Joanna Brown

Joanna Brown holds a certificate in horticultural therapy from the Horticultural Therapy Institute and a BA in humanities, social sciences, and environmental studies from the University of Central Florida. She is the founder of Horticulture For Healing, a nonprofit advocating for therapeutic horticulture in less privileged communities, and the owner of Restorative Horticultural Therapy. Joanna specializes in working with clients experiencing substance use and co-occurring disorders and collaborates with organizations related to this diverse population. Currently, she facilitates therapeutic horticulture sessions for the public at Vizcaya Museum and Gardens and Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Miami, FL. Her dedication to fostering mindful connections with nature as a means to promote mental health and wellness has inspired her to pursue a graduate degree in social work. Joanna lives in Miami and loves to create mini self published booklets and zines covering topics on substance use recovery, healing, transition, nature, bicycling and more. 

Janet Carter

Janet Carter, BMT, has extensive experience with elder populations delivering recreational and therapeutic activities at senior facilities. Her background and training in therapeutic music, therapeutic horticulture and recreation programming provide the foundations for her work. Janet has been active in the Nova Scotia Horticulture for Health Network, has written articles and THAD activities published online in a variety of publications, and joined the Florida Horticulture for Health Network's advisory team in 2024. Janet has been gardening both indoors and out since childhood, is a member of the Annapolis Valley African Violet Society, and is a lifelong learner acquiring her Bachelor of Music Therapy in her 50th year. ​

Leah Diehl 

Leah Diehl, RLA, HTM, is Director of Therapeutic Horticulture at Wilmot Botanical Gardens and Lecturer in Environmental Horticulture at the University of Florida (UF). She is a licensed landscape architect, a master gardener, and a professionally registered horticultural therapist. She manages and teaches an undergraduate certificate program in horticultural therapy at UF, oversees research projects, and runs therapeutic horticulture programming for diverse populations, where she coordinates clients, volunteers, and students. Leah began her work in horticultural therapy in Chicago in 1993, where she started up a therapeutic and pre-vocational program for individuals with physical and developmental disabilities at Misericordia Home.   

Lesley Fleming

Lesley Fleming, MA, HTR, leads the Florida Horticulture for Health Network and the Nova Scotia Horticulture for Health Network. Her recent work has included leading the Therapeutic Horticulture Activities Database (THAD), a free online collaborative resource, FLHHN’s Resource Hub with program and research data on the horticulture for health categories (HT, landscapes, food action), and the publication of two Journal of Therapeutic Horticulture articles in 2024. She continues her longtime commitment to writing and indie publishing as editor in chief of Digging In and Cultivate epublications using digital platforms. Her ebook Therapeutic Horticulture A Practitioner’s Perspective was published in 2016. 

Kathryn "Katie" Grimes

Kathryn E. Grimes (Katie) is the Education and Volunteer Manager at Wonder Gardens, a small, historic botanic garden and zoo in Bonita Springs, Florida.  She holds a Master of Arts in Teaching degree and a concentration in special education from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, and has been a Registered Horticultural Therapist since 2017. Katie has guided outdoor and garden-based programming for over 20 years in contexts that include schools, a community garden, parks and recreation, early learning environments, and the oldest and largest AZA-accredited zoo in Texas. As a Registered Horticultural Therapist and a Certified Interpretive Guide, she has designed and implemented therapeutic and sensory gardens, programs, walks, tours, and interactions that focus on care for the environment and affect human well-being. Katie appreciates nature as a model for diversity and believes that improving access will benefit both the environment and the people, animals, and plants who live there. When not at work or visiting with family, you can find Katie enjoying sunrises at the beach, kayaking, or playing in her own garden.

Susan Morgan

Susan Morgan is a horticulturist and garden-based educator located in the foothills near Denver, Colorado. She has delivered virtual and in-person social, therapeutic, and vocational horticulture programming and consulting at public gardens and in private practice in Texas, Tennessee, and Illinois. Susan earned her M.S. degree in public horticulture from the University of Tennessee, horticultural therapy certificate from the Horticultural Therapy Institute with Colorado State University, and international diploma in botanic garden education from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Find Susan at thehorticulturallink.com / eatbreathegarden.com.

Weishunhua "Evey" Zhang​

Weishunhua (Evey) Zhang is a second year MLA student at University of Florida pursuing a major in landscape architecture, providing her an opportunity to study therapeutic landscapes with connections to nature that can give back to the community through the healing process. Initially studying industrial design, her interest in health and design led to her current academic path, which continues to involve her love of art and design. She has been a member of the FLHHN advisory committee since 2021.

Bree Stark

Bree Stark lives in Walton County, Florida and currently works on an independent study research project to earn the horticultural therapy certification through the University of Florida's online program. Bree earned a BS in Agricultural Education and Communication through UF in 2012, completed the master gardener program and participated in volunteer opportunities from 2013-2015, and voraciously consumed writings on ecology, botany, psychology, environmental ethics, indigenous history and rights movements, food justice, permaculture and planetary reciprocity. Bree plans to create several horticultural for health ventures in the Northwest Panhandle of Florida, with special emphasis on clients with substance use disorder as well as those struggling through our collective grief over worldwide ecological collapse and climate disasters. Bree received the Ann Lane Mavromatis Scholarship in 2023 from the American Horticultural Therapy Association. 

Sarah Sterling

Sarah Sterling is a Licensed Social Worker whose professional career has focused on adolescent mental health and well-being. As Associate Director of College Counseling and Coordinator of Educational Horticulture at The Shipley School in Bryn Mawr, PA, she uses her training in horticultural therapy to identify innovative ways to connect students with the natural world, while teaching collaborative skills and self-regulation techniques that can be adapted to a variety of post-secondary settings. Sarah’s work emphasizes the benefits of school-based horticulture and the need to make gardening programs more accessible to students of all ages through the use of non-traditional activities and environments such as grave-gardening. Sarah is a graduate of Bryn Mawr College and its Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research and received her Certificate in Horticultural Therapy from the University of Florida.

​Jessica Sullivan

Jessica Sullivan has worked for the University of Florida IFAS Extension in Osceola County since 2001, teaching horticulture and agriculture topics, with a current focus in Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems. She has a B.S. in Horticultural Therapy from Kansas State University and a M.S. in Entomology from the University of Florida.