Dr. Mary Rogers' Lab

The demand for high quality fruits and vegetables is increasing as human population increases. Concurrently diminishing resources, climate change and invasive species pressure production. Sustainable production practices are necessary in order to conserve natural resources, enhance our environment and provide economic opportunities as we meet of food and fiber needs.

Our lab is interested in adopting ecological strategies to improve production of vegetables and fruit and collaborating with others in building a sustainable food system. Specifically, our research agenda investigates:

1) fertility management for transitional/organic production systems
2) season extension and productivity
3) maximizing crop yield and quality in organic systems
4) insect pest management 

Resources for Organic & Sustainable Agriculture

The University of Minnesota has a wealth of information available to the public related to organic and sustainable agriculture. Most notably, the Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture (MISA) is housed here on the St. Paul campus, in addition to the University of Minnesota Fruit Research Program, and the University of Minnesota Extension Services Program.

The University of Minnesota also houses Cornercopia, the 3-acre, student-run, certified organic farm that is right here on the St. Paul campus. If you are interested in learning about organic farming, visiting Cornercopia in action, or getting your hands in the soil through an internship, we encourage you to contact Cornercopia at umsof@umn.edu. You can also check out their Facebook page and blog for more information.

Support Our Lab

Support Our Lab

The UMN Organic Horticulture program conducts its work almost entirely through extramural funding. If you're as passionate about organic horticulture as we are and would like to support our research—or are a grower interested in a collaborative project—please contact Mary Rogers. Your support is greatly appreciated.

Join Our Lab

Joining the Lab

We welcome individuals who are interested in pursuing positions as M.S. or Ph.D. graduate students as well as post-doctoral fellow positions, junior scientists, and undergraduate research assistants, or through the undergraduate research opportunities program (UROP). We highly recommend contacting Dr. Rogers to discuss current opportunities available, and we invite you to join events and seminars offered through the Department of Horticultural Science. See our current lab members on our Personnel page.

Graduate Students

Graduate Students

Acceptance to our lab as a graduate student is dependent upon available funds, and we require graduate students to have a source of funding, either through external funds or through a research assistant (RA) position with our lab. Interested individuals must apply to the Applied Plant Sciences (APS) graduate program through the University of Minnesota Graduate School. Information about the APS program, prerequisites, and application can be found on the APS website.