Mark has vast experience in the commercial sector of the agricultural industry as a former employee of Tanimura and Antle. He has shown dedicated service to Sakata Seed America as Farming Operations Coordinator. Mark has grown the AAS trials in Salinas since 2008. He joined the AAS as a Judge for the 2015 AAS Edible Trial.

Diane Anderson is a Research and Education Specialist at the University of Illinois and since 2002 the Grounds Supervisor of the 60-acre UI Arboretum. The Arboretum houses the Hartley Selections Garden where ornamental varieties are evaluated and AAS winners displayed. AAS trials were added to Diane’s evaluation program in 2012. Diane studied agronomic weed science at Southern Illinois University and after 14 years in Agronomy at the University of Illinois obtained an M.S. in Horticulture. She oversees 2 fulltime gardeners and 5 student interns in maintenance, new project development, and plant collection expansion. A recently completed ponds renovation included replacing invasive species with natives.

Alex grew up on a farm in Ontario with over 400 acres of vegetables, 15 acres of tomatoes, and a pollinator area of wildflowers; he’s been growing things ever since. Alex is currently the General Manager at West Coast Seeds where they are trialing flowers, herbs, vegetables, cover crops, sprouting seed and microgreens for their own business’ product offering. He enjoys helping customers learn how to grow annuals and perennials and is expanding their display and demonstration gardens to help customers visualize their options. He joins AAS as an Ornamental Seed Judge for the 2018 Trials.

Steve Bellavia is a senior product technician at Johnny’s Selected seeds.  He began his career with Johnny’s in 1993 as a call center representative and moved into the commercial sales department the following year. In 1997 Steve transitioned into the research department, where he has since conducted field work on nearly every vegetable crop offered by Johnny’s.  He is particularly passionate about peppers and Asian vegetables. Because a full week of field work on the job doesn’t satisfy all of Steve’s growing and cooking passions, he also takes pride in maintaining a large home garden to grow food for eating year-round.  Steve’s many years of mentorship from former Johnny’s AAS Judge Rob Johnston’s combined with his tenure in the vegetable trialing program makes him the natural choice to become the official vegetable Judge of the company.

Pam Bennett is an Associate Professor for Ohio State University Extension and is the State Master Gardener Volunteer Coordinator as well as Horticulture Educator and Director in Clark County Ohio. She has a BS in Landscape Horticulture and an MS in Human and Community Resource Development from Ohio State University. Pam specializes in herbaceous ornamental plant trials and evaluates more than 200 varieties of annuals and perennials yearly. She presents programs on annuals and perennials as well as other landscape topics. In 2010, Pam won a national award from the National Association of Agriculture Agents. She has been a Bedding Plant, Flower, and Cool Season Judge for All-America Selections since 2012. Starting in 2015 Pam became an Ornamental Seed Trial judge and she is a Herbaceous Perennial Trial judge.

Sherrie Benson is a member of the faculty of Agricultural, Life and Environmental Sciences at the University of Alberta where she manages the greenhouses and growth cabinets in coordination with teaching and research needs of ALES. She also prepares and maintains the plant material for undergraduate teaching labs. Sherrie ensures compliance with approved biosafety standards for work with plant pathogens, insects and transgenic plants. She attended the College of the Rockies in the Horticulture Technician Program. In 2012 Sherri was appointed as a Judge for All-America Selections. She is currently an Ornamental Seed Judge.

Solange received her diploma as a technologist in agro-environment and horticulture production in 2004. Solange has been working with Norseco for the past 7 years and recently took the position of seed buyer for the ornamental division. Solange is replacing long-time judge Lise Goudreau who is retiring after 30 years of managing this department . Solange assisted Lise with the 2017 trials and is looking forward to taking over AAS Ornamental Seed Trial in 2018.

Dr. Gene Blythe is on the faculty at Mississippi State University. He conducts research at the South Mississippi Branch Experiment Station in Poplarville, with research focused on variety trials, commercial nursery propagation methods and production of aromatic plants for extraction of essential oils to be tested as potential plant protectants and insect repellents. Gene was a propagator at Monrovia Nursery in California for over 20 years, including 10 years as Propagation Manager. Gene has graduate degrees in business and horticulture from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona and Auburn University. He has been an All-America Selections Trials Judge since 2010. He judges the Ornamental Seed, Ornamental Vegetative and Perennial Trials.

James has managed several garden centers throughout his career. He has been with Norseco since 2000 and has joined the All-America Selections council of judges for the 2015 trials as an Ornamental Vegetative judge.

Courtney obtained her doctorate in Plant Medicine from the University of Florida, where she worked in the university’s Plant Diagnostic Clinic helping to diagnose a wide range of issues, from fungal and viral infections to insect infestations and improper soil management.  She then became Trials Coordinator for the R&D Department at Four Star Greenhouse in Carleton, Michigan and taught Greenhouse Management at Owens Community College. Courtney is currently the Head Grower-Trial Manager at Sakata Seed America where she oversees the ornamental seed trials and manages the production of new floral material presented at the California Spring Trials.

Natalie has worked her way up the educational ladder by obtaining a bachelors and masters degree in Horticulture and a PhD in Horticulture and Crop Science. She has worked in greenhouses, done research on vegetable production systems, taught and wrote numerous publications on various horticultural topics. Natalie is an Assistant Professor of Residential and Consumer Horticulture and the University of Tennessee and a judge for the AAS Edible trial.

