ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Master of Professional Studies (M.P.S. Ag.) degree program in public garden management, a new academic specialty announced in 2002 by the Cornell University Department of Horticulture and Cornell Plantations, has just enrolled its third crop of fellows.

One hundred and five years earlier, that department was founded by the "Dean of American Horticulture," Liberty Hyde Bailey, who subsequently conferred the cryptic name, "Plantations," on the Cornell unit that now administers the university's arboretum, botanical garden and natural areas.

"Public gardens in America are growing -- in more ways than one," says Donald A. Rakow, director of Cornell Plantations and a professor in the Department of Horticulture within Cornell's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. "More than 130 new public gardens have been created in the United States in the past 13 years, and each of these gardens offers a range of employment opportunities, from gardeners and curators to educators and administrators." Within the field of horticulture, public garden management offers some of the highest paid and most challenging entry-level positions for students who have prepared for them, says Rakow.

Only the second program of its kind in the United States, Cornell's M.P.S. Ag. in public garden management requires three semesters of study and internships, providing a balance of academic training and practical experience that prepares graduates to be leaders in the field of public garden management, according to Sonja M. Skelly, director of education at Cornell Plantations. She says the three newest M.P.S. candidates, called fellows, have relevant experience and a strong desire to gain much more:

o Duncan Goodwin, from Hampshire, England, received his academic training in horticulture from Sparsholt College and most recently was employed as head gardener for Hampshire's Sir Harold Hillier Gardens and Arboretum, where he had worked since 1995.

o John Manion, originally from Herkimer, N.Y., received his undergraduate degree in horticulture at SUNY Cobleskill, then served as a curatorial intern and special projects coordinator at the Scott Arboretum of Swarthmore College, in Pennsylvania.

o Julie Warsowe, a Brooklyn, N.Y., native, earned her B.A. in American art history from Wesleyan University and studied woodworking and furniture design at the Rochester Institute of Technology. Since 1997 she had been a program manager of Brooklyn GreenBridge, the public outreach program of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

The three join last year's fellows, Jennifer Drozd and Joanne Giggey, who are now completing their degree requirements, says Skelly, who adds, "Typically, fellows enter in the spring semester and graduate the following spring, with 24 credits of coursework plus an internship at a public garden." The prescribed courses span several departments and colleges at Cornell and emphasize horticulture, design and planning, as well as education and organizational management, Skelly says.

More information on the M.P.S. Ag. program in public garden management is available by visiting the Cornell Plantations Web site at http://www.plantations.cornell.edu/ or by calling (607) 255-2406. Interested individuals must first apply to the Cornell Graduate School http://www.gradschool.cornell.edu/ . To request an admissions packet, e-mail gradadmissions@cornell.edu or call (607) 255-4884.