Illinois horticulture educator, naturalist leader retires after 30 years

Chronicle Media

For the past 30 years, Rhonda Ferree has been “making the world greener – one person and one yard at a time.” An open house is planned for Oct. 5 to celebrate Rhonda’s retirement from University of Illinois Extension. (Courtesy of U of I Extension)

As University of Illinois Extension horticulture educator Rhonda Ferree’s professional motto was “Making the world greener – one person and yard at a time.” After 30 years with Extension, she’s retiring effective Oct. 1.

In her early career, Ferree worked as a campus-based Extension specialist in horticulture and pesticide safety education. She helped coordinate and teach pesticide safety programs across Illinois. She also taught the University of Illinois houseplant class, receiving excellent rankings from her students.

In 1998, Ferree moved to the U of I Extension office in Fulton County where she served first as an Extension educator in horticulture and crops and later as county Extension director. She is especially proud of her collaborations that met local educational needs. She worked with Spoon River College to sponsor an annual Gardeners’ BIG Day that will celebrate their 20th event on April 13, 2019. Following three local West Nile Virus deaths in 2002, she worked with the Fulton County Health Department to Fight the Bite.

Ferree’s leadership continued in her position as associate regional director in the West Central Region from 2006-11, where she provided staff with the tools they needed to be successful. Her understanding of fiscal operations assisted unit and center staff during fiscally challenging times.

During Extension’s 2010 reorganization Ferree returned to her horticulture roots as Extension educator in horticulture for two Extension units, covering nine counties in central Illinois. Three years later, she focused her work in the Fulton-Mason-Peoria-Tazewell Unit.

Ferree’s recent work inspired local citizens to produce their own food and improve their home landscapes. Much of that was accomplished by growing a stronger local Master Gardener program where 169 volunteers reach more than 10,000 local residents annually as they “Help Others Learn to Grow” in local communities.

For the past 30 years, Rhonda Ferree has been “making the world greener – one person and one yard at a time.” An open house is planned for Oct. 5 to celebrate Rhonda’s retirement from University of Illinois Extension. (Courtesy of U of I Extension)

Additionally, she implemented a new local Master Naturalist program in 2012 and served as the first statewide Master Naturalist program coordinator in 2014 and 2015. In just two years, her team doubled the number of programs statewide to cover 75 of Illinois’ 102 counties.

“The most favorite part of my job was working with media and writing,” said Ferree. Her ILRiverHort Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and blog social media sites provided cutting-edge, science-based information that educated and interacted with local citizens where they lived and worked.

Throughout her career, Ferree was known as an early adopter of technology. In 2013, she used technology to successfully initiate a volunteer training delivery system that reached more people at locations closer to their homes.

This training model is now used statewide to train new volunteers from areas all over the state where Master Gardener training had not previously been available.

“Extension and horticulture changed a lot in the 30 years I’ve been here,” she said. “We used to focus mostly on how to grow beautiful plants. Today the priority is teaching people where their food comes from and how to sustainably and responsibly grow plants. We know more about invasive plants, use more native plants, and better understand interactions within natural ecosystems. This job allowed me to learn and teach this to people across Illinois. Mostly though, I just love sharing my passion and love for plants with others.”

“I look forward to watching our local Extension staff and volunteers grow and teach others all about plants after I leave,” Ferree said. County Extension director Earl Allen hopes to have a new horticulture educator in place in early 2019.

A retirement reception for Rhonda Ferree will be 3 to 5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 5, at the University of Illinois Extension office in Lewistown, 15411 N. IL 100 Highway. Everyone is welcome to join Ferree’s friends and family — she and her husband Mark have two sons, Derek and Tyler — to thank her for her years of service to Illinois communities and wish her well as she moves into the next phase of her life.

More information is available by calling the Extension office at 309-543-3308 or go online at web.extension.illinois.edu/fmpt.

Public reception

A retirement reception for Rhonda Ferree will be 3 to 5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 5, at the University of Illinois Extension office in Lewistown, 15411 N. IL 100 Highway. Everyone is welcome to join Ferree’s friends and family — she and her husband Mark have two sons, Derek and Tyler — to thank her for her years of service to Illinois communities and wish her well as she moves into the next phase of her life.

More information is available by calling the Extension office at 309-543-3308 or go online at web.extension.illinois.edu/fmpt.

 

 

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