Search
- Home
- Profiles
- Morgan, Johnny W.
- articles
- New EBR agent is no stranger to AgCenter
(04/22/21) BATON ROUGE, La. — The LSU AgCenter has a new agent for East Baton Rouge Parish, and his name is Russell Harris.
If the name sounds familiar, it could be because Harris was the horticulture agent in New Orleans before taking a position in the landscape industry.
Harris was born and raised in New Orleans, where his love of plants began as a young child helping his grandmother in her garden. As a teenager, Harris was an avid gardener and volunteer at the Audubon Zoo as a junior keeper.
“Upon graduating from high school, I enrolled in LSU to pursue a degree in horticulture,” Harris said. “During this time, I also studied Ukrainian language at Harvard and spent a year studying abroad at the National Agricultural University of Ukraine.”
Harris earned his bachelor’s degree in horticulture in 1997, and then worked in the golf course industry for several years until he returned to LSU and earned a master’s degree in horticulture in 2004.
“Following graduate school, I worked briefly as a horticulture agent for the LSU AgCenter in Orleans Parish and then moved on to the landscaping industry,” he said.
In his personal life, Harris enjoys spending time with his daughter, who also shares his interest in plants and animals. Together, they care for a large assortment of pets and a collection of more than 350 different varieties of figs.
Harris said he is very excited to be back at the LSU AgCenter and is looking forward to getting involved with the Baton Rouge gardening community.
Russell Harris. LSU AgCenter file photo
The LSU AgCenter and the LSU College of Agriculture