River Falls native, recent RFHS graduate, and incoming UWRF student Gabe Olson-Jensen described the development and pursuit of his interests in plant science. What started as gardening in his youth has led him toward academic study and work in the field of Horticulture and Genetics.
Gabe started grafting plants at age 12 with help from Mark Christopher at Maple Leaf Orchard. He contacted Dr. Jim Luby at U of M to obtain budwood in order to graft apple trees. In 7th grade at MMS, Gabe asked to use an inactive greenhouse at the school, and he used it to grow a variety of “bizarre” plants. He noted with understandable pride that the greenhouse remains in use.
In high school Gabe took a horticulture course, and he joined FFA. At around that time, he also started part-time work at Maple Leaf Orchard. When COVID hit, Gabe decided that planting a large orchard was a good project to pursue, and he worked out details of using land owned by the district. He wrote up and obtained a Sustainable Agriculture Research grant to fund a research orchard – a grant not previously given to a 16 year-old.
Gabe described the apple orchard’s development and how the particular approach produces high yields. He then moved on to discuss early college course work at UWRF through the ECCP program, which led to an internship at U of M. The internship included work on a turf project and related high-tech grass maintenance and improvement methods.
In response to a question about future plans, Gabe said that he plans to continue to graduate school after UWRF, with the ultimate goal of being able to teach.