Teresa Beck Bunn earned her BS and MS in Genetics from the University of California, Davis. She has worked for Petoseed as a Summer Technician and the State of California as a Tomato Inspector. Her work experience also includes a Research Assistant and Plant Breeder for Harris Moran Seed Company and Seminis/Monsanto where she specialized in breeding tomatoes and peppers. She has been a Vegetable (now called Edible) Trial Judge for All-America Selections since 1992. In 2016 Teresa became an AAS Ornamental Seed Judge

Patty Buskirk is the managing partner for both Seeds by Design and Terra Organics located in Maxwell, California, where since 1994, she has overseen all the day-to-day administration, research, development, marketing and production activities. She attended CSU Chico as an Agronomy and Ag Business major. Immediately after college she worked at Northrup King in Gilroy, CA and then at NPI/Western Hybrid Seed in northern California. After being employed in the seed industry for over 30 years, she considers herself a “dinosaur” in the seed industry. She loves the everyday challenges and ever-changing world of seed production, research and trialing. In 2013 Patty was appointed as a Vegetable Judge for All-America Selections. She is currently a judge for the Edible Trial.

Brian Campbell is a production manager at West Coast Seeds. His current responsibilities include assessing seed quality and maintaining seed quality at commercial standards. He is the manager of the vegetable and flower trialing program at West Coast Seeds. Besides his work at West coast Seeds, Brian manages a commercial beekeeping operation at Blessed Bee Farm. The Edible Trials of 2016 mark the beginning of Brian’s trialing as an AAS Judge.

Dr Paul Cappiello is the Executive Director of Yew Dell Botanical Gardens. Besides his work at Yew Dell, he is an adjunct professor at the University of Kentucky, where he teaches horticulture classes. Dr. Cappiello belongs to several professional organizations and has received several honors and awards. He has authored a book and many publications. Paul joined the Council of AAS Judges by judging the first herbaceous perennial trial in 2016.

Kristi Challender graduated from Lansing Community College in 2006 with an Associate’s degree in Landscape Architecture. In 2001 she was hired at Raker’s in Litchfield, MI and has been involved with their trials since that time. She supervises the moisture management/feeding and pest/disease control during the summer. Kristi sows, transplants and cares for the AAS Trials where she oversees the crop from start to finish. Kristi is an AAS judge for the Cool Season Bedding Plant Trial and the Ornamental Vegetative Trial.

Chris Chechak has had various responsibilities at Stokes Seeds Ltd, Thorold, Ontario. She worked as an assistant to plant breeder, Dr. Kerr, specializing in sweet corn, tomatoes and peppers. After that Chris was responsible for design, maintenance and evaluations for the sweet corn, tomato and pepper field trials. Her current responsibilities include growing and maintaining all the trial farm vegetables and flowers and evaluating the vegetable trials. She received her BS in Agriculture, majoring in horticulture, from the University of Guelph. Chris has been an AAS Vegetable Judge since 2008. She is currently a Judge for the Edible Trial.

Bernadette Clark is the Trial Garden Manager at the JC Raulston Arboretum at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, NC. Her responsibilities at the Arboretum include sowing all seed entries and pot up vegetative material , configuring the layout of all entries in the trials, rating the entries weekly, compiling the data, and writing the winter and summer trial reports. She is also responsible for the exhibit of large display containers that are “Living Billboards” for local companies. Bernadette has been a Bedding Plant Judge since 2005, a Cool Season Judge since 2006, and a Flower Judge since 2011 for All-America Selections. Currently she is an Ornamental Seed Judge.

Jessica has been educated in landscape design and has a B.S. in Applied Plant Science. She gained experience working with the AAS trials as an intern at Walt Disney World. After her bachelor’s degree, Jessica worked in the retail garden center industry for eleven years. She was hired at the Milwaukee County Parks in 2010 and is currently responsible for the operations of the John & Hildegarde Voight Trial Garden. In 2015 Jessica joined the AAS Council of Judges as an Ornamental Seed judge.

Doug Cole is the President of D.S. Cole Growers and Chairman of New Hampshire Land and Community Investment Program. He is a member of America in Bloom and Past President of OFA. D.S. Cole is the first North American grower to be certified under Dutch standards to be a sustainable grower. In 2014 Doug joined the All-America Selections Council of Judges as an Ornamental Vegetative Judge.

Josh Cook has a passion for the horticulture industry. He graduated from Brigham Young University-Idaho in December of 2014 with a bachelor’s degree in production horticulture. While at BYU-Idaho, he designed and managed the universities’ horticulture trial garden and display area. Josh is currently at Pineae Greenhouses as a trial manager and assistant production manager. Since 2016, Josh is an AAS Ornamental Vegetative Trial judge for Pineae Greenhouses.

Aubrey Cooper is the Landscape Supervisor at the LSU Ag Center Botanic Gardens.  Her primary responsibilities are to evaluate the landscape, maintain it, and install new landscapes in the front gardens and Windrush Gardens.  She is also responsible for the upkeep of the Ornamental and Turf research area on the property.  She earned her Bachelors in Environmental Plant and Soil Systems in May of 2016 and has worked on the property since 2014.

