Meet the Team
About Charlie Hall, Ph.D.
Charlie Hall, Ph.D., grew up in the industry on a nursery in western North Carolina. Hall’s expertise is in the production and marketing of green industry crops. He is nationally recognized in academia and among the horticultural clientele he serves. Although an economist by training, he is currently a professor in the Department of Horticultural Sciences at Texas A&M University and also holder of the Ellison Chair in International Floriculture. His major areas of specialization include innovative management and marketing strategies, financial analysis and benchmarking and the situation/outlook for nursery and greenhouse crops. He is an invited speaker at numerous regional, national and international meetings of various industry-related associations and organizations. Hall is an honorary lifetime member of the Texas Nursery and Landscape Association and has received TNLA’s award for outstanding service to the nursery industry. He is also a member of the Hall of Fame and an honorary lifetime member of the Tennessee Nursery and Landscape Association.
About Jay Maddock, Ph.D., FAAHB
Jay Maddock, Ph.D., is a Regents Professor at Texas A&M University, Director of the Center for Health & Nature and Chair of the Nature and Health Alliance. Previously he served as Dean of the School of Public Health and Chief Wellness Officer at TAMU and as Director and Chair of the University of Hawaii Public Health Program. He has received numerous awards throughout his career from the American Public Health Association, the Surgeon General, the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services and many others. He has authored over 170 scientific articles and served as principal investigator on over $20 million in extramural funding. He is internationally recognized for his research in health behavior and social-ecological approaches to increasing physical activity and increasing time spent in nature.
Steering Committee
A steering committee was formed to direct the efforts of the Plants, Nature and Health Initiative. The initial steering committee members include:
- Jay Maddock, Ph.D., Environmental and Occupational Health, Texas A&M University School of Public Health
- Charlie Hall, Ph.D., Texas A&M University Department of Horticultural Sciences
- Amit Dhingra, Ph.D., Texas A&M University Department of Horticultural Sciences
- Marco Palma, Ph.D., Texas A&M AgriLife Institute for Advancing Health Through Agriculture and Texas A&M University Department of Agricultural Economics
- Mike Arnold, Ph.D., Director, Texas A&M University Gardens and Professor, Texas A&M UniversityDepartment of Horticultural Sciences
- Scott Shafer, Ph.D., Office of the President
- Debra Kellstedt, Dr.PH., Texas A&M AgriLife Extension
- Rebecca Seguin-Fowler, Ph.D., Texas A&M AgriLife Institute for Advancing Health Through Agriculture and Texas A&M University Department of Nutrition
- PJ Ellison, External Advisor
- John Dole, Ph.D., NC State University
- Ryan Heare, Office of Lois Kolkhorst, State Senator, Mental Health Policy for the Health and Human Services Committee
Internal Agency Partners
- Center for Health and Nature
- Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Ellison Chair in International Floriculture
- Benz School of Floral Design, Texas A&M University Department of Horticultural Sciences
- Texas A&M University Department of Hospitality, Hotel Management and Tourism
- Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning, Texas A&M University College of Architecture
- Center for Health Systems and Design, Texas A&M University College of Architecture
- Texas A&M University Department of Horticultural Sciences
- Texas A&M University The Gardens
- Aggie Park
- Human Behavior Laboratory, Texas A&M University Department of Agriculture and Life Sciences
- Texas A&M University Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences
- Texas A&M University School of Education and Human Development
- Texas A&M University Department of Aerospace Engineering
- Texas A&M University Aplin Center
- Texas A&M University Health
- Texas A&M University Health Services
- Texas A&M University Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics
- Texas A&M AgriLife
- Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Family and Community Health program
- Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Better Living for Texans program
- Texas A&M University Healthy Texas program
- Texas A&M Forest Service
- Texas Master Gardener program
- Junior Master Gardener program
External Agency Partners
- Community Resources at LCRA
- Texas Department of Agriculture
- Texas Health and Human Services
- Houston Zoo
- Houston Methodist
- NC State University
Learn more about PNHI’s work
