The Garden Club of America and the Royal Horticultural Society Interchange Fellowships
School: Undergraduate and master’s degrees, Fine Arts RHS Certificate in The Principles of Horticulture, Capel Manor College, Regents Park

The Garden Club of America Interchange Fellow

Moore will be completing a three-year Kew Diploma program this summer prior to embarking on the yearlong GCA fellowship program based at Longwood Gardens. As part of the Kew experience and supported by a Royal Horticultural Society bursary, Moore traveled to the US to experience ecological gardens. Time was spent at Mt. Cuba Center, Brooklyn Bridge Park, and the private garden of ecological garden designer Edwina von Gal in East Hampton. The impactful experiences in the US focused Moore's interest in applying for the GCA Interchange Fellowship. Moore hopes to broaden a personal understanding of US native plants and ecosystems, observe the management of the natural areas at Longwood, and gain further skills in high-level horticultural techniques. Moore aspires to be a leader in public horticulture, predominantly ecological horticulture.

The Garden Club of America and the Royal Horticultural Society Interchange Fellowships
School: Bachelor’s degree, Environmental Studies, Bates College, Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, Brooklyn Bridge Park

The Royal Horticultural Society Interchange Fellow

With experience at Massachusetts Audubon Society, The Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway Conservancy, the Bates College Carnegie Greenhouse, Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, and the Emerald Necklace Conservancy, Banks aspires to promote feelings of belonging, inclusivity, and curiosity within public gardens through design and programming. Banks had the formative opportunity to work in three different departments at the Arnold Arboretum where horticultural skills were sharpened, and knowledge of garden institution operations were broadened. As a curatorial assistant at Arnold Arboretum, Banks monitored plants in the living collection, assisted in database management, created curricula for Arboretum Young Scientists, and educated visitors through daily interactions and public presentations. He recently joined as a gardener at Brooklyn Bridge Park. During the 2023–24 GCA/RHS Interchange Fellowship year, Banks looks forward to learning more about a passion ignited while working at Arnold Arboretum: woody plants, their longevity, seasonal appeal, scientific significance, and grandeur. Banks is also excited to see how garden institutions in the UK are promoting culturally inclusive learning spaces for both visitors and gardeners.

The Garden Club of America and the Royal Horticultural Society Interchange Fellowships

Principles and Practices of Horticulture, Bournemouth University, Capel Manor College, Regent’s Park

Fry will be at Longwood Gardens for the 2022–23 GCA/RHS Interchange Fellowship year, looking forward to furthering a horticultural career which started in landscape design. A gardener and horticulturalist with a passion for plants and landscapes, Fry aspires to create natural, accessible urban spaces. Fry has experience in ornamental horticulture as a trainee gardener at The Honorable Society of Inner Temple in London and as an apprentice gardener at Victoria Park in the London borough of Tower Hamlets. Fry’s hobbies include botanical and aerial photography focusing on landscapes. An avid traveler, Fry is excited for this unique opportunity that will allow a return to the United States, where family lived for a period of time.

The Garden Club of America and the Royal Horticultural Society Interchange Fellowships

Following graduation from University of Kentucky, Zoeller participated in the horticulture apprenticeship program at Yew Dell Botanical Gardens in Louisville, Kentucky. While there, Zoeller assisted with plantings, bed preparation, bed creation, and propagation and collection of plant material from seeds and cuttings. In addition, Zoeller led plant walks on evergreen identification and taught workshops on horticulture terminology and plant evolution. Zoeller’s experience at Yew Dell fostered a growing interest in the intersection of plant collections and conservation in public gardens. During the 2022–23 GCA/RHS Interchange Fellowship year, Zoeller is excited to explore how British gardens have made these disciplines central to the work of their botanical institutions and to be immersed in the great gardening culture of the United Kingdom.

