Hydroponics for Home and School Gardens is a comprehensive, beginner-friendly guide for anyone wanting to begin growing their own food at home. Whether you want to save money on produce, enjoy the taste of fresh fruit and vegetables, or teach your children or students about the value of gardening, this book will help you kickstart a hydroponics system that is right for you. This book is designed to provide a practical introduction to hydroponics for hobbyists as well as for those exploring entrepreneurial hydroponics projects. 

Laurie’s interest in hydroponic plant production is driven by practical, health-oriented goals--helping people set up inexpensive hydroponic systems in their home, school, or community spaces to improve access to healthy food. Her fascination with plants began during her dissertation work at Virginia Tech where she observed that all students regardless of their major were captivated by lab activities that explored plant growth processes.

Laurie’s work at the NASA Classroom of the Future, housed at Wheeling Jesuit University, focused on applying plant data to build a simulation where human survival on the Moon depended on successful hydroponic crop production. She has received international awards for her multimedia software products and research publications.

In 2013, Laurie launched PLANTS, LLC to promote plant lessons and engaging technology systems for schools and communities. Since its inception, PLANTS has worked with K-12 schools and community groups throughout the mid-Atlantic area as well as in Mexico.

Laurie resides in Wheeling, West Virginia with her husband, George.