St. Croix County Extension welcomes Doering as new horticulture educator

Thanks to the funding commitments of St. Croix County and UW-Extension, St. Croix County Extension has been able to hire a part-time horticulture educator to provide educational programs for commercial growers and home gardeners.

Heidi Doering began her new assignment July 1st. She comes to this position with 25 years of experience. She’s worked in a number of positions from sales to greenhouse production over the years. From 2005-2009 she was a Product Manager for Syngenta Flowers. As Product Manager she managed product life cycles of several Syngenta-bred flowering annuals, biennials and flowering plants for the North American market with specific focus on product trials, new product introductions, marketing and sales support, technical growing support, and sales forecasting. She carries on with plant trial visits and evaluations in an effort to help gardeners navigate through the large number of annual plant varieties available to gardeners – finding those which will perform best for gardeners in Midwestern gardens.

Joan Sprain, Co-department Head and Family Living Educator, said, “We are so fortunate to be able to hire such an experienced and capable professional. She has the technical expertise plus familiarity with St. Croix and Pierce Counties. As a UW Extension Master Gardener for several years, she knows the horticulture community of the St. Croix Valley.”

Doering’s educational background includes a B.S. in Horticulture and Business Administration from UW-River Falls and an M.S. in Horticulture from Penn State. She will be primarily working with commercial growers but also those interested in starting a horticulture related business. She can be reached at the St. Croix County UW-Extension Office at 715-531-1930.