Angelica is the Manager of the Trial Garden and Research and Development Department at Costa Farms since 2010. She oversees the trial grounds, evaluates and collects data. She earned her Master of Science Horticulture in 2009 from the University of Florida. Angelica is an Ornamental Seed Judge for All-America Selections.

David Czarnecki graduate from Texas A&M with a B.S. in horticulture then graduated from the University of Florida with a M.S. and Ph.D. from the Environmental Horticulture department.  His graduate degrees were in the field of plant breeding and genetics.  He studied native ornamental species and invasive ornamental species while in graduate school.  Upon graduation David was hired by Benary in 2011 and he works on breeding several species and his participation in greenhouse and field evaluations is ongoing.

Elizabeth Dahlheimer earned her Associates Degree in Horticulture from Longwood Gardens in 1998.  Elizabeth spent nearly 15 years planning, designing, installing and maintaining the trial garden at Green Leaf Plants as part of her duties as a New Products and Research Manager. She is currently a Research and Development Manager at Costa Farms where her responsibilities include their trial garden. Elizabeth joins All-America Selections as a judge for the 2016 inaugural Herbaceous Perennial Trial.

William Dam graduated from the University of Guelph with a degree in Horticulture and is the third generation owner of William Dam Seeds in Dundas, Ontario Canada. His company’s philosophy regarding the selling of good seed varieties is that “one must know them to sell them with confidence.” Bill has been instrumental in increasing the size of their trials from small family sized plots to over 1000 varieties of vegetables, herbs, and flowers encompassing five acres. He is also responsible for modernizing the farming methods used by the company. Bill has been a Vegetable (now call Edible) Trial Judge for All-America Selections since 2011.

Connie Dam-Byl is the Flower Seed Manager for William Dam Seeds in Dundas, Ontario Canada. She graduated from Sheridan College for Fashion Design and Production and later became accredited as a Floral Design Judge with the Garden Clubs of Ontario. Connie oversees the flower trials and designs the display beds for William Dam Seeds. She devotes a lot of her time speaking to garden clubs and horticulture societies about new seed varieties each season. Connie has been a Cool Season Judge for All-America Selections since 2011. She is currently a judge for the Ornamental Seed trial.

Venelin was born and raised in the town of Silistra in north-eastern  Bulgaria -South Eastern Europe. He earned his bachelor’s degree in agribusiness from Agricultural University Plovdiv (Bulgaria) in 1999. Venelin began his career in horticulture with Wyevale Transplants in UK during his summer brakes in college, internship at T & L Nursery in Woodinville, near Seattle and then working at Maryland Flower and Foliage as a green-house grower.  Before Joining Burpee in 2009, Venelin spent 9 years working for Mayer Seed International in Baltimore as a horticulturalist. At Burpee he has been involved in garden performance evaluation, and selection of the best flower colors and shapes for Burpee’s home gardening customers. He spends his free time in the garden, with his family, antique shopping and traveling.

Robert Durgy has been the Farm Supervisor for the CT Agricultural Experiment Station at the Griswold Research Center in Griswold, CT since 2008.  The farm is a field station for scientists to conduct experiments on agricultural, horticultural and forestry crops.  Previously Rob worked for 13 years for the University of Connecticut Cooperative Extension System, the last four managing the Plant Diagnostic Lab.  Research studies have concentrated on field corn and vegetable production including pest and weed management, soil fertility and organic production practices.

Rob has been assistant to the All-America Selections vegetable trials judge, first under Dr. Richard Ashley and now Dr. Jude Boucher, at the University of Connecticut since 1992.  He has taught the vegetable section of the UConn Master Gardener course since 2002.

Richard Durham earned a B.S. in Horticulture from the University of Kentucky and an M.S. and a Ph.D. in Horticulture from the University of Florida. He is currently an Extension Professor of Horticulture at the University of Kentucky where he teaches classes in Plant Identification and develops on-line plant related resource materials for K-12 teachers. His extension activities are centered on consumer horticulture and assisting in various county programming needs as well as coordinating the Kentucky Master Gardener Program. He is the former chair of the Consumer Horticulture National Committee and the past vice president of the American Society for Horticulture Science Extension Division. Richard has been a Flower and Cool Season Judge for All-America Selections since 2011. He is currently an Ornamental Seed and Perennial Judge.

Mark has been the Director of Horticulture at Rotary Botanical Gardens in Janesville, WI since 2000.  He directs the maintenance and improvement of this 20 acre botanical resource with a talented grounds staff and many dedicated volunteers. Mark has degrees in landscape architecture (University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana) and urban forestry (UW-Stevens Point).  Mark’s true passion is obtaining, growing, observing and photographing all types of plants. Mark joined the ranks of AAS Judges for the new Herbaceous Perennial trial in 2016.

Scott Evans is the Horticulture Program Coordinator for Nebraska Extension in Douglas-Sarpy Counties.  His primary role within Extension is leading the Master Gardener volunteers in the two county area.  Scott is passionate about plants and pollinators with his B.S. in Botany and Environmental Geology and Masters in Agriculture. Scott joined AAS in 2018 as a judge in the Ornamental Seed Trial, and an assistant in the Edible Trial.

