Read below about the editorial staff of the People Plant Council Newsletter as well as the managers of this site. They are here to make your connection to the PPC and all its members as beneficial as possible.
Candice Shoemaker, Ph.D, PPC Executive Chair
Dr. Candice Shoemaker grew up on a dairy farm and peach orchard near Grand Rapids, Mich. She graduated from Michigan State University with her B.S. in Floriculture in 1978, and then worked in production greenhouse businesses in Washington and Michigan for the next three years. She returned to school, earning a M.S. in Horticultural Therapy from Kansas State University in 1982 and a Ph.D. in Environmental Floriculture from Michigan State University in 1990. Prior to returning to Kansas State University as a faculty member in 2001, Shoemaker completed a post-doctoral research fellowship with Dr. Diane Relf at Virginia Tech University, had a teaching position in ornamental horticulture at Berry College in Rome, GA, and was the first Director of the School of the Chicago Botanic Garden. She is currently a Professor of Horticulture and Human Health with teaching and research responsibilities.
Dr. Shoemaker currently directs the graduate program in horticultural therapy which consists of campus-based M.S. and Ph.D. programs and an online graduate certificate program. Shoemaker is also involved in the Urban Food Systems specialization in our M.S. program. This novel program is in response to the increase in urban farms and interest in local foods.
Shoemaker’s research program investigates the physical and psychological health benefits of gardening, focusing on children and older adults. Furthermore, this research allows her to work with students and colleagues from across a wide range of disciplines, including kinesiology and human nutrition. She has successfully obtained over $1,500,000 in grant funding to support her research programs.
One of the rewards of Shoemaker’s leadership in research and education in human issues in horticulture and horticultural therapy is invitations to speak around the world, with recent visits to Taiwan, England and Korea. She serves as the Executive Chair of the People Plant Council, an association that promotes communication and research about people plant interactions. In this role she gets to work with people worldwide in planning the biennial International People Plant Symposium and facilitating the publication of the symposium proceedings. She is involved in the American Horticultural Therapy Association, having been a member of the Board of Directors, and currently serves on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Therapeutic Horticulture and chair of the Charles A. Lewis Research in Excellence Award committee.
Sin-Ae Park, Ph.D, PPC Executive Co-Chair
Dr. Sin-Ae Park is a faculty in the Department of Environment Health Science at Konkuk University, Seoul, South Korea. She graduated her M.S. in Horticultural Science from Konkuk University, Seoul and earned a Ph.D. in Horticultural Therapy from Kansas State University. Dr. Park completed the first post-doctoral research fellowship at Kansas State University and the second post-doctoral research fellowship at the Children’s Nutrition Research Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX. She is currently working for research and teaching responsibilities in human issues in horticulture and horticultural therapy. Dr. Park’s research investigates the therapeutic mechanisms of horticultural activity in physical and psychological aspects. Also, she develops research-based horticultural therapy programs and investigate its health benefits in various populations. Dr. Park is actively involving the International People Plant Symposium and she is serving as an Editor-in-Chief for the symposium proceedings. Also, she currently serves on the Editoral Board of the Journal of Therapeutic Horticulture published by the American Horticultural Therapy Association. In 2010 and 2014, she received the Charles, A. Lewis Research in Excellence Award from the American Horticultural Theapy Association. She is involved in the Korean Horticultural Therapy and Well-Being Association, having been a member of the Board of Directors and she is certified as the Korean Horticultural Therapist Level 1.
Chandalar Randall, M.S. candidate in Urban Food Systems
Chandalar Randall is a first year graduate student at Kansas State University pursuing a Master’s in Horticulture with an emphasis in Urban Food Systems. She was born in Anchorage, Alaska but was raised in a suburb of Houston, Texas. At a young age it was evident that she loved plants, so she studied at Brigham Young University Idaho and received a Bachelor’s in Horticulture with an emphasis in production. After graduation she worked with special needs kids at a high school in Idaho Falls, Idaho. She has recently returned to school to pursue her passion for all plants that are edible, and hopes to share this love with others.
Paula Suda, M.S. candidate in Urban Food Systems
Paula Suda is a second year graduate student at Kansas State University working on a Masters degree in Horticulture with a specialization in Urban Food Systems. Originally hailing from St. Louis, Missouri, Paula has lived in a number of cities around the Midwest before returning to graduate school at Kansas State. A registered Landscape Architect by training, Paula is looking at the connections between the built environment and public health using the local food system. Her thesis research focuses on identifying the determinants of fruit and vegetable consumption in a homeless and near-homeless population.