After a rigorous selection process, we are pleased to announce the talented professionals selected for the sixth cohort of our prestigious Fellows Program.
2023-2024 Cohort
Nathan Anderson
Nathan Anderson is the Landscape Arboretum Director at Winona State University in Minnesota. He focuses on translating the Arboretum’s mission of campus sustainability into practice, facilitating collaboration between facilities and academia, and promoting the stories of the Driftless Area’s unique geography within the Mississippi River valley. Anderson applies 25 years practicing landscape architecture to his current position, concentrating on native plant communities and sustainable land use practices. His design career has realized numerous award-winning landscapes and includes 12 years leading his own studio. He received his master’s of landscape architecture and bachelor of environmental design degrees from the University of Minnesota, and maintains licensure as a Minnesota Landscape Architect (PLA).
Edem Kojo Doe
Edem Kojo Doe is an award-winning horticulturist with a background in environmental sustainability from Accra, Ghana. He is the Head of the Parks and Gardens Unit, Office of the President, Republic of Ghana in Accra, where Doe leads a 70-person team to design, maintain, and sustain the environment. He is also committed to public service projects and is the Zonal Secretary of the South-Eastern Zone of Ghana Institute of Horticulturists. Doe holds a BSc in Environmental Health and Sanitation from the University of Education, Winneba, where Doe was part of the Kufuor Scholars Program. He is also an Alumnus of the School of Horticulture, Aburi Botanic Gardens.
Muluken Nega Kebede
Muluken Nega Kebede is a Founder and Managing Partner of ZANA Landscape Design and Construction Company, a pioneering professional landscaping company in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, since 2015. At ZANA, Kebede has worked as a lead landscaper, lead horticulturist, project manager, marketing and sales manager, in addition to being the CEO and growing the company while successfully doubling the revenue every year. He is also a co-founder and board chair of LEM KETEMA, Menged Le SEW, and several other environmental and social initiatives that help to engage and facilitate community empowerment and positive environmental impact. Kebede completed a business and entrepreneurship track at University of Nevada Reno in 2016 as part of the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders.
Abigail (Abby) Lorenz
Abigail (Abby) Lorenz joins the Fellows Program from Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, Illinois, as the Manager of Plant Records and Horticulture Programs, where she has focused on developing and maintaining the plant records database, educational programs, garden interpretation, and plant collections development. Her work led the zoo to Level II Arboretum accreditation in 2019 and a national accreditation for their herbaceous perennial hibiscus collection in 2020. Abby received her bachelor's degree in Horticulture from Virginia Tech and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Her love of creating spaces for wildlife stems from growing up on Maryland's Eastern Shore where she worked as a landscape designer focusing on shoreline restoration and residential design utilizing native plants.
Colin Skelly
Colin Skelly joins the 2023-24 Fellows cohort from Cornwall, England. He is currently a horticulturist and consultant working at Eagle’s Nest, the garden of the artist Patrick Heron, and with Pollinator Pathmaker, a garden artwork project by the artist Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg. Previous roles include Horticultural Development Manager at the Eden Project, Nursery Manager of a succulent specialist, and horticulturist on the tidal island of St. Michael’s Mount. He attained the Royal Horticultural Society’s Master of Horticulture (MHort) award in 2022 and has a particular interest in the intersection of horticulture with art and ecology, disrupting plant blindness and more than human perspectives. Before he discovered his passion for horticulture he gained a BA, MA, and PhD in history.
2022–2023 Cohort
Danny Cox
Danny Cox joins the Fellows Program from Naples Botanical Garden as the Senior Horticulture Manager where he supervises the display garden team. Cox actively serves on the Board of Directors of The International Waterlily and Water Gardening Society, specializes in water features management and aquatic plant care, and was featured in the 2019 fall issue of Better Homes and Gardens. Cox is a graduate of the Greater Naples Chamber of Commerce Associate Leadership Collier program and earned his bachelor’s degree in environmental studies from Florida Gulf Coast University.
Ryan Gott, Ph.D.
Ryan Gott, Ph.D., is an entomologist working as an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) specialist in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the medical Cannabis industry. Prior to this role he was the Associate Director of IPM at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in Pittsburgh. Gott is also an avid educator, having taught for over 11 years in settings from formal college classrooms to public science festivals. Gott is an enthusiastic advocate for sustainable landscaping and has a particular interest in Eastern North American native plants. He received his bachelor’s degree in biology from Purdue University and his doctoral degree in entomology from the University of Maryland.
Amanda Hannah
Amanda Hannah serves as Senior Gardener for the Seattle Parks Department at the Washington Park Arboretum in Seattle, Washington. She has more than 26 years of experience in the field of horticulture, including a yearlong professional internship as the Conservatory Intern with Longwood Gardens. Hannah graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in landscape design and construction and a concentration in public horticulture from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville.
Rama Lopez-Rivera
Rama Lopez-Rivera has more than 15 years’ experience in the field of horticulture working and training in public garden settings such as Ramster Garden, Windsor Great Park, Arnold Arboretum, and most recently as a horticultural consultant. He currently serves as International Branch Chairman on the RHS Rhododendron, Camellia and Magnolia Group Committee. Lopez-Rivera is in his final year of working toward a degree in horticulture with plantsmanship, with a focus on botanical collection management, at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, a program offered in partnership with Scotland’s Rural College and The University of Glasgow.
Anamari (Ana) Mena
Anamari (Ana) Mena has more than 16 years of experience in the planning and landscape architecture professions. Mena received her master’s degree in landscape architecture and a bachelor’s degree in wildlife, ecology, and conservation from the University of Florida. Mena has worked in both public and private sector settings and has achieved professional licensure as a Florida Landscape Architect (PLA) and earned certifications from the American Planning Association (AICP), and the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA). Most recently, Mena was an Experience Design and Development professional with Virgin Galactic. Prior to this role she spent five and half years at Walt Disney Imagineering at Walt Disney World in Orlando, FL.
Rae Vassar
Rae Vassar joins the 2022-23 Fellows program from the Landscapes and Gardens team at the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS), where she manages the design and construction of parks, playgrounds, and green stormwater infrastructure. Over the span of her career, Vassar has worked as a designer and project manager at landscape architecture firms in Philadelphia and Los Angeles; taught in the Department of Landscape Architecture at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona and at California State Prison, Los Angeles County; and organized people and programs in support of environmental policy at the city, state, and federal level. Vassar received her bachelor’s degree from New York University and her master’s of landscape architecture degree from the University of Virginia.
Meet the Director
Sharon Thompsonowak
Sharon comes to the position with a wealth of career development expertise. Most recently, she served as the Workforce Development Director for Rebuild, a mayoral initiative to invest millions of dollars into parks, recreation centers, and libraries across the city of Philadelphia. Prior to working for the city, she served as the Director of Career Development Services for Peirce College in Philadelphia, where she provided career guidance to students through one-on-one coaching, trainings, and courses. Thompsonowak earned her Doctor of Education from Vanderbilt University, and her Master of Arts in English from Temple University.