October Young Professional of the Month: Naomi Franklin

We are thrilled to highlight Naomi Franklin as October’s YP of the Month! 
 
Naomi got into the compost world shortly after rediscovering her interest in gardening back in 2023. Naomi had been working as a 10th-grade Biology teacher at a low-income school when she became aware that her students genuinely didn’t know that food was grown. This sparked Naomi , in collaboration with another teacher in her department, to apply for some grants to install a food forest and butterfly garden on the school grounds. After being thrown back into the fray of gardening, Naomi ended up becoming a Master Gardener Volunteer (MGV). While she was going through the MGV program, Naomi connected with a professor at the University of Florida (UF) that was working on a compost-focused project. Under their advisement, Naomi applied for admittance into UF’s environmental horticulture master’s program, where she conducted research evaluating the viability of kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus) composts for use in the production of horticultural crops.
 
Naomi is currently co-chair of the YP education committee, which strives to host interesting and relevant webinars on various compost-related topics.
 
Congratulations to Naomi for her outstanding contributions to the composting industry and her dedication to the YP Group as a co-chair of the Education Committee.