Receiving the Metro Hort Professional Development Award has been a transformative milestone in my career. The education I’ve pursued with this support has not only allowed me to grow professionally but also to share knowledge directly with my community through bilingual naturalist walks, birding programs, and ecological stewardship initiatives. This year, I was honored to serve as a My Story speaker at Hortie Hoopla at the New York Botanical Garden and to co-lead the Nature and Resistance Naturalist Walk alongside the United Nations Indigenous Peoples Forum. These opportunities inspire me to continue blending cultural heritage, environmental education, and inclusivity in the green industry.

At Pratt’s Sustainable Design program, I learned to weave biodesign with my preexisting horticulture background. I’ve been growing wildflowers for pollinators and soil health, and using garden wood for various creations which is a new endeavor. I’m now exploring laser engraving home cut wood, merging ecology with craft and design. The first photo shows some of the flowers I’ve been growing and the second is a homemade wooden coaster. It’s been fun to merge art and horticulture and I look forward to exploring other repurposing techniques.

Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to take Kelly D. Norris’s New Naturalism Academy thanks to the Metrohort grant. The course was a deep dive into designing planting communities that feel truly “of a place” by densely layering plant structure, function, and form to create resilient, ecologically rich landscapes. I’ve applied these principles in my recent residential landscape designs while considering what makes an authentic sense of place in the urban spaces around us.

I used the grant to start a certificate program with The Native Plant Trust. So far it has been great. I’ve been able to take foundational courses on form, function, families, and ecology mixed with courses specific to soils, wildflowers, shrubs, and trees all focused on plants of the northeast. As someone who transitioned into horticulture it’s been so beneficial to take the knowledge from the field and learn the classroom side of it.

I want to grow to take the next level in my career in horticulture. I fell in love being outside looking at plants- turning nothing into the best looking garden and space.
Lawrence is using his professional grant funds to take courses at NYBG.

I applied the grant towards the cost of my Spring 2024 tuition at City College of New York, where I am pursuing a master’s degree in landscape architecture. For me, this degree is a continuation of my work in horticulture, providing me with the opportunity to integrate my enthusiasm for plants with design and engineering skills. Throughout school and especially after I graduate, I plan to apply these skills locally, positively contributing to ecologically informed landscape design and management in New York City.

A leader in the fields of sustainable horticulture and soil science, T brought innovation and fresh
ideas to some of the top institutions in the country. T was a national leader in the field of sustainable horticulture, and was the former director of horticulture at Battery Park City Parks Conservancy (BPCPC) in lower Manhattan. Fleisher brought this 37-acre oasis of parkland
on the Hudson River to the forefront as the only public garden space in New York City to be maintained completely organically. A 2008 Loeb Fellow at Harvard University, he was a frequent lecturer on sustainable practices. Everyone who was lucky enough to have known or worked with T will miss him deeply.

He is survived by his wife and colleague, Andrea Filippone, who formed F2 Environmental Design. The company was born out of their shared vision of combining modern classic design, in the European tradition, with ecologically sound scientific practice and principles. Andrea has partnered with Tim A. Craul, CPSSc to assist with current and future F2 Environmental Design clients.