This article was arranged by Thea Gavin with help from Gabe Verduzco and online source material.
Meet Gabriel Verduzco, board member of the Orange County Chapter of the California Native Plant Society (OCCNPS), gardener, botanical enthusiast, ISA-certified arborist, plant scientist, and surfer.
Past
Gabe grew up in Kingsburg, south of Fresno, in the heart of the San Joaquin Valley’s agricultural region. “I just loved being outdoors, but particularly in nature. Even when I was playing baseball as a kid, I would be standing out there, not paying attention to the game but looking at the butterflies.” Around age 12 he started experimenting with growing vegetables in the side yard of their house, and at age 15 Gabe got a job working with the USDA in the area of organic grape production. “They let me use the greenhouse to start my seeds and that really helped me get into the plant world.”
Also at age 15, Gabe began combining his love for gardening with social media, creating #GardenBros on Tumblr, then Facebook: “just a group of friends trying their hands at gardening.” (He continues to share his love for plants, native habitat, and insects on Instagram and TikTok; links at end of article.)
Ron Nishinaka was an early mentor during horticulture classes at community college; from there Gabe went on to earn a Bachelor’s degree in plant science from Cal State University Fresno. After graduation, Gabe got a job as a horticulturalist at Filoli, a 650-acre estate/botanical garden near Palo Alto. “I really got into native plants there while I was helping to restore their native garden. The Estate is mostly formal, English style. It was fun to bring in local species surrounding the property and plant them in the garden.”
His plant-life adventures have also taken him to Hawaii, where he lived for a year working with fruit trees, starting a small fruit farm, and learning to surf.
After returning to California, Gabe worked to save native (and non-native) trees as a Research Associate with the University of California Cooperative Extension’s Agriculture and Natural Resources (ANR) Division, helping combat the Shothole borer, Goldspotted oak borer, and Asian citrus psyllid.
Present
Since February of this year, Gabe is the West Coast Arborologist for Rainbow Ecoscience. This entails working with local Territory Managers to provide Plant Health Care (PHC) training and education to Rainbow clients including application training for crews and technical support for diagnosing PHC issues.
He is also known as “Ranger Gabe” at the Dana Point Nature Reserve, and continues to post all kinds of striking and informative images of native plant habitat and insects on Instagram and TikTok (@antsyplantsy)
In his free time, he enjoys surfing, hiking, veggie gardening, board games, ultimate Frisbee, disc golf, plants, and spending time with family and friends.
And, of course, OCCNPS appreciates his help with social media!
Future
Gabe will be giving a talk to San Clemente Garden club in October about invasive tree pests; all are welcome.
Via his involvement with OCCNPS, he hopes to get younger and more diverse peoples engaged with native plants, and to connect with the indigenous Acjachemen people of Orange County around a shared appreciation of native plants.
Excerpts of Inspiration
“I’m so intrigued by bugs and plants, and learning about them — educating myself — just excites me about life.” (From a Feb. 2022 interview in the Los Angeles Times, part of series called Plant PPL, which interviews people of color in the plant world.)
Why he posts on TikTok: “I’m [of] Mexican heritage, born in California, and I’m trying to show people that anyone can do this. You don’t have to fit in a certain mold. It’s like, ‘Hey, you don’t have to be Martha Stewart to care about plants and care about the Earth.’
“And I want to show people what I’m doing. I’ve been on a path not lots of people have been on, and I’m trying to be an advocate for other individuals, maybe those coming from a less fortunate background or not knowing what they want to do. I’m trying to say, ‘If you really enjoy something and you’re passionate about something, just because you grew up in a small farm town like Kingsburg or an inner city area, it’s still possible to succeed. There are so many avenues you can choose with plants.”
For more information and inspiration, check out this Science Night podcast featuring Gabe:
“Gabe’s social media presence shows the speed and voracity with which invasives can alter the environment, but also takes care to feature the natural beauty of his world to show that it’s worth protecting. He’s also full of great advice for gardeners at every stage, and anyone that wants to know more about the plants that make our green places beautiful.”
Sources for this profile:
https://www.latimes.com/lifestyle/story/2022-02-23/spotting-invasive-beetles-to-save-urban-forests
@antsyplantsy on Instagram and TikTok
Leave a Reply