Students are an integral part of the JMU EFG, and from the beginning we’ve had many creative self-driven students who have contributed to food forest design, biological illustrations, content development for the website, and education and outreach. Below are example products engineered and authored by students, but please continue to check back for more student-driven work.
→ Esmé Damico-Lassman (Biology) (project term: 2023-present). Esmé’s work merges her interests in botany and photography. She has been actively involved in a range of project activities, including growing plants from seed in the greenhouse, collating information and resources on plant guilds, documenting and photographing changes in plant phenology, and
developing a social media presence for the project.
→ Elena Finelli (Geographic Sciences) (project term: 2022-present). Elena’s work merges her interests in mapping and botany. She has been actively involved in a range of project activities, including growing plants from seed in the greenhouse, measuring and tracking tree growth, creating GIS maps, and developing plant cards that are featured on the “using plants from the EFG” page.
→ Madeline Bunting (Biology) (project term: 2021-22). Madeline conducted research on guilds and companion planting, which helped inform Stage 2 of the EFG (i.e. planting the understory). She also started work developing plant information sheets which detail the uses, life cycle, and propagation of plants in the EFG from seed and/or cuttings.
→ Lexi Klahn (Biology) (project term: 2021). Lexi’s work merged her interests in botany and art. Her paintings are featured on the homepage.
A number of other students have been involved in the project for shorter periods of time and we are grateful for their efforts!