David P . Barnett , Ph . D .– a Connecticut Yankee in Mount Auburn ’ s Court
David P . Barnett , Ph . D .– a Connecticut Yankee in Mount Auburn ’ s Court
By Stephen H . Anable , Communications Coordinator & Writer
After a national search that produced dozens of eager and qualified candidates , the Trustees of Mount Auburn selected David ( Dave ) P . Barnett to be Mount Auburn ’ s thirteenth President and CEO on September 10 , 2008 . In a letter announcing the appointment , Board Chair Jim Storey and Search Committee Chair Ann Roosevelt stated , “ We could not be more proud or confident to have Dave lead this very special place into the future .” Sometimes the best person to fill a position is the one already doing the job and doing it well : Dave had been Acting President since Bill Clendaniel ’ s retirement on July 1 , 2008 . A loyal
identify the plantings , were a vital help in doing this . Now , each year , we can perform a comprehensive analysis of all of our plant collections , making their maintenance that much more timely and thorough .
“ Another cause dear to me is the implementation of more environmentally friendly and sustainable ,‘ green ’ practices wherever possible , which helps to improve the habitat for wildlife and save us money — while helping the planet as well . Over the years we ’ ve added plants that attract and nurture wildlife at Auburn Lake , Halcyon Lake , Consecration Dell , Willow Pond , and , most recently , at our new Wildflower Meadow at Washington Tower .
“ In a broader sense , we do many things quite differently than we did 15 years ago — in practices such as mowing , irrigation , fertilization and leaf cleanup . Instead of vacuuming and removing all of the fallen leaves each autumn , as we did for decades , we now use rotary mowers to mulch the leaves in place , returning organic matter and nutrients and popular Mount Auburn employee , he arrived here 15 years ago as Director of Horticulture and served more recently as Vice President of Operations & Horticulture and then as Executive Vice President .
Looking back , Dave is proud of his strong record of accomplishments thus far , including enhancing Mount Auburn ’ s horticultural diversity , improving its value as a wildlife habitat , opening up once-overgrown vistas , and implementing key elements of the Cemetery ’ s 1993 Master Plan . He has also carried out the Master Plan ’ s directives to delineate and nurture the Cemetery ’ s landscape character zones — such as the rural cemetery , Victorian-period , and lawn cemetery zones — while integrating innovative new burial spaces into the whole so that Mount Auburn continues as an active cemetery . Dave “ brought the first computers to the Horticulture department ,” guiding the Cemetery through the establishing of a Plant Records department and the computerization of the horticultural databases to better manage the plant collections .“ Computerizing the database was a ten-year effort led by Horticultural Curator Dennis Collins ,” Dave says .“ Volunteers , who helped survey and
6 | Sweet Auburn to the soil — and virtually eliminating the use of fertilizer on the grounds . In addition , we have also re-seeded many naturalistic turf areas with dwarf fescue grasses , which require less water and less-frequent mowing . Among cemeteries and botanic gardens , we are a leader in these practices , but there is much more that we can and will do .”
In retrospect , it seems that his whole life prepared Dave to assume Mount Auburn ’ s helm . He grew up in the southeastern Connecticut town of Ledyard , in a family abundant with green thumbs . His maternal grandfather owned a garden center , Holdridge Farm Nursery , in Ledyard , and his father , a landscape architect , was responsible