Grand Haven MI – Every year, the trade publication Greenhouse Product News (GPN) announces a new class of 40 men and women, under the age of 40 in the horticulture industry, who refuse to conform to the average and instead, strive to keep moving the industry forward. Spring Meadow Nursery’s ornamental plant breeder Megan Mathey has joined the 2019 class of these outstanding professionals in horticulture.
Through continuous achievements in their personal and professional endeavors, this year’s 40 Under 40 class turned the heads of their horticulture industry peers, who in turn nominated them to the list. Megan’s unrelenting determination, ingenious innovation, and never-ending passion for the horticulture field admitted her into this year’s list without question.
From the GPN website, the honorees are described as, “. . .this year’s superstars who will be leading our industry into the future — and are in a class by themselves!”
Megan Mathey came to Grand Haven’s Spring Meadow Nursery in 2013 after completing her Masters of Science in Horticulture, Breeding and Genetics at Oregon State University. Her future was destined for success, spanning from working at her hometown nursery to her current occupation, where one of her very first introductions, Peppy Le Pom™ ornamental pomegranate received a 2019 Green Thumb Award by the Direct Gardening Association.
Of her many accomplishments, GPN recognizes some that display her trailblazing spirit as well. For one, Megan completed her Master’s degree research on phenotyping diverse strawberry germplasm for aid in marker-assisted breeding, and marker-trait association for red stele disease resistance. Another is at her position at Spring Meadow Nursery, where her research involves evaluating, breeding and researching a very large, unique group of germplasm consisting of more than 70 plant genera.
Megan’s advanced skills and dedication to her craft have been an important part of the development and management of a long term, sustainable breeding program for Spring Meadow; overseeing the work of two breeding assistants and managing the entire plant patent process to completion for all new ornamental shrub introductions for Spring Meadow’s international network of growers.
“I travel the world working with ornamental plant breeders, and Megan stacks up well against the best. I am amazed with her knowledge and skill set, which are as good, if not better than, a Ph. D of the same age,” says Tim Wood, Spring Meadow’s Product Development and Marketing Manager. “There couldn’t be a finer addition to the 2019 40 Under 40 class.” Honorees were recognized in GPN’s May issue at a special gathering at the 2019 Cultivate conference in Columbus, OH. For the complete GPN 40 Under 40 class of 2019, https://gpnmag.com/40-under-40-awards/.
