The North Carolina Botanical Garden (NCBG) is pleased to announce Dan Stern as its new director of horticulture. Dan is certainly no stranger to NCBG; he's worked in various roles at the Garden prior to managing of the American Public Gardens Association’s Plant Protection Program, a role he held since 2011.
While at the Association, Dan oversaw the Sentinel Plant Network, a program that engages public gardens in the early detection of serious pests and diseases. Dan also launched the Association’s Plant Heroes® youth program and developed other educational materials to engage the public about the importance of plants and forest health as well as the negative impact of invasive species.
Dan is the author of A Haven in the Heart of Chapel Hill, a book about Coker Arboretum, a UNC-Chapel Hill campus garden managed by NCBG. Dan served as the assistant curator and curator of the Arboretum for a decade before joining the American Public Gardens Association.
Dan holds a Master of Science degree in Public Horticulture from the Longwood Graduate Program at the University of Delaware where he also received the 2009 Louise Roselle Fellowship in Public Horticulture. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Biology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.