INSTRUCTOR PROFILES

Élan Alford, PhD is the plant conservation scientist at Mt. Cuba. She coordinates volunteer research, including rare plant monitoring. Prior to joining Mt. Cuba, Élan worked in environmental consulting and has volunteered as Rare Plant Chair for the California Native Plant Society Santa Clara Valley Chapter.

Kevin Allen, MEd, has more than a decade of experience in science education and currently serves as an educator at Mt. Cuba. He earned a certificate in horticulture from Stonecrop Gardens in Cold Spring, NY, and is also pursuing a graduate degree in plant science with a focus on orchid ecology.

Liz Allen is an educator at Mt. Cuba and a Delaware Master Naturalist with the University of Delaware. She provides gardening consultations to local homeowners and schools who are looking to diversify and improve their landscape value with native plants. Liz is also the grounds manager for a school and has converted the entire property to native plants for children to study and enjoy.

Kathy Andrzejewski, MEd, HT is an educator at Longwood Gardens and is a certified Horticulture Therapist. She earned her certification through the Chicago Botanic Garden and is also a Delaware Master Naturalist. She enjoys using her knowledge to have people of all ages experience the health and wellness benefits that result from engaging with nature.

Lee Armillei, APLD, is the principal landscape designer with Athyrium Design and has 10+ years of design-build-maintenance experience. She holds a BS in Ornamental Horticulture and Environmental Design from Delaware Valley University and designs carefully curated residential landscapes steeped in environmentally friendly practices.

Susan Barton, PhD, is an extension specialist and professor in the Plant and Soil Sciences Department at the University of Delaware. She helped develop the Plants for a Livable Delaware program and, in 2015, received the Land Ethics Award in the residential category from Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve for her work on a sustainable demonstration project in New Castle County.

Nancy Bell is the education and garden coach coordinator at Gateway Garden Center in Hockessin. She has Certificates of Merit in Ornamental Horticulture and Landscape Design from Longwood Gardens.

Leah Blanton is a planting designer and horticulturist, using her artistic eye and plant knowledge to create functional urban landscapes for the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, where she designs a diverse range of public horticulture projects in Philadelphia. She co-owns an ecological garden design company and earned her certificate of Sustainable Garden Design from the New York Botanical Garden.

Eileen Boyle is the former director of conservation and research at Mt. Cuba. She loves teaching, especially about plants and their relationships with birds and butterflies. Previously, she was a professor of horticulture at Mercer College in New Jersey and the director of horticulture at both the Philadelphia Zoo and the New York Botanical Garden.

Leah Brooks is Mt. Cuba’s public programs coordinator. She graduated from the University of Delaware with dual bachelor›s degrees in environmental science and wildlife ecology. She is an avid contributor to the Delaware Native Plant Identification and Exchange group on Facebook.

Jenny Rose Carey is a lifelong educator, garden author, and former public garden director. She is a practical, hands-on gardener who gardens on over four acres in Ambler, PA. She is also a garden historian with a specialty in women in gardens, and English and American gardens.

Beth Castelletti is an assistant horticulturist working in the Upper and Middle Naturalistic gardens at Mt. Cuba. Prior to this, she spent three years as a seasonal horticulturists’ assistant rotating in several areas of Mt. Cuba. She earned a degree in Sustainable Horticulture from the Community College of Baltimore County.

Jeffrey “Doc” Cheskin has been making ciders for over a decade and has won some of the highest honors given to a cidermaker in the US, including producing one of the top 15 ciders in America in 2020. He founded Liquid Alchemy Beverages in 2012 with his partner Terri Sorantino, and their hard ciders are now available in over 20 locations throughout Delaware.

George Coombs, director of horticulture at Mt. Cuba, leads a team of horticulturists, arborists, and grounds maintenance technicians who cultivate and improve formal and naturalistic gardens and play a pivotal role in the implementation of Mt. Cuba’s long-range master plan. George produced award winning reports on native plant research as the former manager of horticultural research at Mt. Cuba and introduced four new Coreopsis cultivars. He holds a degree of Plant Science from the University of Delaware with a focus in landscape horticulture.

Nicole DeLizzio is the arborist assistant at Mt. Cuba. She graduated from the University of Delaware with a degree in Agriculture and Natural Resources and a minor in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation. Her interest in pyrography comes from her combined passion for trees and art.

Rodney Dever, MS completed his MS in evolutionary biology at West Virginia University researching wild onions (Allium). His focus is on that fine line between foraging wild edibles and incipient agriculture. These days Rodney works with Neal Peterson, creating new and improved varieties of pawpaws as well as other native plants.

Lucy Dinsmore, MS is a horticulturist and certified arborist who loves learning and teaching about all things growing. She worked in public gardens for ten years and now runs Plant Lady Lucy, a garden design and consulting business in Kennett Square. She earned her MS in Horticulture from the University of Minnesota.

Susan Dixon is the perennial plant buyer and department manager at Gateway Garden Center in Hockessin, DE. She has attended classes ornamental horticulture at New York Botanical Garden and is currently earning her certificate of merit at Longwood. She has a passion for wildlife and the native plants that support them.

Kathleen Elliot works as an educator at Mt. Cuba. She has a BS in Plant Science and English from the University of Delaware and earned a Certificate of Merit in Landscape Design from Longwood Gardens. She worked for fifteen years at a family-owned, plantfocused garden center in south-central Pennsylvania, where she multi-tasked between landscape design and garden center management.

Anisa George is a permaculture designer and certified guide through the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy Guides. Her approach to forest therapy grows organically out of her experience with collaborative theater: marrying playful elements of ensemble-created performance with the mindful presence and gentle pace of the forest therapy tradition.

Randall Graham studied at The Carlin Academy of Fine Art. Randall teaches traditional painting fundamentals at Randall Graham Studio in Malvern, Wayne Art Center and Chester County Art Association.

David Greaves is a biologist at the EPA, wildlife photographer, and founder of the Nature Under Your Nose (NUYN) brand. His love for nature and the outdoors was discovered while growing up in the Washington, D.C. area. He uses his photography and his NUYN brand to encourage people of all ages, ethnicities, and backgrounds to explore and enjoy the nature they can find all around them.

Rachelan Griffin is a trained Herbalist and graduate student of the David Winston Center for Herbal Studies. She has a special interest in “kitchen medicine”, as well as herbal medicine for children and special populations, and a background as an educator.

Eileen Hazard, community outreach coordinator at Mt. Cuba, enjoys sharing her passion for ecosystems, plants, and the natural sciences with students of all ages and with local communities. Eileen earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering, with a focus on environmental engineering, from Lafayette College and a master›s degree in water resources from the University of Vermont. She has supplemented her degrees with plant-focused biology classes at West Chester University and a PA Master Naturalist certification. Prior to joining the Mt. Cuba team in 2014, Eileen worked in environmental consulting and education.