After 32-year greenhouse manager Steve Trost, decided to hand over the reigns to St. Thomas ‘05 graduate Audra Otto in September because of disability leave, the houses needed some love and renovation.

When the greenhouses re-opened in 2010, Otto said Trost’s goal was to help the plants grow and make the houses conservatory-like.

Trost petitioned to get renovation plans going for the greenhouses, and eventually the university invested roughly $600,000 on new cooling and heating systems in both greenhouses to make sure they could keep the plants healthy.

Otto remains as the interim greenhouse manager on campus for the two greenhouses located on north and south campus, and she said there is still a lot to be done.

“I was very eager to take on the greenhouse,” Otto said. “It was more than I bargained for that’s for sure.”

The greenhouses are used for biology classes and research, but Otto wants to make them open to more people so others can enjoy their beauty too.

Otto isn’t a stranger to campus, and she is actually a deep-rooted Tommie; her dad Lon Otto teaches in the English department, and he can be found popping in often to see how Audra is doing in the houses.

“She brings a woman touch, which hasn’t been in charge before,” Lon Otto said. “She brings an incredible eye for detail and spectacular esthetic sense for what’s beautiful.

Working long hours, moving heavy palm trees and caring for all the vegetation doesn’t faze Audra since she considers it a “labor of love.”

“It’s really rewarding to make things healthy, happy and beautiful,” Audra Otto said. “That gives me energy.”

Hannah Anderson can be reached at ande5385@stthomas.edu.