The Garden Club of America and the Royal Horticultural Society Interchange Fellowships
Grant Hughes is a graduate of Iowa State University with a bachelor’s degree in horticulture. Interested in horticulture from an early age, he received his Master Gardener Certification from Iowa State University when he was only 13 years old. He has had multiple internships, including at the Arnold Arboretum in Boston, Massachusetts, and Lauritzen Gardens in Omaha, Nebraska, which have given him a number of experiences and driven his interest in public gardens. He comes into this fellowship with passions for how horticulture impacts others, the usage of plants, and trees. He looks forward to his time in the UK where he will continue to learn about public gardens. Hughes plans to experience as much as he can to further his knowledge in ornamental horticulture, teaching, and highlighting the importance of these living museums.

The Garden Club of America and the Royal Horticultural Society Interchange Fellowships
Matthew Jackson will be at Longwood Gardens for the 2020 GCA Interchange Fellowship year. He began gardening as an enterprising teenager at age 14 with a list of private clients. He went on to earn a BSc in horticulture with plantsmanship from the University of Glasgow and an MSc in biodiversity and taxonomy at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. A lover of travel and adventure, Jackson enjoys visiting gardens and wild areas. He has spent time in Thailand learning to be a divemaster, in Singapore at the National Orchid Garden, and on a grueling expedition to Nepal, which resulted in a publication on remote Himalyan botany. He loves his work in horticulture and enjoys speaking about it. He looks forward to his fellowship at Longwood Gardens and his time in the United States. 

The Garden Club of America and the Royal Horticultural Society Interchange Fellowships
Grant Hughes is a graduate of Iowa State University with a bachelor’s degree in horticulture. Interested in horticulture from an early age, he received his Master Gardener Certification from Iowa State University when he was only 13 years old. He has had multiple internships, including at the Arnold Arboretum in Boston, Massachusetts, and Lauritzen Gardens in Omaha, Nebraska, which have given him a number of experiences and driven his interest in public gardens. He comes into this fellowship with passions for how horticulture impacts others, the usage of plants, and trees. He looks forward to his time in the UK where he will continue to learn about public gardens. Hughes plans to experience as much as he can to further his knowledge in ornamental horticulture, teaching, and highlighting the importance of these living museums.

The Garden Club of America and the Royal Horticultural Society Interchange Fellowships

The Royal Horticultural Society Interchange Fellow John Nix graduated this spring from North Carolina State University with a BS in horticultural science and plant biology. He has worked in the Mountain Crop Improvement Lab under Dr. Tom Ranney and has two independent projects in blueberry genetics, working with the Genomics Lab at NC State. His interest in horticulture began with the Future Farmers of America in high school, and includes plant breeding, tracing, and public horticulture. This summer he will have a specially designed internship at Longwood Gardens before his Interchange Fellowship begins. As the RHS Interchange Fellow, Nix plans to continue studying ornamental horticulture and to further develop his skills as a researcher, educator, and plantsman.

The Garden Club of America and the Royal Horticultural Society Interchange Fellowships

The Garden Club of America Interchange Fellow Kathryn Bray is going to Longwood Gardens for the 2019 GCA Interchange Fellowship year. In 2014 she received a BS with honors at Bournemouth University and since then her history of garden placements is impressive. It includes Sir Harold Hillier Gardens and the Cambridge University Botanic Gardens, where she earned a Level 4 Certi cate of High Education in Practical Horticulture and Plantsmanship. She is currently completing the rigorous Diploma in Horticulture Course at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, where she runs the Kew Mutual Improvement Society, a series of lectures she coordinates and introduces. Bray has a number of published articles and has strong public speaking and writing skills.

The Garden Club of America and the Royal Horticultural Society Interchange Fellowships

The Garden Club of America Interchange Fellow Henry McBeath will be at Longwood Gardens for the 2019 GCA Interchange Fellowship year. He decided to pursue horticulture seriously in 2016. McBeath was accepted by the MacRobert Trust and Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh, where he earned the Level 2 Certi cate in Practical Horticulture and the Level 2 Certi cate in Principles of Horticulture. He was a garden intern at Inverewe Garden where he took various plant identi cation tests and learned impressive skills such as mastery of heavy machinery and propagation in all its forms including from delicate cuttings.