SFA Gardens Lecture to feature LSU Hammond Research Station

LSU Hammond Research Station Featured at SFA Gardens Lecture Series SFA Gardens will host the monthly Theresa and Les Reeves Lecture Series at 7 pm on April 9 in the Ina Brundrett Conservation Education Building at the Pineywoods Native Plant Center, 2900 Raguet Street, Nacogdoches. Dr. Christine Coker, station coordinator of the LSU AgCenter’s Hammond Research Station, will discuss the past, present and future of the research station. Coker has been at the Hammond Research Station since July 2025 after 24 years with the Mississippi State University’s Coastal Research and Extension Center where she led the Beaumont Horticultural Unit. In addition to her administrative responsibilities, Christine is also the State Vegetable Specialist serving commercial producers across Louisiana. Passionate about feeding people, her Extension, research, and service activities intersect at the dining table with a focus on food security from production to consumption. Christine’s interests include commercial vegetable production, home gardening, green roofs, therapeutic horticulture, and ornamental horticulture. Recognized as Lighthouse Business and Professional Women’s Woman of Achievement in Education, and one of 100 Successful Women to Watch by Gulf Coast Woman magazine, Christine is dedicated to community service. She looks forward to building community relationships in Tangipahoa Parish and beyond. In her free time, she enjoys reading, scrapbooking, traveling, and spending time with family. She lives with her husband, Randy, and Aussiedoodle, Phinn, in Hammond, LA. The Theresa and Les Reeves Lecture Series is held on the second Thursday of each month and includes a plant raffle after the program. Attendance is free and open to the public, and donations to the lecture series fund are always appreciated. Parking is available at the Pineywoods Native Plant Center or next door at Raguet Elementary School, 2708 Raguet Street. For more information, call (936) 468-4129 or email sfagardens@sfasu.edu.