ASHS Meets in Chicago

Nathan Jahnke

The American Society for Horticultural Science (ASHS) hosted their annual conference in Chicago July 30 through August 3. Almost 1,000 people attended, including professors, extension agents, educators, students, industry professionals and international researchers. There were more than 400 oral presentations, 29 workshops and 12 horticultural tours that showcased the wide variety of horticulture Chicagoland has to offer.

Pictured: Two hundred industry academics and educators eating dinner at Ball during the American Society for Horticultural Science Conference.

This was the first full in-person meeting since the start of COVID and it reminded me of my first conferences as an undergraduate student. People were excited to be face-to-face with colleagues once again. This was also one of the first opportunities for many new assistant professors and graduate students who started during COVID to network and showcase their hard work in teaching, research and extension.

The closing event of ASHS was a tour of my employer, Ball Horticultural Company. Ball welcomed more than 200 attendees from the conference to see the one-of-a-kind Ball Premier Lab, global seed distribution center, state-of-the-art Ball Helix Innovation Center and, of course, the Ball Gardens. In her welcome to ASHS, Anna Ball focused on the opportunity ASHS and the industry have to bring up the next generation and the importance of collaboration. The phrase, “The future belongs to those who collaborate,” was heard loud and clear, and echoed the feel from the conference, which hosted the first collaboration center.

At the dinner, ASHS’s VP of Industry Dr. Brian Corr presented Anna Ball with the Industry Distinguished Achievement Award, voted on by ASHS members. This celebrates her many years and family legacy of promoting education, innovation in horticulture science and guidance of the horticultural industry.

The 2023 ASHS conference will be held in Orlando, Florida, July 31 through August 4. You can access the 2022 conference schedule, find recorded presentations and see how to become a member of ASHS at ashs.org. GT