Virginia I. Lohr

Professor
Dept. of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture
Washington State University
Pullman, Washington, 99164-6414, U.S.A.

Amelanchier alnifolia flowers (Lohr)

Teaching

Research

Publications

Prof. & Univ. Activities & Honors

Background

Contact Info.

Teaching Activities:

Hort 231: Landscape Plant Materials I : Characteristics, ecology, nomenclature, identification, selection, and use of important woody and herbaceous landscape plant species.
Hort 232: Landscape Plant Materials II : Characteristics, ecology, nomenclature, identification, selection, and use of important woody and herbaceous landscape plant species.

Hort 331: Landscape Plant Installation and Management : Principles and practices for installation and management of landscapes; specifications, site preparation, transplanting, growth control, problem diagnosis.

UH 390: Case Study: Global Issues in the Sciences: Using research skills to analyze a global case study or international perspective in the sciences..

Research:

Impacts Of Plants On People (also called "human issues in horticulture"):

Responses to tree canopy colors .
The influence of childhood environmental experiences on adult sensitivities to forests.
Evaluating people's psychological and physiological responses to trees of different forms.

Urban scene with no tree or columnar, rounded, or spreading tree

Impact of interior plants on people's perceptions of discomfort .
Impact of interior plants on air quality and on human stress and productivity .
Responses of ethnically diverse teenagers to landscape images.

Environmental Horticulture (sustainable ways to keep plants around us):

Water conservation in landscapes.
Incorporation of native plants in gardens and landscapes.

Selected Publications:

	1. Responses to scenes with spreading, rounded and conical tree forms. Lohr, V.I. and C.H. Pearson-Mims. 2006. Environment & Behavior 38(5):667-688. People feel happier looking at a tree of any form rather than no tree, but they feel happiest when it has a spreading form.
	2. Children's active and passive interactions with plants and gardening influence their attitudes and actions towards trees and the environment as adults. Lohr, V.I. and C.H. Pearson-Mims. 2005. HortTechnology 15:472-476. Children who play in parks with trees and who plant flowers appreciate the value of trees as adults.
	3. How urban residents rate and rank the benefits and problems associated with trees in cities. Lohr, V.I., C.H. Pearson-Mims, J. Tarnai, and D.A. Dillman. 2004. Journal of Arboriculture 30(1):28-36. The general public, not just tree-lovers, rate the benefits of urban trees highly.
	4. Physical discomfort may be reduced in the presence of interior plants. Lohr, V.I. and C.H. Pearson-Mims. 2000. HortTechnology 10(1):53-58. People tolerate pain better when plants are around.
	5. Move over cactus (water-wise landscaping). Lohr, V.I. and C.H. Pearson-Mims. 1998. American Nurseryman 188(5):cover, 26-44. Water-conserving landscapes can be easy and attractive!
	6. Particulate matter accumulation on horizontal surfaces in interiors: Influence of foliage plants. Lohr, V.I. and C.H. Pearson-Mims. 1996. Atmospheric Environment 30(14):2565-2568. Indoor plants reduce dust!
	7. Interior plants may improve worker productivity and reduce stress in a windowless environment. Lohr, V.I., C.H. Pearson-Mims, and G.K. Goodwin. 1996. J. of Environmental Horticulture 14(2):97-100. Indoor plants help people relax!
	8. Landscape preferences and stress responses of ethnically diverse adolescents. Berge, B. and V.I. Lohr. 1994. In: M. Francis, P. Lindsey, and J. S. Rice. The healing dimension of people-plant relations: Proceedings of a research symposium, p. 101-113. The University of California, Davis, CA. Most teenagers like trees.
	9. Assessing and influencing attitudes toward water-conserving landscapes. Lohr, V.I. and L.H. Bummer. 1992. HortTechnology 2:253-256. People are willing to save water.
	10. Modifying a technical course to meet baccalaureate objectives. Lohr, V.I. 1989. HortScience 24:737-739. Applied classes can be intellectually rigorous.

Selected Professional & University Activities and Honors:

WSU President's Teaching Academy, selected 2007, Board of Directors, 2009- .

Horticulture Undergraduate Curriculum Committee, Chair, 2007 - .

International Invited Speaker, The 8th International Congress of Physiological Anthropologists, Japan, 2006.

Reviewer of the Department of Plant Sciences, North Dakota State University, 2006.

Visiting Scientist, Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science Invitation Fellowship, Japan, 2005.

NSF Advance Visiting Scientist, NMSU, 2005.

WSU Faculty Affairs Committee, 2004 - 2008.

International Invited Keynote Presentation, Nordic Association of Agricultural Scientists 22nd Congress, Turku, Finland, 2003.

Association for Faculty Women, WSU, Web Wizard, 2003-2006.

Sabbatical leave in Aix-en-Provence, France, to study innovative ways that plants are being used in Europe., 2002-3.

WSU Faculty Status Committee, Chair, 1999-2000.

Associate Editor in Human Issues in Horticulture for HortTechnology , 1997-2002.

Background:

Professor, Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Washington State University, Pullman, WA.

Before coming to WSU:

Taught statistics at The University of Tennessee

Taught horticulture at New Mexico State University

Managed garden centers in Colorado

Served as the first intern at the Scott Arboretum at Swarthmore College

Education:

Ph.D. - University of Tennessee - Plant and Soil Science

M.S. - New Mexico State University - Horticulture

B.A. - Swarthmore College - Psychology

Contact Information:
Dr. Virginia I. Lohr
Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture
Washington State University
Pullman, Washington 99164-6414 U.S.A.
E-mail: lohr@wsu.edu
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Page updated January 8, 2010