John McBrien: GSA chemist by day, rose gardener by night

John McBrien Sealant and Adhesives Chemist, FAS Kansas City MO. Most people will never see the results of my work but I help keep planes flying safely.
  • - Chemical compounds dominate John McBrien’s days, but when he leaves his Kansas City, Missouri office, he heads home to the sweet smell of roses.

  • -Sealant and adhesives chemist John McBrien spends his days writing purchase descriptions for such items as paints, sealants, and adhesives. Most of the time he’s dealing with things that keep aircraft fuel tanks from leaking, or seal windows and doors on the planes. "Most people will never see the results of my work, but I help keep planes flying safely,” he says. But it’s not just aircraft sealant concerns that have crossed his desk since he started with GSA in 1986. McBrien tells of a contractor from his early days who dissolved a chlorine-based chemical in water and tried to pass it off as a new way of doing things, but he couldn’t fool McBrien. The contractor didn’t get the job and was never heard from again.

    George McBrien plays his own horn .

    George McBrien (front right with the bassoon) toots his own horn with friends at a performance of the Olathe, Kansas Civic Band.
  • -This chemist from Pekin, Illinois fields questions from his Kansas City office by day, but in his off hours, he heads home to a yard full of roses and, since high school, his bassoon.

  • -McBrien says he raises “a little of everything,” from hybrid tea roses and shrubs to climbers. He says his favorite on any given day is “probably whatever’s blooming at the time,” but mentions the Kordes brilliant, an orange shrub rose, as near the top of the list. He has samples from 15 of the 16 color classes brightening his yard.

  • -Raising roses can be a challenge, though. McBrien sprays and feeds his roses regularly, but says his chemical background isn’t much help with the moody blooms. The flower is notorious for being prone to disease. A protein spray helps trigger an immune system response allowing the roses to fight off diseases. The ecosystem in his garden means the bugs take care of themselves, but the weather is out of his control, McBrien says. He describes the spring of 2008’s Easter freeze that destroyed about 10 percent of his roses, and left many struggling to survive and thrive.

  • -McBrien says he’s not sure where the future will take him or his roses. After more than 20 years with the GSA, he’s looking forward to retirement, when he can spend more time in his garden or playing his bassoon.

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Last Reviewed 2/25/2009