Virginia I. Lohr

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 interior and exterior landscapes; specifications, site preparation `transplanting, growth control, problem diagnosis. Hort 503: Research on the effects of plants on people : Classical and current scientific literature on research studies of the effects of plants, gardens, and landscapes on people.

Teaching Materials: Creating teaching materials, including a CD-ROM of plant images, to enhance learning and create opportunities for distance education.   One of the images from this collection won second place in the Flower Category in the 1996 Photography Contest of Pi Alpha Xi (the national floriculture and ornamental horticulture honor society). Another image won second place in the Ornamental Category in the 2005 Photography Contest of Pi Alpha Xi.

Research:

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

• Responses to tree canopy colors .
  
• A multicultural, nationwide survey of the influence of childhood environmental experiences on adult sensitivities to urban and community forestry.
• Evaluating people's psychological and physiological responses to trees of different forms, including spreading and columnar shapes.


 
• 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.
• Fluoride toxicity on cut flowers.
• Rhizobacteria to control root diseases on seedlings.
• Alternative potting composts.

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:

Background:

• Professor and Horticulturist, Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Washington State University, Pullman, WA.  Joined the faculty here in 1984.

• 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

Current Team:

Caroline H. Pearson-Mims is a teaching and research technologist working in my program. She has an extensive background in education, horticulture, human issues, and research methodology.