Dennis Ferlito is currently the Facility Manager for Bejo Seeds, Inc in Geneva NY. He manages a 309 acre vegetable research and product development farm that conducts trials for breeding, market development, dealer training and promotion. He is involved in trial planning, implementation, growing and conducting trial evaluations for Breeders, Product and Market development. He has also worked closely with researchers at Cornell University. Growing vegetables has been a lifelong passion for Dennis. In 2014 Dennis became an AAS Vegetable Judge. He is currently a judge for the Edible Trial.

David Fiske is the Gardens Curator at Massachusetts Horticultural Society, since 2007. He manages all gardening and landscaping at this 36-acre facility. The grounds include 8,000 square feet of greenhouses, 15 acres of annual, perennial and vegetable gardens, 15 acres of lawns and hundreds of mature specimen trees and shrubs. Since 2001, David and his wife, Nancy, run Fiske Gardens which specializes in antique and heirloom plants. David has been a judge with All-America Selections since 2009.

Adam Flint has been with PanAmerican Seed since 2017 as a Research Facility Manager. In his role he oversees the PanAmerican Seed Research Facility located in Santa Paula, California. He works with a dedicated team, primarily focusing on ornamental plant breeding, seed milling, and marketing events. In his past Adam has worked as a Production Manager and Research and Development Grower. Adam has been an All-American Selections judge for Ornamental Seed since 2018.

Alex Gerace is the President and CEO of Welby Gardens in Denver, CO. This is a family owned business, which opened in 1948. The greenhouse has one million square feet of growing space and produces 70 million plants yearly. Al serves on the AAS Comparison Committee and judges all AAS Trials. His first year as an All-America Selection’s judge was 1994.

Leigh runs sales and marketing for F & B Farms and Nursery, a greenhouse grower for the independent market in the Pacific NW.  Industry wide she participates in the Oregon Association of Nurseries Research Committee, the Oregon Department of Agriculture Nursery Advisory Board, and is a director for the Hort Reseach Institute.  Leigh helped bring the International Trials Conference to Portland’s Farwest Show in 2015. She is passionate about research and innovation for our industry. At the greenhouse, she evaluates new plant introductions and in-house trials for product development and market suitability. Leigh joined AAS in 2018 as an Edible Trial judge.

Dr. David Graper has been a Professor of Horticulture at SDSU since 1990.  In 2006 he became Director of McCrory Gardens and the SD Arboretum, located on the campus of SDSU.  David is particularly excited about the new Education and Visitor Center at McCrory Gardens and how it has transformed the gardens into a year-round facility for education, outreach and the enjoyment of gardening and nature.

Dr. Graper earned his B.S. in Plant Science from the University of Wisconsin, River Falls (1983), his M.S. in Horticulture from Colorado State University (1985) and his Ph.D. in Horticulture from the University of Maryland (1990). Dave currently teaches several classes and areas of special interest are perennial flowers, greenhouse production and field cut flower production.  Dr. Graper was the state coordinator of the SD Master Gardener Program for about 10 years, and was on the SD Public Television “Garden Line” for 18 years.  He has been an AAS Judge since 2005.

Since 1986, Richard Hawke has been the Plant Evaluation Manager at the Chicago Botanic Garden. The Plant Evaluation Program is one of the largest and most diverse in the nation and received the Award for Program Excellence from the American Public Garden Association in 2008.

Richard has a horticulture degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is the author of Plant Evaluation Notes, a Chicago Botanic Garden publication reporting the results of evaluation trials. Richard is an instructor for the School of the Chicago Botanic Garden and in 2005, received the Perennial Plant Association’s Academic Award for teaching excellence. Richard is an author and contributing editor for Fine Gardening and writes for other horticulture publications.

In 2016 he joined the  AAS Council of Judges and is a Herbaceous Perennial Trial judge.

Doug has been in the horticultural industry since 1986. Educated as a plant breeder, he currently works as the Global Head of Breeding for Benary. He has a long history with All-America Selections as a judge, comparison committee member and chairman and has served on the AAS Board of Directors. He previously served as an AAS judge at both Waller and Goldsmith Seeds. Currently Doug is a judge for the Ornamental Seed trial.

Haldor Howard is an assistant professor of Horticulture at OSU, Oklahoma City. He is the recipient of the L.E. “Dean” Stringer Award for Teaching Excellence. Haldor was recognized with the Grower of the Year award by the Oklahoma Greenhouse Growers Association. He serves on the boards of directors of the Oklahoma Nursery and Landscape Association and the Oklahoma Horticulture Society. Haldor has been an AAS Judge since 2000.

Peggy Huff has been employed at Johnny’s Selected Seeds since1994 where she works as a Flower Research Assistant conducting the trials. Her job involves working with professional vendors and breeders selecting high quality flowers for their flower program and answering technical questions for commercial growers and home gardeners for their outbound and inbound call center. Peggy has been a Flower Judge for All-America Selections since 2011. She is currently a judge for the Ornamental Seed and Perennial Trials.

Paul James is a long-time vegetable gardener. He has personal experience from his grandparents’ farm to his own garden. In 1995 Paul launched Pay Dirt Productions and produced “Gardening by the Yard,” for HGTV. The show ran for 19 seasons. Paul hosted and produced several prestigious parades, cooking shows and garden festivals. After retiring from the production business, he returned to gardening basics at Southwood Landscape & Garden Center. Here Paul became an AAS Edible Trial Judge in 2016.

