James McDaniel on Being a Horticulturist in Iceland – Ep. 68

This week I had the pleasure of chatting with James McDaniel about Horticulture in Iceland. For anyone that is not familiar with that word, horticulture is the art or practice of garden cultivation and management. Ever since learning about greenhouses in Iceland and just about different plants growing here in general, I have been looking forward to the day when I can talk to someone about this on the show.  Background About James McDaniel James is a horticulturist that is focused on geothermal horticulture, sustainable production in extreme climates, and emerging technologies for food production. Currently, he is at the Agricultural University of Iceland (AUI) working with fertilizer experiments for an Icelandic startup named Atmonia. The goal is to develop new environmentally friendly methods for fertilizer production. Just as a side note, the Agricultural University of Iceland is where we recorded the interview. Some of James’ past work includes organic agriculture consumer trends research in Beijing, sustainable gardening for small markets in the United States, seed germination techniques using Martian regolith simulants, test trials of geothermal runoff from residential apartments for local food production in Iceland, as well as LED grow-light trials for the Innovation Center of Iceland. Random Fact About James Another fascinating fact about James is that he studied Mandarin Chinese for many years and worked as translator/interpreter for the language. During the interview we get into how he ended up in Iceland, the work he has been doing and more. Additionally, James showed me the space that he uses to grow plants for his research projects. With his permission, I captured a short video of that space and some of the plants there. I recently shared a short clip of the space with the members of the All Things community on Patreon.  You can connect with James via Instagram. Questions I asked James McDaniel During the Interview * Can you give us a little background about you. Where are you from and what made you interested in studying horticulture? * Why come to Iceland to study it? How long have you been here? * What are you focusing your studies on while in school here? * What is the horticulture industry like in Iceland? * Do you see yourself working here in this industry? * When you came to Iceland, was there anything about the culture that was unfamiliar or surprising to you? * What has it been like adjusting to life here? * I saw on your Instagram bio that you speak Mandarin, which is cool and kind of random. Do you also speak Icelandic?* What is your favorite Icelandic word or phrase? Join the All Things Iceland Patreon Community I learned a lot talking to James and I hope you enjoy this interview. Before we jump into it, I want to give a shout-out to Danielle, she is in the Ásgarður tier in the All Things Iceland community on Patreon. Patrons in that tier get a shout out once a month on the podcast. That is just one of many benefits.