Join us on February 7, 2026, at The Terrace Event Center for the second annual George Longenecker Symposium—an event honoring the life and legacy of George Longenecker (1937–2023), a dedicated educator, plant lover, and driving force behind the creation of the West Virginia Botanic Garden. This year’s symposium will once again bring distinguished horticultural speakers to our region, adding fresh creativity and educational opportunities to the Garden and our community.

Registration for this event closes at noon on Monday, February 2nd.

Jenny Rose Carey

Jenny Rose Carey is a renowned horticulturist, educator, author, and lifelong hands-on gardener. Raised in the English countryside in a family of botanists and gardeners, she designed her first herb garden at sixteen and has carried that passion throughout her career. After moving to the Philadelphia region with her husband, she built a distinguished professional life in public horticulture, serving as Director of both the Ambler Arboretum of Temple University and the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society’s garden at Meadowbrook Farm.

With academic degrees in biology, horticulture, and education, Jenny Rose is known for her engaging, accessible teaching style and her commitment to inspiring gardeners of all levels. She has taught horticulture and landscape architecture at Temple University and the Barnes Foundation and has contributed her expertise to numerous horticultural boards and organizations locally, nationally, and internationally.

Today, she devotes her time to writing, lecturing, and tending her celebrated four-and-a-half-acre garden, Northview, where she has lived and gardened for more than 25 years. 

Learn more about Jenny on her website at jennyrosecarey.com.

Dr. David Davis

Dave Davis is a Morgantown native. After his freshman year at WVU, he obtained a summer job working at the WVU horticulture farm and fell in love with agriculture. The next semester he eagerly changed his major to Plant & Soil Sciences.

He earned the B. S. and M.S. degrees at WVU and then went on to manage two commercial apple and peach orchards, for eleven years, in both Virginia and West Virginia. He earned the Ph.D. in horticulture at Virginia Tech University and taught in their Agricultural Technology program from 1997-2006.

In 2009, Dave returned to Morgantown after accepting an offer to teach horticulture courses for the Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design at WVU. He is a Teaching Assistant Professor and teaches eight courses per year: Plant Propagation, Woody Plant Materials, Specialty Crops, Turf Grass Management, Landscape Management, Fruit & Vegetable Production, Vines to Wines and Barley to Beer.

Dave worked at the 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, maintaining their baseball and softball fields. In his spare time, Dave enjoys fly fishing in and around West Virginia and Montana.

Dr. Kristen Wickert

Dr. Kristen Wickert is an Appalachian botanist, plant pathologist, and naturalist whose work explores the relationships among plants, fungi, insects, and forest ecosystems. She holds degrees in forest biology from Penn State and a master’s and PhD in plant pathology from West Virginia University, where her research focused on fungal pathogens as biological controls for invasive species such as tree-of-heaven, a host of the spotted lanternfly.

Dr. Wickert has worked extensively in forest health and invasive species management, including statewide monitoring and outreach efforts with the West Virginia Department of Agriculture. A gifted educator and science communicator, she shares her knowledge through public talks, field programs, and her popular Instagram account, @KaydubsTheHikingScientist. She is also the author of The Plants of the Appalachian Trail: A Hiker’s Guide to 398 Species (2024).