This tranquil parcel of land is the Ohio University Student Farm, and the domain of longtime Farm Manager Art Trese.

An agricultural operation consisting of several interconnected gardens and plots, the farm sits a little over a mile away from Ohio University’s main campus. For many students in the College of Arts and Sciences studying topics such as plant biology and sustainable agriculture, the Student Farm offers internships, hands-on agricultural experience, and crucial knowledge of how their education manifests in the real world.

For just over twenty years the Student Farm has been managed by Art Trese, a retired professor of plant biology and sustainable agriculture who taught at Ohio University for decades. These days, as adjunct professor, Trese works with students and faculty alike on the farm to help instruct courses in the College of Arts and Sciences, such as Sustainable Agriculture, in which students get hands-on experience planting, cultivating, and harvesting crops.

Trese’s responsibilities as Student Farm manager include overseeing student instruction on the farm, day-to-day operations, handling details such as student internships at the facility, and coordinating with vendors who purchase or otherwise acquire produce from the farm. A background in research regarding plant biology includes a Ph.D. for his studies relating to plant-microbe interactions, and speaks to his familiarity with the intricacies of the science behind better growing the crops that we depend on for sustenance. Today, his topics of instruction from corn pathogens to how low-pressure systems might affect their bean plants.

Trese’s passion for farming and sustainably cultivating crops stretches finds its roots his childhood when, by the time he was eight years old, he was one of ten children. “My mom and dad didn’t have very much money,” Trese recalled. “We were just always hungry … but the neighbor lady over the fence one day told me that we could grow food, so I got permission to dig up a little bit of the grass and plant something. Ever since then, I’ve always had a garden.” Between Art’s commitment to manual labor all day every day on the farm and his overarching knowledge of the program, he is an indispensable asset.

In fact, for many students including plant biology students and avid farm volunteer Ciel Leach, it is hard to imagine the farm existing in its current state without Art’s guiding hand. “Honestly, it’s hard to hear the question,” Ciel said, laughing at the prospect of imagining the farm without Art. “I literally couldn’t… he does this all day long, and there aren’t that many of us that work here. A lot, I want to say most, of the labor here is him.”

To Art, it’s no mystery. “I think it's sort of an obsession with food and food security,” he said, referencing his childhood origins and love of farming born of need.

Art did not always plan on spending his career in front of a crowd of students, in a classroom or otherwise.

In Art’s field, a relative level of prominence and fame is achieved in a lab through meticulous research. Initially, this was the path Art planned for himself: working in a lab to further his contributions to the field of plant genetics. Ultimately, he realized this would not pan out. “I'm just not going to be the ‘rock star’.” he said, referring to the accolades that can be achieved with cutting-edge research. “So, what can you do really?”

Taking a step back, Art surveyed his options, ultimately choosing to take a position with Ohio University in the College of Arts and Sciences. He recalled his new goal coming into focus as his career changed paths.

“I'll take over teaching the biggest classes in our department. And that'd be my job; to be an outstanding teacher ... I found out I love teaching. I found out that being a good teacher, even if nobody says anything at the end of a class, you’ll know, on your own, that it was a good day,” Art stated matter-of-factly.

In Art’s case, the age-old importance of a passionate teacher in creating passionate students is evident. Armed with his vast knowledge of biological intricacies and a deep well of experience in the field, Art has crafted an educational space that the next generation of farmers is actually excited to enter.

Plant biology student Ayla Risner spelled it out in simple terms.

“Art is extremely passionate about everything here.” 

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A typical scene on the Student Farm sees students undertake tasks with a great deal of independence.

Far from a disorderly operation, this approach is a sign of the confidence Art has in his students and volunteers to go forth with the knowledge he has bestowed upon them.

“I feel like Art puts a lot of trust into the people he teaches. He’ll answer your questions, give you the information you need, and then leave you to do the task,” Ciel reflected. “It can’t be a bad place when Art is here. It can’t be a bad learning environment.”

In many ways, Art’s instructional approach is aimed at providing students with firsthand experience and a chance to quite literally get their hands dirty on the farm pulling weeds, harvesting crops, crushing stink bugs, analyzing plants in research plots, and generally carrying out a multitude of tasks instead of taking notes or typing away in a classroom.

Around 2015, Art began taking a more businesslike approach to his management of the Student Farm.

Art’s efforts at the farm over the ensuing years have included securing partnerships with a variety of customers such as the Chesterhill Produce Auction, which sells food from local growers (including the Student Farm) to local businesses like restaurants and grocers, community organizations, and personal buyers looking for products to use at home or elsewhere. Art has also managed to arrange beneficial partnerships that see the farm selling directly to local businesses such as Little Fish (a local brewery), Kindred Market (a small local grocer), and Ohio University Culinary Services (which administers the campus dining halls).

Art’s passion for cementing food security and independence for himself and others has come to define his career as farm manager.

Through partnerships with organizations and groups serving the community, Art has utilized the productivity and power of the Student Farm to fight back against food insecurity. Each year, the farm donates hundreds of pounds of produce to the group Community Food Initiatives (CFI), upping that number to more than 1,500 pounds of produce with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last year, the farm also provided an additional 2,500 pounds of produce to Cat’s Cupboard, the on-campus food pantry serving students who may lack the infrastructure or means to secure plentiful food – a problem greatly exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Understanding Art’s personal relationship and history with food security lends a new clarity to his eagerness to partner with groups and initiatives such as these.

With optimism for what the future holds at the heart of everything he does, Art sees promise in the farm’s growth during his time as manager.

His main hope?

“That it gets a little bigger.”

Art’s primary colleague at the farm, fellow professor of plant biology Dr. David Rosenthal, is working to secure grants to pursue projects such as building a fully-furnished, fully-outfitted classroom space at the farm, perhaps complete with a kitchen to bring culinary arts and food sciences into the fold. Along with proposed expansions and upgrades, Art is seeking to bring on more volunteers, assistants, and any other valuable help from those willing to pitch in to the farm’s efforts.

For years, Art has conveyed passion and knowledge to Ohio University students who have spent time with him both on the farm and in the classroom. After countless hot afternoons, cold mornings, and endless other trials and tribulations, Art’s love for the farm and his students hasn’t waned a bit.

“My most condensed thought about the whole place,” Art pondered, “is that growing food is a reason to be outside, and connect to nature and everything about it. The more diversified the farm, the more connection you have. We have a 40-year-old farm. There is so much that's here that you wouldn't have if you just … recently converted a cornfield into a farm. For the average person, that's really the value of it.”

For their part, the students and farm seem to have a deep appreciation for the man that has helped shape them. “By the time that I graduate, I’ll have been working here for years,” Ciel reflected, wind rustling through the bamboo that surrounds the circle garden.

“I still won’t have anything negative to say about him. He’s just a lovely man … Art loves the farm, and the farm loves Art.”