Of course, we couldn’t do any of this without an incredible team of dedicated people!
Joe Lamp’l
Host & Executive Producer
Joe’s infatuation with gardening and nature began as a child after a run-in with his parents’ favorite shrub, he panicked and jammed the broken branch into the ground. A few weeks later, it had taken root. Joe was not only relieved; he was also hooked on horticulture.
That passion is evident to a nationwide audience who has watched Joe as host of the popular series, Fresh from the Garden on DIY Network and GardenSMART on PBS. As one of the country’s most recognized and trusted personalities in gardening and sustainability, today, he combines his national television experience and expertise of gardening, environmental stewardship and passion for living a more eco-friendly life, as host and producer of Growing a Greener World on public television. Joe also shares his know-how on NBC’s TODAY, ABC’s Good Morning America, The Weather Channel and more.
Off-camera, he is founder & CEO of The joegardener® Company, devoted to environmentally responsible gardening and sustainable outdoor living. Joe is deeply committed to “growing a greener world” through his popular joegardener Online Gardening Academy, books, blog and podcast series – The joegardener Show, nationally syndicated newspaper column, and regular contributions to popular magazines and social media networks. Read more about Joe Lamp’l
Erica Glasener
Senior Producer and horticulturist
Erica comes to Growing a Greener World with a wealth of experience and enthusiasm for plants and gardening. Prior to this she was the award winning on-air host of “A Gardener’s Diary” on HGTV, a favorite job she held for 13 years.
Growing up in Miami Florida, Erica spent her childhood outside, climbing trees and discovering fruits like loquats, avocados and mangos, growing in her neighborhood. Erica graduated from the University of Maryland with a degree in horticulture but it was the numerous jobs she held that helped to instill in her a love of plants, especially trees. She feels fortunate to have started her career in public horticulture at the Scott Arboretum of Swarthmore College, where she was the Education Coordinator for the Arboretum on the college campus. Eventually she made her way to Georgia to work on the restoration of Barnsley Gardens. During her tenure at Barnsley she was recruited to host “A Gardener’s Diary.”
Erica enjoys lecturing and writing and is the author of Proven Plants Southern Gardens and the co-author of several garden books with Walter Reeves, Getting Started with Gardening in Georgia and Month by Month Gardening in Georgia. She has also written for The New York Times, The Atlanta Journal Constitution, magazines and blogs.
When she is not working as a producer, she enjoys cooking for her family and friends, travel and photographing her favorite plants and gardens. Her own garden features flowers and easy to grow edibles like blueberries.
Theresa Loe
Co-Executive Producer & On-air Canning/Homesteading Expert
Theresa Loe is an award-winning garden writer for television, print media and video. She is also one of the founding producers of Growing A Greener World, bringing her voice and expertise both on-camera and behind-camera from day one. She is passionate about taking the garden full circle (from seed, to pantry, to table) and shares how to capture seasonal, fresh-picked flavor.
With her brand Living Homegrown® and blog, Theresa helps people live a farm-fresh lifestyle without having to buy the farm. She makes organic living accessible by focusing on small-space homesteading, food-craft skills and simple sustainable practices that anyone can adopt.
She is a life-long canner, graduate of the Master Food Preserver Program and studied both sustainable horticulture and professional culinary arts at UCLA with a focus on edible landscaping. Just for good measure, she also holds a BS degree in engineering. All this to say that she can capture seasonal flavor in a jar, explain the science behind the process and then give you a few secret, chef tips thrown in on the side.
Theresa currently homesteads with her husband, two teenage sons and several disorderly chickens on just 1/10th of an acre in the heart of Los Angeles. When she is not working on our show, she also helps manage her family’s 1892 farmstead where they are restoring an heirloom orchard & farmhouse. Yep, she is a go-getter and that is what we love about her!
Doug Scott
Consulting Director of Business Development
As Consulting Director of Business Development, Doug Scott is the newest addition to the GGW family. After a stellar career in sales training and consulting, Doug took the courageous plunge from corporate America to pursue his passions for the outdoors and environmental landscape design (one of the reasons we love and hired him). In the process, he launched Redeem Your Ground – an Atlanta-based exterior design firm.
In addition, along with his wife Brittany, Doug leapt into the blogosphere with a family, home & garden blog. It’s their hope that through instructional how-to’s and inspirational stories, they will help other families get outside more to connect with nature, each other, and friends, in authentic, meaningful ways. Snoop around on his website and we’re sure you’ll quickly find that Doug has the same heart for healthy, green living as the rest of us here at GGW. With that, we look forward to tapping into Doug’s business and landscape design experience to bring more of what you’re looking for in fresh new ways.
When he’s not helping create outdoor spaces for someone else or pushing us onward and upward at GGW, you’ll likely find Doug hanging out in his own never-never-land of a backyard with his two young daughters, seven chickens, one bunny…oh, and one wife.
Carl Pennington
Director of Photography
With a strong creative and technical background, Carl brings many years of expertise from various facets of the film and broadcast video industry. Trained in Mass Communications at the Art Institute of Ft. Lauderdale, he has produced episodic series as well as commercials for national television networks.
Since 2003, his work includes directing, shooting and editing hundreds of episodes for GardenSMART, a national series on public television. Previously, Carl has worked for Dick Clark Productions and been a freelance video editor for other companies, including various broadcast TV stations. Carl is one of the founders of Day Three Media and now is the president of 212 Pictures.
Todd Brock
Consulting Producer & On-air DIY Guy
Todd is a 20-year television production veteran whose work as a writer, producer, and director has been seen on HGTV, DIY Network, PBS, and Gospel Music Channel. After graduating from the University of Iowa, Todd produced over 800 hours of a live morning magazine-style show in a Top 10 market. A freelancer since 2001, Todd’s more recent work includes HGTV’s classic docuseries Ground Breakers and the current DIY Network smash hit Mega Dens.
