Gardening and 4-H specialists join Extension office

Two new team members have joined Douglas County Office of the University of Nevada, Reno Extension.

Horticulture Outreach Coordinator Jessica Gardner has already conducted talks at the Heritage Park Gardens and plans four more in July.

She moved to Carson Valley four years ago with her family from Salt Lake City, Utah. Gardner has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Idaho and a Certification in Ornamental Horticulture from Utah State University.

In 2008, she and a friend started a business installing family vegetable gardens and helping them maintain them. In 2011, she began working at the Salt Lake County Jail Horticulture Program, where she helped develop and implement a 1.8-acre vegetable, fruit and herb garden that provided educational programming for inmates for five years.

After moving to the Carson Valley, she worked for the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California, developing programming for tribal members and decedents.

Gardner plans to revise the Douglas County Master Gardner Program and learn more about the programming wants and needs of the Douglas County community. In her spare time, she enjoys hiking, biking, swimming, whitewater rafting, reading, camping, and spending time with family and friends.

Brian Jonson

 New 4-H Professional

New 4-H and youth development professional Brian Johnson formerly served as Jr. ROTC instructor at Douglas High School until May 2018.

Born and raised in Lincolnton, N.C., he joined the North Carolina Army National Guard after graduating fro high school.

He realized he “loved the military,” and then joined the regular Army. Besides doing service in North Carolina, Kansas, Washington, California, Hawaii and Arkansas, Johnson was stationed in Germany, did service in Korea, and was also deployed to Kuwait with duty in Afghanistan and Iraq as an individual augmentee for the National Guard Bureau.

After holding several positions, Johnson was selected to be a recruiting instructor for all 54 states and territories for the National Guard Bureau in 2012. He retired from active duty in June 2014.

He held a few other positions before joining Extension, and is now looking forward to contributing to Extension’s youth development programs. Johnson and his wife Molly have two daughters and one granddaughter. In his free time, Johnson enjoys camping, hunting, fishing, riding and exploring on side-by-sides and motorcycles, wake surfing, snowboarding and golf.