Paul has a BS in Chemistry, with undergraduate credits in botany, plant physiology and plant pathology.

Jim Jenkins is a Certified Nursery Professional who has been in the horticulture industry since 2010. He is a lab supervisor and teaches the annuals and perennials classes at the College of Western Idaho.  Jim joins All-America Selections as a judge for the 2016 Herbaceous Perennial Trial.

Tom Johns is the owner and president of Territorial Seed Company. He has served on the AAS Board of Directors for six years. Tom has been an AAS Vegetable (Edible) Trial Judge since 1995.

Denise Kelly has been with Smith Gardens since 2009 as Trials and Planning Manager.  In this role she is responsible for choosing genetics and coordinating production planning across four greenhouse facilities on the Pacific Coast. She manages the planning of over 4,700 line items and 32 brands. With her great knowledge of genetics and eye for what works for the consumer, Denise has been selected to sit on multiple Grower Councils for big-box retailers. She is an AAS Herbaceous Perennial judge since 2016.

Denise loves to cook as she believes culinary art and horticulture go hand in hand. She is also a rock climber, skier and wake boarder. Denise has been a volunteer with several nonprofit organizations helping to build houses and clean up wilderness areas. Her interests also include wood working, painting and mosaics. In 2015, Denise was one of GPN’s 40 under 40.

Dr. James Klett is Professor of Landscape Horticulture and an Extension Landscape Horticulturist for Colorado State University. He has been at CSU for over 30 years and teaches in the areas of herbaceous and woody plant materials and in nursery production and management. He works directly with the Green Industry of Colorado, especially the nursery, arboriculture, garden center and landscape contractor industries. His research deals with landscape plant evaluation and introduction water requirements of landscape plants, green roofs, and other culturally related concerns with landscape plants. Jim Klett has been a Flower Judge for All-America Selections since 1999. He is currently a judge for the Ornamental Seed and Perennial Trials.

Mark Konlock holds bachleors degrees in Civil Engineering from the University of Wisconsin – Madison as well as in Horticulture from the University of Wisconsin – River Falls.  He was a consulting engineer for 3.5 years before realizing engineering was not his passion so he returned to college to study horticulture. He served briefly as an Extension agent in Walworth County, Wisconsin; worked at a wholesale greenhouse; evaluated seed germination tests; labored on a fruit research farm; and created a yard waste recycling program in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, before taking his current position as Director of Horticulture at Green Bay Botanical Garden (GBBG) in 2005.  During his tenure, the garden has expanded by 7 acres and increased the plant collection by 1,571 taxa and almost 26,000 plants.  In recent years, the garden has expanded into horticultural science by becoming part of the northern Earth-Kind observational rose trial program and evaluated annual seed and vegetative crops for Ball Horticulture.  Mark has judged the Wisconsin Landscape Contractors Association awards and writes one of the Hot Plant features for Wisconsin Gardening magazine.

Biography coming soon…

Jenny Kuhn has spent the majority of her career at C. Raker & Sons in seed related areas. She has been involved as a seed operator, seed purchasing, marketing, sales, database management and program development. Jenny has worked in trials by evaluating and making varietal selections for Raker. Currently, she is a product specialist with an emphasis on seed propagated annuals. Items are included in their programs based on her observations of trials, work with breeding companies and customer feedback. Jenny has been a Bedding Plant and Flower Judge for All-America Selections since 2010. She is currently a judge for the Ornamental Seed Trial.

Keith Lewis is the Manager of the Food and Fiber research area at the Burden Museum and Botanical Gardens. His primary responsibilities are to plant, maintain, harvest and evaluate fruit and vegetable crops. Keith has been a Landscape Horticulturist since 1999. He is a member of various landscaping organizations and has earned his BS in 2001 from Louisiana State University. The year 2014 marks Keith’s first year as an Edible (Vegetable) Judge for All-America Selections.

Jessie Liebenguth has a BS in Horticulture from Iowa State University. Her experience includes working with annuals and evaluating trial materials at Reiman Gardens in Ames, Iowa. She has worked extensively trialing roses at Reiman Gardens, the botanic garden of Iowa State University. Their aim is to educate the public on new and exciting developments in the world of plant genetics by including new plants in their landscape design. Jessie has been a judge for All-America Selections since 2012. She is judge for the Ornamental Seed, Perennial and Edible trials.

Stephanie has been involved in both the fresh market and commercial side of edible crops throughout her life. Growing up on a small farm in rural mid-MI, where her family cultivated a large vegetable garden and maintained a small fruit orchard every year, Stephanie was very involved in the 4H program. Selling fresh market crops at several farmers markets enhanced her knowledge of variety performance, consumers’ needs, and crop scheduling. Stephanie graduated in May of 2017 with a bachelor of science degree in Horticulture from Michigan State University. She is a Research Technician for the breeding and research program at Pure Line Seeds in Washington State.

Daedre is the Annual Trial Garden Manager at Michigan State University. She instructs garden workshops and certification classes. Daedre earned her MS in Horticulture in 2012 and has an extensive background in Biology. She is currently a judge for the Ornamental Seed and Edible Trials for All-America Selections.

