美高梅故事

成长心态

无论生活把她安置在哪里，汉娜·伍顿总能找到自己的根

— by 萨德钢

汉娜Wooten aims to cultivate beautiful and sustainable landscapes across Central 佛罗里达. 但她的热情始于澳门美高梅网上赌场官网学院的一间科学教室.

Born and raised in Orlando, 汉娜 attended Bishop Moore Catholic High School. 汉娜 said she always excelled academically while in high school, but when she began classes at the University of Central 佛罗里达 in 2007, she was caught off guard.

“It took me by surprise to have to really try for the first time in my life,” said 汉娜. “社交干扰对我来说也是一个挑战. 我没考上大学 几个学期之后.”

Devastated, 汉娜 made it her mission to try and grab hold of her roots again. 她 决定去澳门美高梅网上赌场官网学院寻求第二次机会.

“I thought my entire future was crumbling, but in fact – it was just getting started,” 汉娜说.

汉娜 initially wanted to complete a political science degree and work as a political 官方的，但很快意识到这不是她的使命.

“Attending 美高梅, I quickly started enjoying school again because of the 班级规模适中，教授也很有魅力，”汉娜说. “每个人都在那里 一个理由——一个新的机会.”

In order to fulfill general requirements, 汉娜 needed to complete a science class. 她 decided to randomly enroll in a course titled neotropical biology, which introduces 向学生介绍新大陆热带生态系统的历史和生物学.

“我从没想过自己会成为一名科学家，”汉娜说. “但是关于这个 当然引起了我的注意.”

汉娜, sitting in her first college science class, eventually found her calling after 作为唯一一个回答有关树种问题的学生.

“The professor asked about tree species, and I was the only student raising my hand,” 汉娜说. “And that’s when I realized, not all families are weird plant families -这是我的! 作为一个家庭，我们一直有花园和交换植物 送礼物，这是我们的常态.”

从那一刻起，汉娜意识到植物是她的激情所在.

While enrolled at Valencia, 汉娜 earned opportunities to study abroad in Guyana 和印度.

 

Being able to travel and apply what I was learning, attracted me to work with plants 以官方身份，”汉娜说. 

In 2011, 汉娜 earned her associate in arts degree from Valencia and then applied to the University of 佛罗里达 (UF), to attend their local research center in Apopka.

“I was able to stay local the entire time and was even employed at 美高梅 for nearly three years, working in the biology lab and managing the greenhouse,” said 汉娜.

汉娜 thanks her Valencia professors for the opportunity and connections made.

汉娜 was later accepted into the UF program and continued to build relationships. 她 interned throughout her undergrad experience and said she brought some Valencia College ideas to UF such as ethnobotany, the study of how humans use plants.

In 2013, 汉娜 went on to finish her bachelor’s degree in landscape and nursery horticulture 辅修农业企业管理.

汉娜说 she wanted to expand her opportunities after graduation and eventually gained an opportunity with Sanibel-Captiva Conservation 基金会 where she lived 在萨尼贝尔岛研究佛罗里达西南海岸生态系统.

“I knew that I wanted to do something good, and I felt like plants were my way of 为世界做出更好的贡献，”汉娜说.

After working in Sanibel, 汉娜 was hired by a private industry start-up farm, developing 水培系统和营养保健品. Nutraceuticals are plant based medicines made from food or part of a food. 

Today, 汉娜 is an extension agent of commercial horticulture in Orange County for 佛罗里达大学食品与农业科学研究所.

To further her education, 汉娜 eventually completed her master’s degree from UF in agroecology with a minor in agricultural education and communication.

“我什么也没得到，”汉娜说. “I have knocked on many doors; I have failed, 但我一直在努力.”

As an extension agent, 汉娜 travels across the state serving as a “connector of research,” on a mission to educate the public about research revolving around horticulture. 她 also focuses her time promoting environmental stewardship by training the public about integrated pest management, and urban farming techniques, with an emphasis on 水培法.

As part of her job with UF, 汉娜 earned another study abroad trip to Italy to study 食品工业.

“My job is really to educate the public about what the current science says about 植物和食物，”汉娜说.

汉娜 has worked as an extension agent for seven years and continues to have an influential 达到在线.

她 has released many blog posts around the topic of horticulture such as “饥饿“植物!,” “与班级一起修剪草坪， “和”Foodscaping!”

汉娜也有一个 YouTube视频 with more than 600,000 views, in which she demonstrates how to grow hydroponic lettuce 在家里.

"Many students think they can’t have a career in what they love, but it is not always 追逐万能的美元，”汉娜说.

As part of her effort to give back to the community, 汉娜 worked with the Seminole County Jail to teach over 115 incarcerated women how to grow their own hydroponic 水果和蔬菜.

“What started as an inspiration in Valencia’s classroom and study abroad trips, has 现在在行业内产生了连锁反应，”汉娜说.

汉娜说 we must continue to look at how we process, distribute and waste food, especially since the plant industry is so impactful in our everyday lives.

“There are many things we can do to better educate ourselves,” 汉娜说. “这一切都 starts with our roots; I found my roots in a random science class at Valencia.”