Carrie Whitcher Monlux
Lecturer - Plant Science

Office: Plumas 203A Campus Zip: 0310 Phone: (530) 898-5753 FAX: (530) 898-5845 Email Address: cwhitcher@csuchico.edu

Personal Information

I grew up in Chico, CA (yes, I’m a local) on my dad’s farm north of Chico and attended local public schools before earning my BS degree in Animal Science and my California High School Agriculture Teaching Credentials from Chico State. I taught high school agriculture/horticulture classes for 10 years at Chico High School in the Agriculture Department.

During my years at Chico High, I completed my MS degree in Biology from Chico State and taught part-time at Butte College and CSUC in environmental horticulture & agriculture. I really liked teaching college students and it was a really tough decision to leave Chico High to attend graduate school at Texas A&M University (WHOOP!) for the PhD program. I focused my research on horticulture plant nutrition and hortscience research. I think I had the best of two worlds: learning about plant nutrition and teaching students about horticulture science!

Courses Taught

 AGRI 331- Agricultural Ecology Laboratory

AGRI 491- Agricultural Experimental Research

PSSC 101- Introduction to Plant Science, lecture and labs

PSSC 274- Greenhouse Management

PSSC 340- Economic Entomology Laboratory

PSSC 390- Food Forever

PSSC 398- Special Topics: Teaching Horticulture Science

Research and Professional Interests

I’m really happy to be here at Chico State after completing my PhD and currently love teaching hands-on classes and labs at the University Farm. I advise senior student research projects in horticulture plant nutrition, soilless media, and teaching hortscience through inquiry, and have current students researching organic pesticides, hydroponics fertility, soilless media fertility, and sustainable soilless media components.

My professional interests also include agricultural education and teaching investigation and experimentation methodology with living plants and horticultural materials. Through “learning by doing”, students learn best and have greater enthusiasm for the subject.

Service to the College, University, and Community

One of my missions is to provide service to elementary and secondary students and teachers in the areas of horticulture, floriculture, and garden science. I enjoy working with elementary teachers and their students developing school gardens and the agriscience projects they can take from them.

I also enjoy conducting workshops, inservices, and short courses for secondary agriculture teachers (high school and community college) in all areas of horticulture and floriculture.

I enjoy assisting several clubs in the College including the Plant Science Club and others as needed.