Gardening Symposium

Kirsten Kurtz Biography

Kirsten Kurtz is Assistant Director of the Cornell Soil Health Lab and a soil scientist with more than 15 years of experience at Cornell University. Before joining Cornell, she worked in New York’s  Finger Lakes wine grape industry as a viticulturalist and assistant winemaker and co-owned an organic farm specializing in garlic and small fruits. Kirsten holds a Master of Science in Natural Resources from Cornell University and a Bachelor of Arts in painting from SUNY Empire State College. Her work focuses on soil health testing methods, urban soil remediation, and helping growers improve soil quality and sustainability. She has contributed to major soil science publications, textbooks, and the Cornell Soil Health Laboratory Manual, and is a regular contributor to Fine Gardening. In addition to overseeing laboratory staff and outreach efforts at the Cornell Soil Health Lab, Kirsten works with farmers, gardeners, botanic gardens, and landscape professionals across a wide range of growing systems. She is a popular speaker and educator who shares soil science through lectures, publications, podcasts, and public programs.  Kirsten is also known for her internationally recognized soil paintings, which combine art and science to promote soil education. Her work has been featured by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the Earth Day Network and has been exhibited in galleries across the United States.

Stephen Orr Biography

Stephen Orr is the author and photographer of three books: The New American Herbal (Clarkson Potter/Random House, 2014), Tomorrow’s Garden: Design and Inspiration for a New Age of Sustainable Gardening (Rodale, 2011) and an upcoming book of essays The Gardener’s Mindset: Connecting with Nature through Plants (Clarkson Potter/Random House, May 2026). He is also the editor of the monograph Nelson Byrd Woltz: Garden, Park, Community, Farm (Princeton Architectural Press, 2013). Previously he was the editor in chief of Better Homes and Gardens. He was also executive editor at Condé Nast Traveler as well as garden editor at Martha Stewart Living, House & Garden, and Domino magazines. He writes regularly for his local newspaper the Provincetown Independent. After over three decades of living in New York City, he now lives and gardens in Cape Cod with his husband.

Page Dickey Biography

Page has been an avid gardener since her early twentes and, for over three decades, has written about and designed gardens. She is the author of eight books and editor of another, including Gardens in the Spirit of Place, Breaking Ground, and Inside Out. Her later works, Duck Hill Journal, Embroidered Ground, and Uprooted, reflect on her long stewardship of Duck Hill and her move to northwest Connectcut, where she and her husband, Bosco Schell, have been creatng a new garden on their 17-acre property in Falls Village. They were off on a new adventure. A frequent natonal lecturer, her writng has appeared in The New York Times, Architectural Digest, and Garden Design. She is a Director Emeritus of the Garden Conservancy and co-founder of its Open Days Program and serves on several garden boards. She is also an Honorary Member of the Garden Club of America, a member of the Friends of Hortculture at Wave Hill, and the Berkshire Botanical Garden.