Columbus Botanical Garden’s Board of Directors President Suzy Edge announces Adriana Quiñones as its newly appointed Executive Director. Quinones was selected after an extensive search starting in November of 2020. Lead by Board Member and Search Committee Chair Debbie Lane, and in partnership with national search firm Miller/Boyd, the committee sought the best candidate to lead the Garden as it continues to grow and expand its outreach through fulfillment of its Garden Master Plan. Quiñones assumed her new role on May 18^th, following in the footsteps of former Executive Director, Stefan Bloodworth, who left the Garden in November of 2020 to pursue a post-graduate degree in Landscape Architecture and Design. 

“We are grateful for the leadership Stefan provided during his two years at Columbus Botanical Garden, and for the good progress we made during that time,” said Ms. Edge. “Now, we are equally pleased to welcome Adriana as our next leader, knowing that she will bring a level of passionate leadership to the next phases of work to be done in building this tremendous community asset.”

Born and raised in Ohio, Adriana Quiñones began volunteering at the Dawes Arboretum in Newark, Ohio. After a year working at Dawes, learning about public horticulture and working with the plant propagator, she went to school and received her bachelors’ degree, summa cum laude, with distinction in landscape horticulture from Ohio State University. During this time, Adriana held a fellowship to work at the university’s’ Chadwick Arboretum, solidifying her affinity for public horticulture. She also taught classes in plant ID and botany as well as teaching Master Gardeners and public horticulture. 

After returning to and working at Dawes Arboretum for a year after graduation, Adriana received a full academic fellowship to enter the graduate program at Ohio State University in Plant Molecular Genetics. She studied the genetic pathways leading to flowering in Magnolia virginiana, where she discovered and named three genes. During that time, she continued to work at the university arboretum as the curator and plant records specialist. Adriana eventually became part of the horticulture faculty, teaching plant biology, plant ID and introductory horticulture to undergraduate students. She received her Master’s Degree in 2012. 

After a year as an educational program specialist for The Association of Horticultural Professionals, Adriana relocated to North Carolina where she became Director of Horticulture and Education at Cape Fear Botanical Garden in 2014. In September of 2016, Adriana was appointed interim director, then Executive Director. To continue her growth professionally in the public garden world, in February of 2019 Adriana relocated to Punta Gorda, Florida to become the first Executive Director at Peace River Botanical & Sculpture Gardens. After two years of leading this new garden and staff to a successful launch, Adriana was offered the opportunity to lead the beautiful Columbus Botanical Gardens. 

Commenting on her selection for this top post, Quiñones said “There are exciting things to come. I am privileged to help grow and develop the gardens to be an indispensable part of the Columbus community, and look forward to working with our staff, volunteers, board, and other partners to fulfill our mission and vision to move our Garden forward!”

“We know we have found the best executive leader for the Garden, and, in just a few short weeks, have already seen the vision, expertise, and collaborative community approach that we wanted in our next Executive Director,” said CBG Board President Ms. Edge, further stating, “2021 has been a good year for Columbus Botanical Garden. We dedicated three new gardens on April 30^th, finalized a new three-year Strategic Plan on May 25^th, and with the addition of Adriana, we are excited to continue the development of the Botanical Garden as the premier place for our entire community to experience, learn from, and enjoy nature. We anticipate that everyone who meets Adriana will come to know her as a warm, enthusiastic, and passionate community leader and garden advocate.”