Alumni Spotlight: Brett McNish
B.S 1999 — Plant and Soil Science — College of Agricultural Sciences
For SIU Alumni Brett McNish, life is a garden — literally. As the Supervisory Horticulturalist for the Smithsonian, McNish oversees the gardens and grounds operations at the National Museum of American History, American Art and National Portrait Gallery, and the new National Museum of African American History and Culture.
McNish’s involvement with agriculture began during his high school years. He was involved in FFA at Glenbrook South High School in Glenview, IL, and was inspired by Jeffrey J. Yordy, an award-winning horticulture teacher, to pursue horticulture as a career.
Upon matriculating at SIU Carbondale, McNish continued to pursue his passion, and continued to be inspired by his teachers.
“I have so many memories of my time on campus, but one that leaps to mind was crossing Thompson Woods on the way to class and passing my horticulture professor, Dr. Preece, who was listening to his Walkman and didn’t hear my attempts to say, “Hello.” Later, I learned that he listened to his lectures to help refine and better communicate lessons to students,” said McNish.
McNish says this was especially memorable because it indicated Preece had a special work ethic and dedication to his craft, a quality that McNish found with many of the faculty within SIU’s College of Agriculture.
“Karen Midden, Dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences was another professor who made a great impact on me. I was immediately taken by her brilliance, creativity, sincerity, and warmth. We have kept in-touch over the years, and have helped each other with projects and idea sharing. Her guidance is one that I appreciate tremendously, and try to pay forward when mentoring my interns,” McNish said
After graduating in 1999, McNish soon found himself working as the horticulturist for the Krasberg Rose Garden for the Chicago Botanic Garden. He left that position in 2005, and did a brief stint as the Horticulturist for University of North Carolina’s historic Meadowmont estate, before being hired by the Smithsonian in 2006.
In his 12 years of service to the Smithsonian, McNish has led, or collaborated on, numerous team projects to create thematic garden exhibitions and related collaborative educational programs which support the mission of the Institution and Smithsonian Gardens.
His projects include the Medal of Honor Tree and the The Flanders Field Project at at the National Museum of American History, and he is currently on a quest for on a quest for an historic seedling from the island of Sapelo off the coast of Georgia, which will someday grace the grounds of the African American History Museum.
McNish says he’s honored to work for one of the finest cultural institutions in the United States, the Smithsonian Institution.
“The organization’s clear and pure mission, to Increase and diffuse knowledge, is both inspirational and demanding. What I like best, is creating garden exhibitions and public programs to support this mission. When a concept is sparked, I help to connect resources, and bright and talented minds to build something inspired, educationally valuable, and beautiful. Helping to run a public garden in the middle of Washington, D.C., has inherent challenges, and when we succeed it’s one of the most exhilarating feelings,” McNish said.
But, McNish said, SIU Carbondale is never far from his thoughts.
“Of course the major coursework helped with the foundational knowledge that helped me succeed. But that said, SIU is still helping me learn! Last summer, I dug out an old soil science textbook to help interpret a complicated lab analysis,” McNish said.
Additionally, he said, the ability to handle multiple tasks, quickly learn subject matter to understand new projects, meet deadlines, navigate between different working groups, and make new social connections are skills gained from living college life at SIU Carbondale.
In his down time, McNish spends time with his wife, Elissa, running their two children to various practices, lessons, school activities, Scouting, and Church. They also enjoy hiking the amazing local nature trails, gardening in the backyard, time with their friends, and otherwise exploring Maryland.
Alumni Spotlight celebrates our Saluki Alumni and their memories of their time at SIU Carbondale. We focus on a different Alumni each week and publish the feature on Wednesday afternoons on our Facebook Page.
If you’d like to be the focus of this weekly feature, please email us at: alumni-socialmedia@alumni.siu.edu, and put “Alumni Spotlight” in the subject line.
