Every year, we get lots of brilliant and driven students applying to be nursery scouts and summer research assistants. This summer we had the pleasure of welcoming two wonderful members to the nursery team: Grace Varrasso and Kaylea Bray.
Read on to hear about their experiences and accomplishments!
Grace Varrasso – Summer Research Assistant – Nursery Crops (OMAFA)
Grace is entering her 5th year as a co-op student in Bio-Resource Management at the University of Guelph. This summer, Grace supported many projects including Spotted Lanternfly surveillance and education, invasive pest monitoring, development of some digital tools (some of which are coming soon!) and data collection on key projects relating to beech leaf disease and Japanese beetle. Many of you may have read her recent article on the Winsome Fly.
Grace has a strong passion for entomology and integrated pest management and we know Grace is going to do great things in the near future, maybe even a masters degree? 🙂
We wish her luck in her final year of undergrad!
Kaylea Bray – Nursery Scout (Landscape Ontario)
This summer we also had the pleasure of working with Kaylea, the 2026 Landscape Ontario Nursery Scout, a position supported by the Invasive Species Action Fund. From May to August, Kaylea scouted nurseries around Southern Ontario and information she collected is ultimately shared via blog posts and pest updates for the larger nursery sector. Kaylea recently shared some thoughts from her summer scouting:
“The highlight of my time as the Nursery Scout would be the time I spent observing new pests and diseases. With the range of nurseries I visited, I gained exposure to different growing systems and therefore different pests, diseases, and plant issues. I was continually learning about new species and issues daily. This also allowed me to gain experience with associating a plant species with specific pests or diseases, allowing me to gain faster recall on in-field diagnosis.
I also thoroughly enjoyed making conversation with the growers themselves. Scouting a variety of different specialized farms, I learned a lot about how various nurseries are run to meet different needs, plant standards, and customer satisfaction.”
Kaylea is also a co-op student at the University of Guelph in Bio-Resource Management. She’s already on route to her next adventure in Fredericton, New Brunswick where she will complete her next co-op term. We wish her all the best in this next chapter!
One last big shout out to some of the other OMAFA summer students who also supported nursery projects relating to beech leaf disease, strawberry blossom weevil surveys and more: Raylene and Hannah. We will miss you all!
Know of a student who would like to work on projects and research that supports the Ontario nursery sector next summer? Hiring for these positions tends to be in December/January each year. Keep an eye on the ONnurserycrops blog for postings and links on how to apply this winter.
