MUBG Welcomes New Director

As it Turns 25, MUBG has a New Director

Mizzou Botanic Garden (MUBG) is a 1,252-acre campus botanic garden with 18 specialty gardens, 6,000 trees, multiple additional plantings, and sustainability features that is open for viewing during daylight hours seven days a week. Always a daily hum of activity, 2024 is an especially decorous year for the garden. With a nod to its history, the garden will be celebrating its 25th anniversary starting in August with a series of events throughout next year. Stay tuned.

Looking forward, MUBG and Landscape Services have a new director. Joe Kovolyan, an Ohio native who comes to MU from Vanderbilt University, started work on April 1.

“Joe brings 25 years of experience leading professional landscape management in large public and private enterprises to MU,” said Associate Vice Chancellor Michael Graves. “He is a national leader in the industry, and we are pleased to welcome him as MU’s director of Landscape Services and Mizzou Botanic Garden to build on the legacy of retiring director Pete Millier.”

“I’ve worked all over the country,” Kovolyan said of his roles at the helm of grounds crews at colleges, schools, municipalities and a government lab in Tennessee, the Pacific Northwest, New Hampshire and Massachusetts.

“The MU campus is unique. There are very few institutions that value their landscape as much as MU does,” he said. “This job is focused on what I love to do. It includes horticulture, an extensive tree canopy, and turf management.

“MU’s landscape is what ties faculty, staff, alumni, students and the local community together. Very few other departments on campus can do that. It’s great getting to be a part of that.

“The first week I stopped to observe students maneuvering between the changing of classes and student activity in Speakers Circle. They were so respectful of each other and the campus, which is very positive difference from some other places I’ve been.”

As he begins in his new role at MU, Kovolyan said he has been pleased and grateful that his 30-member Landscape Services team and other co-workers have been genuinely forthcoming and helpful, especially since he is replacing someone who has been in the position for nearly 20 years.

“No one likes change. There is always a lot of uncertainty, but this has been a good transition.”

“Something that might be a little bit of a challenge for me personally is that I am used to being part of the daily work detail and that will not be the case here, Kovolyan said. “I’ve been impressed with the work and leadership of Blair Crosby, manager of landscape operations, and Jenna Sommer, horticulture manager. I have confidence about working with them and leaving the daily goings-on in the garden in their capable hands.”

Kovolyan said he considers his first year with MU as his “newbie period” especially since his job is based on four seasons. He said that growing up in Ohio, which has a similar climate, he has a jump on what to expect. On the job since April 1, he is already very familiar with the campus spring activities and is working ahead to the summer.

“We have been focused on having things looking great for students and their families who attend graduation and then coordinating the summer garden transition.

“There will be a lot of construction on campus this summer, including on the Francis Quad and I’m working to gain an understanding of those efforts and getting to know all of the players involved. And I’m building partnerships on campus along the way.

“This year is the garden’s 25th anniversary. I’m getting to know the people on the Friends of the Mizzou Botanic Garden board and look forward to being involved in their efforts to celebrate that milestone beginning in August.”

Winter weather and snow and ice removal across the entire campus, which also are under his and his staff’s purview, represent an unknown but since it is something under his charge in past positions, he is confident it will work out.

Kovolyan said MUBG’s outstanding tree canopy is a top priority for him. He is excited about the additions of an arborist and an urban forester to his staff in the past year and with their efforts, along with others on campus, to have MU recognized by the Arbor Day Foundation as a Tree Campus Higher Education green university. His first official event was the group’s on-campus celebration of Arbor Day on April 26.

Kovolyan has been a very active member of the National Grounds Management Society. He has served on its board and as its president. In 2022, he received the organization’s President’s Award.

“I’m interested in helping my staff gain certified grounds technician status,” he said. Earning certification by a group of your peers across the country is both great accomplishment for the individual and for MIZZO’s landscape dedicated team.

“Mizzou has such a great program; I look forward to bringing some national recognition to the University which is a positive thing  for recruitment and recognizing the great work done here by all involved in the gardens and landscape. Who knows what avenues that may lead too in the future?

“I’m happy to be here and I’m excited about the possibilities.”