Ruth Smith

Ruth joined Extension in September 2018 as the statewide Master Gardener Program Coordinator. She brings many years of professional experience in volunteer management and environmental education as well as a life-long love of gardening.

With a statewide view and local connections, Ruth’s role is to facilitate the recruitment, training, support, engagement and recognition of Master Gardeners throughout NH. As part of the team at the Education Center in Goffstown, she supports Master Gardeners working on the InfoLine. She helps prepare and connect Master Gardeners with outreach opportunities through the Speakers Bureau program. Matching Master Gardeners with projects in local communities is also a focus. In all of these elements of the program, Ruth is thrilled to be a resource for volunteers so that they can be effective ambassadors of the Extension mission across the Granite State.

Ruth holds a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Conservation from UNH and a Master’s degree in Environmental Studies from Antioch University New England in Keene. As a Program Director at NH Audubon, she developed and ran volunteer training programs, summer youth camps, teacher professional development opportunities and large educational and fund-raising events for families and adults. Other past positions include the Statewide Coordinator for NH Agriculture in the Classroom, the Garden Coordinator for Canterbury Shaker Village and the Education and Volunteer Manager at Mt. Kearsarge Indian Museum.

School gardens, historical gardening, and community gardens are some of her favorite ways to use gardens as teaching tools for people of all ages. Ruth feels that gardens are one of the most personal ways that people can connect with the earth and develop a sense of stewardship for it.

Ruth works out of the Education Center in Goffstown and the Rockingham County Extension office in Brentwood.