The 2026 Mason Pharr Symposium speaker is Debbie Hamrick, former Director of Specialty Crops at NC Farm Bureau and creator of FloraCulture International Magazine. With an impressive and influential career in Horticulture spanning decades, she has worked with “everything in the horticulture industry”. Her early work was in trade publishing with Ball Horticultural Company, where she founded FloraCulture International magazine, now known as FCI. Debbie Hamrick went on in 2004 to work at NC Farm Bureau as the Director of Specialty Crops, supporting everything from controlled environment agriculture to cut flowers to mariculture. Her presentation will touch on the lessons she learned and skills she has developed throughout her career and how to develop agility, resilience, and courage to meet any challenge.

Register by Wednesday, February 25, 2026.

Title: Facing the Future
Date: Friday, February 27, 2026
Time: 10:30 AM to 11:45 AM, catered reception to follow at 12:00 PM
Location: 121 Kilgore Hall (Hybrid)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://ncsu.zoom.us/j/96348800273?pwd=BUdI6yhutbECRwaXw7eieLRruQvhqG.1
Meeting ID: 963 4880 0273
Passcode: 209574

All NC State students, alumni, staff, and faculty are welcome to attend, so please spread the word!

Schedule

All sessions are held in Kilgore Hall at North Carolina State University, 2721 Founders Dr., Raleigh, NC 27607.

• 10:15 AM — Coffee Room — Room 107
• 10:30 AM — Introductory remarks — Room 121
• 10:40 AM — Main Session: Close to home: Impacts on North Carolina by Shy Palmer and Alesia Bock (Carolina Farm Steward Association) — Room 121
• 11:30 AM — Closing Remarks — Room 121
• 11:40 AM — Hallway Session: Dr. Mason Pharr’s Life and Works Hallway — Room 121
• 12:00 PM — Reception — Room 107