She began working with the HESIC team as a Research Assistant during her studies at Niagara College (NC) in the Horticulture Technician program.

“Getting to work with HESIC, starting as a Research Assistant, was great because you’re learning and working at the same time,” said Ashley.

After graduating in May 2023, Ashley took some time away from NC and worked at the Royal Botanical Gardens. However, she always kept an eye on potential job prospects at NC and landed herself a part-time professor role teaching the tropical plant identification and care course called Architectural Green Spaces. Once she was back at NC in her teaching role, the opportunity for the Research Associate came up and before she knew it, she was back working with the HESIC team.

In her current role, she is responsible for supporting research projects carried out in the Niagara College Teaching Greenhouse, and occasionally assists with projects in the Cannabis Indoor Cultivation Research Labs (CannaBunker).

“This role is multi-faceted, and every day is different. One day, you’re helping the student research assistants with projects, the next learning from the Research Leads and Lab Technologists, or you can be meeting with clients, or taking measurements on plants in the greenhouse,” said Ashley.

Before switching into the horticulture industry, Ashley studied and completed research in archaeology, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Near Eastern and Classical Archaeology from Wilfrid Laurier University, and a Master of Science in Archaeological Science from University College London, where she was trained in a variety of methods of scientific analysis of materials. During her master’s degree, one of Ashley’s specializations was archaeobotany, which was one of the things that prompted a career change into the horticulture and plant science industry. She has since worked at the Royal Botanical Gardens, Sheridan Nurseries, and as a Horticulture Program Supervisor at a retirement property in Kitchener, Ont.

In the greenhouse, Ashley and the HESIC team are currently wrapping up two projects that both involve growing kale. The first project is testing a by-product of a mushroom growth process to see if it can be used growing other plants, and not just mushrooms. The second is with an organic composting facility; they take municipal food waste and compost it at a very large scale. From that process, they have a couple of byproducts that the HESIC team is testing to see it if can be used as a potential fertilizer amendment or growth supplement.

As 2025 gets even closer, Ashley is getting excited about the opening of the new HESIC research greenhouse and plant facility: “The entire team is excited to get in there. It’s going to completely change what we can do for industry partners while hugely expanding our services and capabilities for research projects.

“With the excitement comes a bit of nerves as well. We’re scaling up quite a lot, and we’re going to have to get used to the new labs and figure things out, but it’s OURS to figure out, and we’re going to be able to do it with projects like we’ve never done before,” she said. A few stand-out capabilities she mentioned include the vertical grow room and high wire trials.

A big part of the team environment that Ashley enjoys is the diversity of perspectives that everyone brings to the team: “Everyone has their own backgrounds, whether its educational, career, or their geographic backgrounds, and it brings different perspectives to the projects we work on, which is really refreshing,” she said. Another reason she loves her job, which others might not think sounds so fun, is troubleshooting. “In general, of course I love working with plants in a research capacity, but the troubleshooting and figuring out what’s going on with plants is something I really love.”

She added, “In every project that we run, there’s likely something we haven’t anticipated that is bound to pop up, and that’s great because you learn from those experiences. Then, the next time you run a project in a similar way, you have the experience to know we’re better prepared to face those challenges if they come up again.”

Lastly, Ashley has become a real go-to person on the team when it comes to communicating their research and projects. “Science communication and public speaking is also something I’m interested in, and in this role, I’ve gotten to speak at national conferences, tour government officials through our greenhouses and labs, and network at several industry events. All of these things are helping me become a stronger professional,” she said.

If you can’t find Ashley in the greenhouse flexing her scientific skills, you can find her outside in nature or using her artistic skills painting and drawing. “Botanical illustration is something I love and is a funny tie into both my archaeology background, where I used to illustrate artifacts, and my current career in greenhouse sciences,” she noted.

Looking to the future, Ashley sees herself continuing to keep her foot in the door of research and teaching. “For me, I need to be satisfied in a lot of different areas of my job to be fully fulfilled, so getting to be involved in both research and teaching in the classroom is ideal for me,” she said.