Sim McMurry is the Growing Director at Metrolina Greenhouses for more than 20 years. In 2010 Metrolina was awarded Greenhouse Grower’s “Grower of the Year” Award. At that time, Metrolina with its 134 acres of greenhouses ranked number 6 in the Top 100 Growers. Metrolina is located in Huntersville, NC. Sim started as an AAS Judge in 2007. He now judges Ornamental Seed, Edible and Ornamental Vegetative Trials.

Angus Mellish earned a BS in Plant Science from the Nova Scotia Agricultural College and an MS in Plant Breeding from the University of Saskatchewan. Since 2003 he has been responsible for the vegetable trial program at Vesey’s Seeds in Charlottetown PE, Canada. He is responsible for evaluating new varieties looking for those that are of superior quality. He has worked with flower horticulturists in evaluating and selecting ornamental varieties for the Vesey Catalog. Angus became an All-America Selections Judge for Vegetables in 2009 and a Bedding Plant, Flower and Cool Season Judge in 2011 He is currently a Judge for the Edible and Ornamental Seed Trials.

Penny received a BS and MS in Horticulture from Auburn University. She also interned at Callaway Gardens where she worked on the AAS Vegetable Trials. Penny started working as Trial Garden Coordinator for Young’s Plant Farm in 2012. She is an AAS Ornamental Seed and Ornamental Vegetative Judge.

Jeff grew up gardening with his family, and has been passionate about plants, agriculture, and food for as long as he can remember, getting his first job at age 15 working at a retail nursery. Jeff received his undergraduate degree in Plant Biotechnology from UC Davis and later completed his Master’s Degree in Plant Genetics there as well. ). Jeff has been working at Seminis Vegetable Seeds/Monsanto for 15 years, first developing molecular markers for Melon; and later (currently) leading the cantaloupe breeding program. He works to develop hybrid melon varieties for farmers all over the world. In his spare time, Jeff develops new varieties of dwarf tomatoes and sweet corn, focusing primarily on flavor and novel/attractive varieties for home gardeners.

Brian Minter is an author, radio host, professional speaker and an avid horticulturalist. He is a member of GWA and a syndicated columnist. He received his BA from the University of British Columbia and holds an Honorary Doctorate at the University of the Fraser Valley, where he is also their Chancellor. Brian is the recipient of the Order of Canada, one of Canada’s highest honors. He chaired and hosted two major conventions in Vancouver: GWA Symposium (2005) and International Association of Garden Center Congress (2008).

Along with his wife, Faye, they co-own Minter Country Garden Store. In 2014 Brian joined the All-America Selections family of Judges as a Judge for the Vegetative Trial.

Sarah Mitchell works for Green Leaf Plants®, a division of Aris Horticulture Inc. Currently she is New Product Development Manager, where she evaluates new varieties, works with breeders and breeding companies, manages the trial garden. She also works closely with marketing in the promotion of new varieties. As Greenhouse Operations Manager, Sarah also guides the Lancaster, Pennsylvania growing staff to produce more than 60 genera of garden plants.  Sarah joined the AAS Council of Judges in 2017 to judge the Herbaceous Perennial Trial.

James is an assistant director and curator of the University of Tennessee Gardens. He started working for UT as a student in 1992. He received his B.S. in horticulture in 1995 and in 1999, after receiving his M.S. in public horticulture. James joined the AAS Council of Judges for the 2015 trials and is a judge for the Ornamental Vegetative and Perennial Trials.

Barbara Park is part owner of GeoSeed Company and the Otis S. Twilley Seed Company, Inc. Her main responsibilities include managing the purchasing group, providing an informational interface between her customer service representatives and the seed suppliers, and choosing new vegetable product for Twilley. As part of the Twilley product choice, Barbara has spent the last ten years testing many of their new varieties or potential new varieties in her own home garden. Just for fun, each year she likes to challenge herself to grow one new thing she has never grown before.

George Park received his BS Economics at Davidson College & MA Economics at Duke University, with additional course work auditing Plant Physiology, Genetics, and Population Genetics, He spent many summers as a youth hoeing, weeding, planting, and rooting at the family business, Park Seed. George worked at Park Seed from 1976-1988 and became an AAS Flower trial judge, an assistant to an AAS Vegetable Judge, and Director of AAS. After three years as Partner and Managing Director at K. Sahin Zaden BV in The Netherlands, George returned home and started GeoSeed in 1993 and purchased Otis S. Twilley Seed Company, Inc. in 1994.

Todd Perkins is a breeder with over 25 years experience at Syngenta Flowers, formerly Goldsmith Seeds located in Gilroy, CA. His significant breeding accomplishments include AAS Flower Award Winners Cleome ‘Sparkler Blush,’ Zinnia ‘Magellan Coral,’ and Zinnia ‘Zowie!’ In 2010 Todd was awarded the prestigious All-America Selections Breeders’ Cup Award. Todd has been an AAS Judge since 2002 and serves on the AAS Comparison Committee.

Steven R. Poppe coordinates the environmental horticulture program at the West Central Research and Outreach Center (WCROC) in Morris, MN.  That program provides scientific evaluations of annual and herbaceous perennial flowers, small fruits, trees, shrubs, windbreaks and shelterbelts, hardy shrub roses, and turf, making it a perfect environment for the AAS Trials.

