Meet the Team!

The Staghorn Crew

Katherine Aul,                    Founder & Principal

Katherine’s passion for plants and landscape design began from an early age amidst the daylily beds of her mother’s garden. After completing a horticultural internship at the New York Botanical Garden she went on to receive her master’s degree in Landscape Design from Columbia University. Since then, she has been designing and installing gardens throughout the NYC metro area and beyond.

Katherine finds inspiration in the wild, native landscape. She seeks to create sustainable garden spaces that are beautiful, engaging, and restorative to both the visitor and the existing environment.

Katherine’s enthusiasm for the field has led her to speak on such panels as the 2014 Plant-O-Rama at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, and her work has also been featured in Dwell magazine.

Dana Boyd,                          Director of Horticulture

Dana’s love for getting her hands in the ground grew when she traveled through Central and South America working on permaculture farms. She continued this work when she returned to the states working on urban farms in Baltimore while getting her degree in Environmental Science.

Seeing the importance of connecting people, especially in urban settings, with the natural world led her to New York City to work as a farm manager for the Horticultural Society of New York. She has now been with Staghorn NYC since April 2015. Working with Staghorn has allowed her to combine her passion for helping the environment and native species by reintroducing habitat, and connecting people with nature.

In her spare time, Dana tends to her extensive indoor plant collection, travels, reads, does lots of yoga, and likes getting into new hobbies, like ceramics!

Colin MacInnes,                    Director of Carpentry

Colin is a renaissance woodsman hailing from Michigan. After completing his education in aviation, Colin switched gears and refocused his talents on agriculture and later carpentry as an apprentice under a master carpenter in his home state. Now a woodworking pro in his own right, he leads carpentry projects for Staghorn ranging from custom outdoor furniture to decks and planters.

In his free time, Colin can be found building high-end interior carpentry pieces, hiking, fishing, cooking, and spending time with his loyal canine companion, Millie.

New Members!

Marisa Prefer, Assistant Gardener

Marisa Prefer is a multi-disciplinary educator, amateur herbalist and designer who explores relationships between land, food & power by building regenerative systems for well being. Marisa has collaborated with artists, farmers, healers and big-thinkers of all ages from coast to coast at the Berkeley Art Museum in Berkeley, California, Local Roots Farm in Duvall, Washington, the Sage Mountain Herbal Education Center in East Barre, Vermont, and more recently in New York as the Assistant Coordinator of Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s Children’s Garden, the Curriculum Developer for SwaleNY, a NYC Master Composter, the Programs Manager at urban agriculture education outfit Sprout Farms, and as part of the artist group non/studio.

Hester Griffin, Assistant Gardener

Hester's love of plants began during her sophomore year of college at the New School when she planted a dye plant garden. This was the first of many gardens and farms that's she's worked on. Her interest in traveling and plants has led her to many amazing places, but she always find herself back in NYC. There's something especially fun about growing plants among skyscrapers and cement.

When Hester's not gardening, she will most likely be found wandering around NYC, cooking, or working on textile projects. She also escapes the city to visit family in Maine and hopefully somewhere warm during the winters!