Graduate Assistantship
Graduate Assistantship Program At University of Florida
With Florida producing approximately 80% of the foliage grown in the United States and the University of Florida doing a very large portion of the nation’s research, it was a perfect match for the development of a graduate assistantship program. In 2010, NHF’s graduate assistantship program generated the level of funding needed for its first graduate-student project. NHF Board of Directors serves as an advisory committee and provides direction and supervision to each graduate student and faculty member involved.
In 2010, NHF’s graduate assistantship program generated the level of funding needed for its first graduate-student project. NHF’s Board of Directors serves as an advisory committee and provides direction and supervision to each graduate student and faculty member involved.
Current Graduate Student
Fangchen Liu,Ph.D. Student
Environmental Horticulture University of Florida
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Ms. Liu’s plan at the University of Florida has been designed to buildupon her strong foundation in biological sciences from the Universityof California, Davis, where she graduated with the highest honors anda GPA of 3.98. Now at the University of Florida, her education, throughseveral specialized courses, will support her research into the geneticengineering of horticultural crops. She maintains a 4.0 GPA and hasactively apply the concepts learned to her research on modifying flower coloration in petunias usingadvanced technologies.She began her PhD studies in horticultural genetics at the University of Florida in August 2023, withan anticipated graduation date in the fall of 2028. Over the next few years, her research will focus onadvancing plant biotechnology to enhance color variations in petunias without integration of transgene.This endeavor aims to explore the aesthetic and commercial potential of this popular ornamentalplant. The timeline set is designed to efficiently manage her research goals alongside her academicrequirements.Fangchen Liu,Ph.D. StudentEnvironmental HorticultureUniversity of Florida
After my qualifying exams wrapped up in mid-December 2020, I took a brief break to spend some time with family before hitting the ground running in the spring semester. After working almost entirely remotely for roughly 9 months, I was finally back in the lab doing hands-on work. I resumed collecting volatiles from my sweet violets, and started seed germination experiments. I was also serving as President of the Environmental Horticulture Graduate Student Association (EHGSA) for the second year in a row. I oversaw the production of 4,000+ coleus plants for EHGSA’s annual spring plant sale, which had been cancelled the previous year because of COVID. We completely overhauled the sale format to adhere to COVID safety guidelines, developing a pre-order option with contactless pickup and by-appointment-only greenhouse shopping, and set up websites for both options. The sale was a huge success—our 2021 sale profits were the highest in EHGSA’s history!
Over the summer, I worked on developing a method to analyze phenolic acids using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS-MS). This method was used not only in my own research with Viola, but also in some of my colleagues’ research on basil and petunia. Additionally, I performed LC-MS-MS analysis on ubiquinone in Arabidopsis for collaborative research with Dr. Gilles Basset’s lab in the Horticultural Sciences Department, which resulted in two publications in 2021.
During the fall semester, I found myself even busier! I welcomed a new undergraduate research assistant into our lab, and she has been a tremendous help with my research. In addition to my own research, I worked on two collaborative volatile projects, one with the Agronomy Department and the other with the Food Sciences Department. Then in December as the semester neared its end, I reached a different type of milestone: I turned 30!
When I think about what 2022 will hold, I am filled with excitement. I will finish up the last of my experiments, write my dissertation, and then…I’ll be done! After six years, my graduate school journey will finally come to a close. Post-graduation, I plan on working in some aspect of the horticultural industry. I am particularly interested in Florida’s cannabis industry, but will keep my options open.
I am so incredibly grateful for the National Horticulture Foundation and its support of my assistantship through both my master’s and my Ph.D. I have gained incredibly valuable experience, skills, knowledge, and connections because of this assistantship. It has opened so many doors and given me so many opportunities. It has completely changed my life, and I am deeply grateful.
Shea Keene was a Ph.D. student in the Environmental Horticulture Department at the University of Florida. She received her bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of South Florida. Originally planning on entering medical school, Shea followed a pre-medical track throughout her undergraduate career. During her final semester, however, she realized she was not happy in the medical field. She decided to scrap her medical school applications and instead applied for several horticultural internships, as she found a love for plants and gardening in preceding years.
Shea Keene,
Previous Graduate Student
