural to shift careers one more (and hopefully last!) time. I've been doing a lot more writing in this position, and am the state editor for Master Gardener Magazine. In 2008 I'll have my first book published - The Informed Gardener - through UW Press. You can find my web page at TheInformedGardener dot-com, which has more information.
In addition to my husband Jim, who is an undergraduate advisor at UW, my family includes 18 year-old Charlotte, 13 year-old Jack, and cats Soot, Ash, Shenanigans and Calypso. We live in Seattle and I commute to Puyallup (against the flow so itÂs no big deal except for gas prices!).
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