Meet Will Redfern

New president Will Redfern and former president Anna Thurmond

His passion: Making a difference and improving our community – primarily through education.

His background: Will grew up in Norfolk and is a second-generation Norfolk Master Gardener. His mother, Anne Redfern, who passed away in 2020 was in the first NMG class in 1988.

Will graduated from the University of North Carolina, earned a law degree from the University of Virginia and a doctorate in Southeast Asian studies from the University of Michigan. He worked in New York City and Singapore before teaching in Michigan and at several Virginia colleges. He moved back to Norfolk in 2014 to help care for older relatives.

Why he became a Master Gardener in 2018: Will says he “understood it was a great way togive back to the community and do something good for the environment by greening up Norfolk and educating the public in an environmentally sound way.”

His Master Gardener involvement: In addition to having served as NMG’s first vice president, Will worked on the 2020 training committee and co-led 2021’s new online master class series. He volunteers at the Potager Garden at Norfolk Botanical Garden, the Native Dune Garden at East Beach, and the Virginia Zoo Garden. He has filmed at least 15 episodes in the Gardening with Gill video series where veteran gardener Gill Gillespie shares tips for successful vegetable gardening.

Will has earned his Advanced Water Steward certification and volunteers with waterways programs. He recently helped reformulate NMG’s Urban Agriculture Program to help Norfolk residents improve their vegetable gardens.

Goals for NMG: “I would like to see us do more resilience-related work and do more with vegetable production to help with food insecurity.”

Will’s home garden: He focuses on growing vegetables but also is working to grow more pollinator and native plants and to cultivate a shade garden.