On December 9, MPF’s Grow Native! program offered the first test of the newly launched Grow Native! Professional Certification program (GNPCP). This inaugural testing session was open only to Grow Native! professional members.
The four objectives of the GNPCP are to provide an educational program that improves technical competency of native plant professionals; to provide a standard that identifies practitioners who have demonstrated a baseline knowledge of the application of native plants in developed landscapes necessary to succeed in the profession; to provide individual consumers and employers in the public and private sectors with a means to identify professionals who have demonstrated, by passing a professionally developed exam, that they have thorough knowledge and skill in native plant landscaping practices; and to create incentives for individuals to continue their professional development.
Test results confirmed that staff members of five Grow Native! professional members earned certification: Cody Azotea of Focal Pointe Outdoor Solutions, Inc., Emily Buehrle of Greenscape Gardens, Julie Copley of Powell Gardens, Cody Hayo of Pretty City Gardens and Landscapes, LLC, and Jennifer Wilson of Confluence Habitats. In order to maintain certification, those who pass the test must earn Continuing Education Units (CEUs), which include selected Grow Native! master classes, webinars, and in-person educational events.
The next exam will be offered in April 2023 and will be open to the general public. Read details of the program here.
Photo: Carol Davit.
