Growing a Future in Horticulture

Lauren Turner loves everything about plants.

Yes, she appreciates their beauty as well as the joy and serenity they often inspire.

But she also gets excited about identifying plants on regular walks across campus, observing their seasonal changes and seeking out the most familiar ones.

She has thrived as manager of a community garden near the Method Road greenhouses, making connections to minimize expenses for everything from building materials to compost while focused on producing broccoli, lettuce and more.    

Hands-on caring for plants is what Turner enjoys most of all — staying vigilant for signs of pests and determining how much water, sunlight or fertilizer each one needs. 

The December 2024 graduate has grown this passion for plants at NC State, which in turn has nurtured her while setting her on a career path.

“One of the biggest things I’ve learned is to be patient with myself and to open up,” Turner said. “I learned there are so many people here who will lift me up and help me. I’ve spent a lot of time in Williams Hall, and everyone there has become like family.”

The Exploratory Studies program attracted Turner to NC State. It helped her navigate campus life and consider academic majors despite most of her freshman experience taking place online because of COVID-19.

Her interest in plants began as a hobby the year before lockdown, when she and her father planted a garden by her home in Granite Falls, North Carolina, setting up beds and a small greenhouse to grow herbs and vegetables such as peppers and okra. During the darkest days of the pandemic, which prevented her South Caldwell High School class from enjoying a typical graduation, she mapped out a garden to grow cool-season crops on her own for the first time.    

As she considered a major early in her NC State career, a class with legendary Alumni Distinguished Professor of Crop Science Bob Patterson proved pivotal. He became a mentor to her, always asking thought-provoking questions to act as a guide and providing the utmost support through words of reassurance and affirmation.

Growing up, Turner had been a runner, a caregiver for her grandparents and someone who loved being outside, all of which helped teach her to pay strong attention to detail.  

Horticulture, which could bring together her passions for the outdoors, plants and people, soon made sense.

She decided to major in horticultural science with a concentration in production systems and entrepreneurship in horticulture. She values every class she has taken, from ornamental plant identification to floral design.

Turner spent the summer of 2023 as an intern with Orange County Extension, teaching elementary school-age 4-H campers about topics such as plant propagation and tree identification. She has done research related to phosphate fertilizer’s effects on water-use efficiency with Adjunct Professor Thomas Sinclair in his crop and soil science lab.  

Private support including an Extraordinary Opportunity Scholarship and the Fred D. Cochran Horticultural Scholarship has sustained her, along with friendships built through Grace Christian Life student group.

“I’ve worked during breaks, but because of scholarships, I’ve been able to pay more attention to my schoolwork and activities that have really led to my growth,” she said.

That has been an amazing blessing, having the support of someone I might never know. That’s something I’d like to do for someone else someday.

After graduation, Turner will spend a few months working in Assistant Professor Emmanuel Torres’ vegetable production lab. She also will teach a class on fruit and vegetable production to Agricultural Institute students in the Department of Horticultural Science, which she called “daunting yet exciting.”

She hasn’t narrowed down an exact career goal, although she is fascinated by plant physiology and how a diversity of plants can grow together in a small space. Graduate school likely will come next.

“I find so much joy and satisfaction working with plants,” Turner said. “I want to share that with other people. I want to keep learning about plants, and I want to share and apply my knowledge in whatever way I can to improve other people’s lives.”

FUN FACTS

 
Two of Lauren Turner’s favorite plants on campus are the Woodland crocus behind Holladay Hall and the Deodor cedar located near the Memorial Belltower at Henry Square. 
 
Turner collected and pressed leaves from NC State’s campus plants to illustrate the wide range of sizes and shapes to her 4-H summer campers last year. The students especially enjoyed learning about a species of catalpa tree located by NC State’s Brickyard. They loved its heart-shaped leaves, which were large enough to cover many of their faces.