Steven got his start at WCROC by using his horticulture and landscape design degrees as a horticulture technician, research coordinator and scientist.  Over the years, he has been the recipient of many service awards in addition to the author or co-author of multiple articles for professional publications. Steven is an Ornamental Seed and Ornamental Vegetative Judge for All-America Selections.

John Porter recently began work as the Urban Agriculture Program Coordinator for Nebraska Extension and the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture in Omaha, Nebraska. His position includes both extension outreach and the development and teaching of a new 2-year Urban Agriculture degree program with the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture.  His position as assistant professor with NCTA also includes oversight of farm plots at the Omaha Home For Boys Cooper Memorial Farm for use in education, demonstration, and research programs.  His areas of expertise include vegetable and fruit production, plant propagation, small-scale market farming, and edible landscaping.  Previous to this position, he served nine years as the Ag and Natural Resources agent for West Virginia University in Charleston, WV, where he was the master gardener coordinator and developed innovative programming in the areas of urban agriculture and horticulture. He is an avid garden writer, which he shares on social media and online.  He was the popular weekly garden columnist for the Charleston Gazette-Mail newspaper in West Virginia before he moved to Nebraska. He has a BS degree in Botany/Biology from Marshall University and a MS degree in Horticulture from West Virginia University.

Rachel earned her  B.S. in Horticulture Production and Management from the University of Illinois and spent a summer as a Trial Garden Intern at Ball Horticultural Company. Upon graduation, she worked for a landscaping company and later a wholesale greenhouse before accepting her position as Grounds and Garden Production Manager at Ball. Rachel combines her background of annuals, landscaping and greenhouse operations to provide an elite trial ground for the company to use as a showcase for their products. Rachel is one of our ornamental seed judges.

Dr. Cary Rivard is an Assistant Professor and Fruit and Vegetable Extension Specialist in the Department of Horticulture, Forestry and Rec. Resources at Kansas State University in Olathe, Kansas. He earned a Doctor of Philosophy in Plant Pathology at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, NC where his research focused on the tomato. He has received numerous grants and has an extensive list of publications dealing with tomato grafting and disease management. Dr. Rivard is excited about the opportunities to provide support for local food networks and develop an applied research program that will help to promote local fruit and vegetable production.  In 2012 Dr. Rivard was appointed as an AAS Vegetable Judge for All-America Selections. He is currently a judge for the Edible Trial.

Rick Roen started his career in the seed business in the late Pleistocene era by founding Helix Corp. that specialized in a complete line of herb and gourmet vegetable packets for retail stores. In 1984 he started Lake Valley Seed which retailed a complete line of vegetable, herb and flower packets to independent and small chain garden centers across the US. Later Rick helped start Seeds by Design, Terra Organics and Renee’s Garden.

Currently he spends most of his time writing custom software for seed businesses and as a devoted gardener in a tough Montana zone 3 environment.

In May 2015, Pure Line Seeds started their first field trials geared specifically towards fresh market vegetables. This was done not only to allow PLS employees a chance to look at the vegetable varieties they carry but also to let customers see the products. The 2016 Showcase trials included 140 10 x 10 ft. plots with 19 different vegetables and over 120 different varieties. Kirsten Rosen is the manager of these field trials and an AAS Edible – Vegetable Judge.

Sharon graduated from the University of Minnesota-Waseca with an Applied Science degree in Landscape and Nursery Technology. She worked at Colorful Season Greenhouse in Alexandria, MN.  planting vegetable and flower seedlings, transplanting seedlings, filling orders, and doing landscape jobs at private residences.

Robin has experience in managing annual and perennial trials. She has a variety of experience with aquatic plants and ecological restoration. Robin has been with Kansas State University Research & Extension Center since 2007.

Vicky Rupley is the Executive Vice President at Harris Seeds, and has been with the company since 1994. Her journey in the seed industry began in 1985, and has been filled with many experiences at various horticulture companies including Harris Moran, Ball Seed Co. and Sluis & Groot America. Vicky received a BS at the University of Rhode Island and a Masters in Agricultural Education at UC Davis. Vicky has served as president of All-America Selections Board of Directors (2011-2012) and as an AAS judge since 2007.

Dr. John Ruter teaches classes in plant identification and environmental issues in horticulture and serves as Director of the University of Georgia Trial Gardens. He completed his Ph.D. in Horticultural Science at the University of Florida in 1989. His research and extension activities are focused on nursery crop production and plant breeding and selection for the southeastern United States. Dr. Ruter has published over 400 scientific and popular articles and has received various academic awards and honors. In 2014, Dr. Ruter became a Flower Judge for All-America Selections. He is currently an Ornamental Seed Judge.

Sam Schmitz is the Supervisor of Grounds Operations at Ball Horticultural Company since 2008. He oversees the day-to-day operations of the Gardens at Ball. His role is to monitor and care for the plants in the gardens. Sam received his bachelor and master degrees from UIUC. Sam is currently an AAS Edible Trial Judge.

Denise Schreiber is a Greenhouse Manager and horticulturist for Allegheny County Parks for over twenty two years. She supervises growing of approximately 300,000 plants in different greenhouse locations for the county parks system. These greenhouses produce the majority of the plants for over 12,000 acres of parkland. Denise designs the flower beds that embellish the landscape.

