Camborne college welcomes new plant and animal expert (From Falmouth Packet)

Camborne college welcomes new plant and animal expert

3:10pm Wednesday 31st October 2012 in News

A former antipodean Aquatic Biologist has joined the team at Duchy College Rosewarne and is getting set to share her wealth of expertise and experiences.

Jane Pickard, from Totnes, is the new programme manager for the BSc (Hons) Horticulture Degree at Rosewarne and also teaches Duchy College’s Sustainable Horticulture Diploma at Schumacher College in Dartington.

Her erstwhile career was as an aquatic biologist, where she spent 25 years living and working in Australia.

Prior to her employment with the college she was also the head gardener at the Sharpham Trust in Totnes, where she managed and maintained the estate.

Jane said: "I have studied both fresh water and salt water ecology. While in Australia I worked for Sydney Water on a number projects monitoring and recording ecological systems and the effects on the environment.

"However, I missed England and family too much so moved back almost three years ago. The Sharpham Trust was a beautiful place to work with extensive horticultural grounds and I’m now enjoying life at Duchy College.

"It’s been a busy start to the year – not just one course for Jane but several to manage. However, the students have already been benefiting from her expertise.

“I recently took the Dartington students to meet Martin Crawford to learn more about his agroforestry work.

"We all cycled to his research site and had a riveting tour. Students saw his nut trials and even got to try the super fruit Himalayan sea buckthorn berries.

"It’s more classroom based at Rosewarne but I’m enjoying working one-to-one with the students on their research projects, there are some great ideas.”

Andrew Counsell, head of Duchy College, added: "I am delighted to welcome Jane to the team, she has a diverse scientific background and I’m sure our students will learn lots from her fascinating skills and experiences."

For more information about the horticulture courses available at Duchy College Rosewarne please call 0845 60 50 455 or go to www.duchy.ac.uk.

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