The Graduate horticulture program at the University of Maine is available through the Department of Plant, Soil and Environmental Sciences. It is a multi-dimensional program that offers graduate students the opportunity to explore the many aspects of horticulture through course work, teaching, extension, and original research. Opportunities exist in a broad range of horticultural commodities such as: ornamental plant selection and evaluation, low-temperature tolerance, landscape plant production, blueberry physiology and hardiness, turfgrass management, potato tuberization and breeding, pomology, tissue culture, and weed management. Students are encouraged to participate in all aspects of the horticulture program and develop a well-rounded curriculum of study.
Students entering the Graduate horticulture program will be required to develop an original research project in one of the many facets of horticulture. In doing so, students will have access to extensive facilities such as the horticulture greenhouses, The Lyle E. Littlefield Ornamentals Trial Garden and Research Center, tissue culture and other lab equipment, as well as several other research facilities. Prospective students are encouraged to contact a faculty member directly for more information on individual research interests and potential courses of study.
Also, an extensive relationship exists with local, state, national, and international horticulture professionals, and as such, graduate students are encouraged to not only take advantage of these resources, but to also provide a conduit between the program and industry members. A listing of area professionals is provided and prospective students are encouraged to read about the many opportunities that exist in horticulture in Maine. Additional information concerning graduate studies in the Department of Plant, Soil, and Environmental Sciences may be obtained from Dr. Tsutomu Ohno (Graduate Coordinator) (ohno@maine.edu) Ms. Mary Fernandez (Student Academic Services Coordinator) (Mary_Fernandez@umit.maine.edu), or from the department website, (www.umaine.edu/pse).

Graduate Faculty

Stephanie Burnett, Ph.D. (University of Georgia, 2004), Associate Professor of Horticulture.

Renae E. Moran, Ph.D. (University of Arkansas, May 1996) Associate Professor. Variety evaluation and postharvest fruit quality.

David E. Yarborough, Ph.D. (Massachusetts, 1991), Professor of Horticulture. Blueberry and cranberry weed management, weed/crop ecology.