Todd has also been a professional food writer since 2009 and is a regular contributor to the New York-based website Serious Eats. In addition to projects that have ranged from product copywriting to sports trivia to true crime memoirs to the history of Pac-Man, he also authored the how-to book Building Chicken Coops for Dummies.
After debuting his skills for building, his comfort in front of the camera, and his mastery of the spoken word in previous seasons of Growing a Greener World, Todd will be joining us regularly on air in 2015. And we have plenty of projects for him to create around the GGW garden set!
Todd currently lives in the suburbs of Atlanta, where he dreams of becoming either the starting quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys or the drummer for The Gaslight Anthem. Or both.
Brie Arthur
Foodscaping & Landscape Design Correspondent
Admired and respected around the world for her plant propagation skills, Brie was recently featured in Organic Gardening Magazine as one of the top rising stars of horticulture. She studied Landscape Design and Horticulture at Purdue University and went on to apply her skills and love of propagation at some of the top nurseries in the Southeast.
Brie is passionate about her craft of Foodscape Design. In her 1 acre suburban North Carolina landscape she grows a wide assortment of edible and ornamental plants creating a beautiful and purposeful design. Brie hopes to encourage people across the US to use their everyday landscapes as a source for health and nutrition through the hobby of gardening. Her own yard is a living testament to that and national magazines have taken note. To Brie, every blank spot in a yard or garden is another opportunity to plant more edibles.
On those rare times when Brie’s not doing something plant-related, she’s likely cuddled up with her equally famous and beloved Kubby the cat, soaking up some Carolina sunshine.
Nathan Lyon
Chef
With an infectious personality and incredible culinary talent, Chef Nathan Lyon is known to viewers across the country for his simple, innovative cuisine featuring fresh, seasonal local ingredients. Host of Good Food America (Veria Living), and host of A Lyon in the Kitchen (Discovery Health and Fit TV), among the final four on the second season of The Next Food Network Star and appears as a guest chef / expert on Home Made Simple (TLC) and Real Simple Real Life (TLC).
Nathan’s first cookbook, Great Food Starts Fresh, is a seasonal exploration with recipes broken down into the five seasons: spring, summer, autumn, winter, and…chocolate! Nathan holds a BS in Health Science from James Madison University as well as a Culinary Arts Degree from Le Cordon Bleu. He has cooked for the Inspector General, numerous non-profit organizations, and has worked with local growers in California farmers markets for almost a decade. Blending grassroots and gourmet, Nathan believes that great meals make great neighbors.
Leonard Carter
Lighting Director and Camera Operator
Creativity comes naturally for Leonard but his training and experience doesn’t hurt either. His technical expertise necessary to capture each moment perfectly, comes from the School of Visual Arts in NYC and work at Dino De Laurentis Film Studios (currently Screen Gems) in Wilmington, NC. As a Director of Photography and cameraman, Leonard’s gift of creativity gives him a feel for the artistic aspect of each image. His strength comes from his solid understanding of lighting and motion and how they translate emotionally to the viewer.
With over 25 years of experience and national awards acknowledging his talent along the way, Leonard continues to sharpen every aspect of cinematic storytelling.
Andrew Keys
“Breaking Ground” Podcaster Extraordinaire
Andrew Keys is journalist, radio producer, and lifelong gardener and he is producing a brand new podcast for Growing a Greener World called Breaking Ground. Andrew is the author of Why Grow That When You Can Grow This? 255 Extraordinary Alternatives to Everyday Problem Plants (Timber Press, 2012), and he’s also the brains behind Garden Confidential, a podcast from Fine Gardening magazine. Descended from Mississippi cotton farmers, Andrew was raised with a reverence for the land passed down generations, and he’s accredited as an organic land care professional by the Northeast Organic Farming Association.
Robin Haglund
Writer
Robin is not only the Founder and President of Garden Mentors®, she is also an important member of our GGW writing team. Robin is a pioneering garden coach and award-winning garden designer with a passion for cultivating beautiful, functional, sustainable outdoor spaces. She has appeared on HGTV’s Landscaper’s Challenge and was featured in our season one episode on Urban Beekeeping. In addition to holding a certificate in Environmental Horticulture from Lake Washington Technical College and a BA in English from UCSB, Robin is a Certified Professional Horticulturist (CPH) as defined by the Washington State Nursery and Landscape Association. Her work has appeared in numerous publications including Organic Gardening Magazine, The New York Times, Sunset Magazine and many, many others.
Sara Griggs
Camera Operator and Post-Production Assistant
Sara studied Film and Italian at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. She has worked in many forums, from the newsroom at Fox 5 in Atlanta to behind the scenes at the Travel Channel, but likes the atmosphere of being part of a production team the best! She brings a fresh perspective and an eye for detail to the set, and joviality to the editing studio. In her free time she enjoys photography, traveling, and short films. She would love to explore Russia, and appreciates a quick wit.
Jon Milavec
Camera Operator
This Award-winning Producer and Director of Photography for Mixed Bag Media has been part of the joe gardener family for years, beginning with Joe’s first television series on the DIY Network, “Fresh from the Garden”. Always easy-going and enthusiastic, Jon has that wonderful ability to bring out the best of you in front of the camera. According to Jon, “to work with Joe Lamp’l often requires getting dirty, hot, wet, sun-baked and bug-bitten…which is all part of the fun!” Jon loves his work and enjoys being around people who are working hard to change the planet.
