BY JANE BLOODWORTH ROWE
COURTHOUSE — Ashton Holliday-Goulart brings a keen interest in native plants and a desire to work with home gardeners to her new position as the horticulture extension agent in Virginia Beach.
Holliday-Goulart, an associate extension agent for horticulture who started in Virginia Beach in July, replaces Andrea Davis, now a horticulture agent in Suffolk, according to Virginia Beach Agriculture Director David Trimmer.
Holliday-Goulart has a background in conservation, and she hopes to educate home gardeners about environmentally friendly landscaping.
“I want to educate people about the choices that they have,” Holliday-Goulart said, adding that gardeners and landscapers can have a positive impact on the environment through their choice of plants and methods.
“I want to create an awareness of sustainable horticulture within the urban environment,” Holliday-Goulart added.
Her job will include outreach and education programs, and she expects that she will be spending some time making public presentations.
She’ll also provide support for Virginia Beach Master Gardeners and work with other groups or individuals who seek her advice.
Working with volunteers and promoting conservation isn’t new to Holliday-Goullart. She holds a master’s degree in conservation and natural resources from Virginia Tech, and she worked with volunteers in a prior job as grassroots coordinator for the Elizabeth River Project, a nonprofit based in Norfolk.
That broad-based position included membership coordination, volunteer coordination and some landscaping, she said.
Holliday-Goulart also worked as a conservation field botanist for Atlanta Botanical Gardens, which includes the Southeastern Center for Conservation. The center focuses on preserving imperiled native species throughout the Southeast.
Holliday-Goulart worked at a branch office in Crestview, Florida, where she collected seeds from rare and endangered native plants to preserve them. She was really engaged in that mission, she said, and would like to do some seed collections here.
Holliday-Goulart, who now lives in Virginia Beach, grew up near Lewisburg, West Virginia, in a “semirural” area, and she loved the outdoors and plants.
“I’ve always had an interest in plants,” she said, “and in gardening and being in the woods. As a child, I would go off into the woods and study the plants.”
Holliday-Goulart was encouraged by her grandfather, who worked as a forester. When she decided to study horticulture in college, she learned that her other grandfather had a background in that area.
“So maybe it’s in my blood,” Holliday-Goulart said.
She added that she’s become more interested in both horticulture and conservation through her work.
“My love for plants grew when I worked in the field and started learning more about botanical conservation,” she said.
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