
Jacinda Goldsby, Arboretum intern
As summer fades into fall, we are saying goodbye to Longenecker Horticultural Gardens’ (LHG) dynamic intern Jacinda Goldsby. Hailing from Marshall, Wisconsin, Jacinda contacted the Arboretum in late November 2023 to ask about doing an internship in the Longenecker collections as part of her bachelor’s degree program in professional horticulture at UW–River Falls, where she also minored in anthropology.
After Jacinda met with volunteer program manager Judy Kingbury and LHG curator David Stevens, they developed an extensive internship schedule. Jacinda wanted to learn not only about the Gardens’ horticultural and curatorial practices but also about every aspect of the Arboretum’s operation. So in addition to working in LHG, she also job shadowed staff in all the Arboretum’s organizational units.

Her internship capstone project was to photo document Longenecker’s extensive collection of spring flowering trees and shrubs – including hundreds of lilacs, crabapples, and magnolias – to illustrate specimens in the new LHG online plant collections database. As the season progressed, she also photo-documented many of the Gardens’ conifer accessions as well. Throughout her time here, Jacinda’s organizational skills, work ethic, and bubbly personality shined bright.
Though her internship officially ended in late May, she graciously stayed on to help in LHG through the summer. She was instrumental in overseeing summer student staff and assisting with a pollinator study on panicle hydrangeas with PhD entomology student Elizabeth Braatz. Though it is hard to see her go, we are excited to see her spread her wings and take flight into the world of professional horticulture.
—David Stevens, Longenecker Horticultural Gardens curator