Apr 11, 2021
Michael O’Loughlin and his
family farm a total of 200 acres in Yamhill County. The O'Loughlin
Farms and garden is a private research station tracking onsite
precipitation, testing slug biocontrol, and studying beetle
predation and Northwestern garter and ringneck populations. Michael
has been a Master Gardener since 2014 and Oregon Bee Atlas since
2018. Since then, he has mentored new Master Gardener students,
participated on the Yamhill County Master Gardener insect
committee, taught classes in entomology and garden pollinators,
served as a local expert for garden beetle or herpetology
questions, and contributed articles to the Master Gardener
newsletter. He is also on the Advisory Committee of the Oregon Bee
Atlas and leads up the mighty Yamhill County Atlas team. He has
also designed, consulted on, and/or built nine school gardens
across the state, including a pollinator garden at Mary Wood
Elementary School in Tigard. In the six years that O’Loughlin has
been a Master Gardener, he has accomplished a tremendous amount of
work that benefits gardeners across the state. Although many people
may be familiar with his work, many do not know that O’Loughlin is
the force behind them, and in 2020 he was awarded the statewide
Statewide Behind the Scenes Award for the Master
Gardeners.