In Memory of Vivienne E. Harris, PhD

Pasco County Extension Director and Horticulture Agent

Vivienne E. Harris was born in Brisbane, Australia, a fraternal twin. Her father died when she was only 10 years old so she had to start work by age 15. With the goal of being an interpreter, she studied Italian and Spanish.

In the early 70s she became a secretary at the United Nations in New York City. It was while working there that a friend encouraged her to apply to Cornel University. She worked her way through college as a teacher's assistant, tutor, and a secretary. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Cornel in 1976 and went on to complete her PhD in Entomology at University of Georgia in 1980, both with honors.

During the '80s she did research with entomologists in Georgia, Arkansas, and Australia. From 1990 to 1999, she worked in research with the BASF Corporation in North Carolina.

Viv came to Pasco County in September, 2000, to fill the position of County Extension Director and Horticulture Agent. In just four short years she expanded the Florida Yards & Neighborhoods program for homeowners and added a commercial component to work with builders and developers.

The most obvious of her accomplishments sits in front of the Extension Office at the Pasco County Fairgrounds, a 6,000 square foot teaching garden. The Demonstration Landscape Project would never have materialized without her vision and dedication along with that of her trained Master Gardener volunteers. She had just finished training her fourth group of Master Gardeners before she passed away at age 63.