Sean Kurth

Volunteer Impact Coordinator

Research Interests 

Subjects Sean has studied and worked with – or desires to – include native species restoration and conservation, sustainable native landscaping, hydroponics, public lands, and amphibians. 

Experience 

Sean has been in the garden since before he could walk, fostering a lifelong interest in sustainable agriculture, native flora and fauna, and humanity’s relationship with the world around us. He was a member of the King George Garden Club for a decade, learning about Virginia’s native plants and how nonprofits work with local governments and homeowners to conserve them. Before leaving for George Mason University, he was the Garden Club’s Vice President and then President, working directly with state parks and NGOs throughout the Tidewater region. 

At GMU, he joined and rapidly became a leader in the Organic Gardening Association during his first Semester, before returning with an Internship in the university’s research hydroponic greenhouse. There he cultivated an interest in – and acted upon – an interest in automation, pest management, sustainable agriculture, and the future of food. Over the Summer, he applied his passion for sustainable landscaping and our native species to a sales position at Merrifield Garden Center – where he gained an encyclopedic knowledge of landscape plants and their care. 

Sean currently attends the Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation in Front Royal, Virginia, just 3 miles from the Appalachian Trail. Now as a Volunteer Impact Intern for Fall 2021, he hopes to help further conservation on and around the Appalachian Trail, as well as raise awareness of volunteering opportunities so future generations can enjoy a safe, beautiful, natural hiking corridor from Maine to Georgia.