Erin Buchholz

Erin Buchholz is the Plant Health Specialist at the University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. Her day-to-day involves scouting the 1200-acre Arboretum campus and associated horticultural gardens, diagnosing and treating plant issues. Her range of expertise includes common diseases and pests, as well as climate, pollution, and soil quality. She confirmed and identified the initial jumping worm invasion in the Arboretum in 2018, and is now collaborating with other UMN researchers, including fellow Healthy Soil Collaborative members Brandon Miller, Kyungsoo Yoo, and Angela Gupta on projects to investigate potential controls aimed at the managed woodland and nursery levels.

Ironically, Buchholz grew up with a brown thumb and initially studied agricultural engineering. Her first experience successfully growing plants occurred on a three-month college internship growing potatoes in post-Soviet Russia. After that, she switched her major to horticulture and completed her BS from the University of Minnesota. Buchholz also has a Master’s degree in K-6 education, a certificate in horticultural therapy, and experience with ornamental landscaping. Her combined skill set in both plant science and teaching makes her ideally suited for work at the Arboretum, which seeks to connect people to nature. She has also collaborated with the UMN Extension to create best practice videos around jumping worm spread for the general public.

Some days, after scouring the Arboretum landscapes for plants in need, Buchholz gathers fallen wood to hand carve into spoons. These she sells at UMN workshops and craft fairs, contributing the money towards the Arboretum.

Erin Buchholz’s profile on Botanic Gardens Conservation International