Ruth Smith will join UNH Cooperative Extension as a Volunteer Coordinator for the New Hampshire Master Gardener Program starting September 17, 2018. Ruth will work out of the statewide Education Center in Goffstown and also the Rockingham County Extension office in Brentwood.
Ruth is a UNH alumna, receiving her bachelor’s degree from UNH in 1985, and later earning a master’s degree in environmental studies from Antioch University New England in 2008.
Ruth is well known in NH and comes to Extension from New Hampshire Audubon, where she coordinated educational programs, planned special events, raised funds, and engaged the community. She has a long track record of coordinating volunteers, forging community partnerships, and growing support for New Hampshire gardening and agriculture.
A life-long gardener and longtime volunteer in her community, Ruth has worked with and alongside Master Gardeners going back to her time at Canterbury Shaker Village and New Hampshire Agriculture in the Classroom.
Lauded for her work and leadership in education, Ruth has been the recipient of numerous awards including the Outstanding Educator Award from New Hampshire Project Learning Tree and the New England Environmental Educator of the Year Award from New England Environmental Education Alliance.
“We asked our Master Gardener volunteers what qualities they wanted to see in the next Coordinator, and Ruth is a perfect fit” says Extension Food & Agriculture Program Team Leader Amy Papineau. “She brings knowledge, passion, enthusiasm, kindness, and love of gardening.”
Ruth’s duties will include recruiting, training, supporting, and recognizing Master Gardener volunteers throughout New Hampshire, helping grow the program and deepen its impact on the lives of Granite Staters.
“I admire the Master Gardener program and have appreciated firsthand the importance of their contributions to the community,” says Ruth. “I am deeply honored to have been chosen as the new volunteer coordinator.”
Welcome, Ruth Smith, to UNH Cooperative Extension!
