Is your laurel a lost cause? Rhododendron rickety? Beach plums pooped? Margery Daughtrey and her true passion for plant pathology might have the resolutions. The Crozet, Virginia-raised ornamental horticulture enthusiast moved to Long Island in 1978 to start her role as plant pathologist extension associate at Cornell University's Long Island Horticulture Research Lab (now the Long Island Horticulture Research and Extension Center).
Almost 50 years later, Daughtrey is right where her career commenced – now as senior extension associate – thanks to the application crossing her desk during grad school and a trusty pen pal who spoke highly of the island.
Daughtrey's interest in plants began by observing her uncle who was an arborist. She decided to go down the pathology path, studying plant diseases, because she saw the applicability.
"It gives you an excuse to work on plants with subject matter that's very practical, that people care about," Daughtrey says. "It's beyond botany in the sense that you get to work on keeping plants healthy."
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