Johnson will use the Fellowship to research sustainability in gardens throughout Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America next year.
Gardens have always played important roles in the international travels of Winifred“Winn” Johnson '09.“They tell you a lot about various cultures,” she says.“It's fun to observe the similarities and differences among them.”
Next year, Johnson will explore some of the world's most famous gardens as a recipient of the prestigious 2009-10 Watson Fellowship, which allows for independent travel and study outside the United States. Johnson is one of 40 graduating seniors selected from 21 states and three countries.
Johnson, a chemistry major who has worked for Haverford's Arboretum and with the U.S. Forest Service, will traverse Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America as she researches sustainability in garden design and maintenance.“I want to see what different cultures find aesthetically pleasing, and how they fit their vision within the constraints of individual environments,” she says. She plans to learn and record design practices that imitate nature in their quest for sustainability, and to compare the historical garden traditions of Europe and China with the more regional, self-sustaining systems of Indonesia, South Africa, and Mexico. By shadowing and assisting professional horticulturalists with their daily routines, Johnson will see how gardeners devise creative solutions to such environmental challenges as scarce water, extreme temperatures, and pests.
Some of the sites Johnson will visit include England's Kew Gardens; The Netherlands' Leiden Botanical Garden; El Generalife in Granada, Spain; China's Beijing Botanical Garden; Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden in Cape Town, South Africa; Bogor Botanic Garden in Jakarta, Indonesia; and Oaxaca Ethnobotanical Garden in Oaxaca, Mexico. At the end of her trip, she'd like to create a catalogue of her travels with photographs and descriptions,“to help pull it all together,” she says.
Dean of Student Life Steve Watter notes that the Watson Foundation places great emphasis on the“fit” between applicants and their proposed projects, and this is especially evident in Johnson's case.“Winn's senses seem highly attuned to the natural world,” he says,“and this project builds nicely on her personal and scholarly interests.”
