Mr. M. Lindsay Bierman:

Mr. Bierman serves as Editor of Southern Living, the country’s 6th largest monthly consumer magazine. Prior to joining Southern Living, he served as Editor-in-Chief of Coastal Living and has worked on both Cottage Living and Southern Accents. He is a graduate of Georgetown University and completed his master’s degree in architecture from the University of Virginia. He lives in Birmingham, Alabama’s historic Redmont neighborhood.

Dr. Severn Doughty:

Currently the Executive Secretary for the Louisiana Nursery and Landscape Association, Dr. Doughty spent the majority of his career as a Horticulturist and District Agent for the Louisiana State University Cooperative Extension Service. He also served as Dean of Continuing Education and Public Service at LSU in Shreveport. He earned his master’s degree and his Ph.D. in horticulture from LSU. Dr. Doughty lives in Mansfied, Louisiana.

Ms. Linda Gay:

Ms. Gay is the Director of Mercer Arboretum and Botanic Gardens in Houston, Texas. She was named director in 2000, having worked at Mercer’s 214 acre garden since 1985. She describes herself first and foremost as a gardener who loves planting, weeding, and caring for plants, and teaching others what she has learned. A native of Louisiana, she is a graduate of Trident Technical College in Charleston, S.C. Ms. Gay lives in Houston, Texas.

Mr. Walter Imahara:

Mr. Imahara graduated from the University of Southwestern Louisiana in Lafayette in 1960, earning his degree in horticulture. After serving in the U.S. Army for three years in Germany, he returned home and joined his parents in the landscape and nursery business in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He is now retired from a very successful retail nursery and landscape contracting business and is devoted full time to developing the Imahara Botanical Garden. Mr. Imahara resides in St. Francisville, Louisiana.

Dr. Jeff Kuehny:

Dr. Kuehny has worked for over 16 years as a Professor of Horticulture at Louisiana State University where his research programs have included new plant introductions and sustainable landscape management. More recently he has been working on the implementation of a master plan for L.S.U.’s Burden Research Center. A native of Oklahoma, he earned his M.S. from Clemson University and his Ph.D. from Cornell University. Dr. Kuehny makes his home in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Mr. Jason Osterberger:

A Baton Rouge native and graduate of Louisiana State University’s Robert S. Reich School of Landscape Architecture, Mr. Osterberger relocated to Dallas Texas and started his own firm, Jason Osterberger Designs, in 2004. In the ensuing seven years, his firm has garnered multiple landscape design awards and has become a leader in the Dallas area. He is active in the Texas Nursery & Landscape Association (TNLA) and recently concluded a term serving as chair of the statewide TNLA Education Committee.

Mr. Guillaume Pellerin:

An architect by training and education, Mr. Pellerin serves his clients in France and beyond as both architect and landscape designer. A passionate collector of old garden tools, he has lectured on the subject before audiences throughout Europe as well as in China and Japan. Together with his wife Cléophée de Turckheim, he is the manager and developer of Le Jardin Botanique du Château de Vauville, in Normandy, France. He is the author of numerous books including Garden Tools (Abbeville Press).

Ms. Sybil Sylvester:

Ms. Sylvester’s unique style combining European and Southern traditions has made her shop, Wildflower Designs, one of the South’s most sought after floral boutiques. In addition to conducting design demonstrations and workshops across the country, she has also been engaged as a photo stylist for numerous publications including Southern Living, Coastal Living, and Southern Accents and as Design Editor of flower magazine. Ms. Sylvester lives in Birmingham, Alabama.