Besides supervising the greenhouses and plantings, Denise is a member of the Garden Writers Association and writes a monthly column, blogs and is the author of the book “Eat Your Roses.” Denise joined All-America Selections as a Bedding Plant and Flower Judge in 2014. She is currently a judge for the Ornamental Seed Trial.

Dan Schults is a Master of Landscape Architecture and a Certified Nursery Professional. He has been in the horticulture industry since 2006 and in horticulture education since 2012. He teaches a soil, plant ID class and an edible plants class at the College of Western Idaho. Dan joins All-America Selections as a judge for the 2016 Edible Trial.

• Noah studied at New York Botanical Garden Professional School of Horticulture in the Bronx, NY. After graduating he worked at Matterhorn Nursery for 17 years as head grower and procurer of annuals and perennials. While at Matterhorn he created a branded mixed annual and perennial program that was sold on QVC Network. In 2006 Noah was named winner of Grower Talks Magazine Young Grower of the Year award. In 2010 he joined Garden State Growers as Senior Director of Production and Head Grower. While there he led the Growing and Production Departments, growing crops in 37 acres of greenhouses and up to 150 acres of outdoor annual and perennial crops. He worked with numerous breeders to trial hundreds of new or experimental crops and in 2012 Assumed responsibility of procurement of all live goods and hard lines at GSG. In 2014, Noah joined Neal Mast Greenhouses/Mast Young Plants as Director of Growing in Grand Rapids MI. He oversees the Growing Department at four locations and leads the team of Senior Growers and Section Growers, and is responsible for remaining compliant with SCS Veriflora. He works closely with variety selection for finished and young plant programs, and is an active member of the Innovating (R&D) Department.

Jeremy Shafer is the coordinator of the horticulture research farms at the University of Illinois, Crop Sciences Department.  He has worked as an assistant for the AAS Edible (Vegetable) trial for eight years.  He grew and helped maintain various research trials. Jeremy has a BS in forest science and a MS in natural resources and environmental sciences from the University of Illinois. For several years, Jeremy has assisted with the instruction of a vegetable growing class at one of the research farms.  He has also been involved with the student sustainable research farm at the University since its inception.  Jeremy supervises the management of the eight acre vegetable farm. He is an AAS Edible Trial Judge since 2016.

Melissa Shepherd graduated from Ohio State University ATI in early 1989.  She moved to Florida and accepted a resident gardener’s position at Walt Disney World’s Hollywood Studios.  Melissa transferred to the WDW Nursery in late 1990 and became a working Foremen specializing in the production of hanging baskets and containers. Today some of Melissa’s responsibilities include specialty crop production as well as managing and maintaining the WDW Bedding Plant Trial Program.  She became an All-America Selections judge in 2006 for the Cool Season, Flower and Bedding Plant Trials. Melissa currently judges the Ornamental Seed and Perennial trials.

Jennifer Smock has worked at Missouri Botanical Garden for over 10 years.  After receiving an A.A. degree in Horticulture then a B.S degree in Agriculture Education from Northwest Missouri State, she began working at MoBot as the horticulturist in charge of the Victorian District, Herb Garden and elaborate bedding displays.  She then moved into the Annual Display Designer position in charge of designing and maintaining over 30,000 annuals.  Currently, she is the Supervisor of the Kemper Center for Home Gardening overseeing 5 horticulturists in charge of 23 demonstration gardens (designed to give homeowners ideas) and all of the Garden’s annual displays. Jennifer is a Herbaceous Perennial Trial Judge.

Dr. Richard G. Snyder has been a professor and extension vegetable specialist at Mississippi State University since 1988. His position involves research in field and greenhouse vegetables as well as assisting growers with production problems associated with field and greenhouse vegetable crops. He has been a vegetable Judge for All-America Selections since 1990.

Dr. Snyder earned his B.S. in Horticulture at the University of Connecticut, M.S. in Greenhouse Vegetables at Ohio State University, and Ph.D. in Vegetable Crops at Cornell University. He also served in a Post Doctoral research position at Purdue University before taking employment with Mississippi State University

In 1996 Jerry put up his first greenhouse so he could pursue his passion for growing quality annuals and perennials. In 2011 Nature’s Best Nursery, Lawn & Landscape opened for business. Today there are over 40 greenhouses on 18 acres that grow quality annuals, perennials, groundcovers and ornamental grasses. Jerry’s first trial year is 2015 and he is a judge for the Ornamental Vegetative and Ornamental Seed trials.

Lloyd Traven co-owns Peace Tree Farm with his wife, Candy, since 1979. Peace Tree Farm is the primary forcing company for the Philadelphia Flower Show. In 2005, Greenhouse Grower Magazine selected Peace Tree Farm as US Grower of the Year.

Because of his passion for growing quality plants with advanced technology and organic growing techniques, Lloyd’s friends call him a ‘mad scientist’ or ‘plant geek.’ Lloyd graduated summa cum laude from Delaware Valley College of Science & Agriculture, followed by graduate school at Cornell in Floriculture and Ornamental Horticulture. He has also worked on special projects for Ball Seed and Genesis Seed. In 2014 Lloyd joined the All-America Selections Council of Judges as a Ornamental Vegetative Judge.