HRI Awards Scholarships to Industry’s Rising Stars
The Horticultural Research Institution (HRI), the research division of the American Nursery & Landscape Association (ANLA) recently awarded several scholarships to the industry’s lifeblood – talented and committed students seeking a career in horticulture.
Amanda Rosa, a senior at California Polytechnic State University in San Louis Obispo, received the 2008 Usrey Family Memorial Scholarship of $1,500, which is awarded annually to horticulture students enrolled in a California state university or college. Rosa is majoring in environmental horticulture science. She serves as chairwoman of the Environmental Horticulture Science Department and is an official College of Agriculture Ambassador at Cal-Poly. After graduation, Rosa plans to pursue a graduate degree in high school agricultural education.
Gerrit Shuffstall, a full-time graduate student of landscape architecture at Morgan State University in Baltimore, Md., received the 2008 Carville M. Akehurst Memorial Scholarship of $4,000. Shuffstall served as vice president for the American Society of Landscape Architects, Morgan State University chapter, and has volunteered with the Patterson Park Neighborhood Association’s street tree planting program. He received a degree in communications and marketing in 2000 from Mercyhurst College in Erie, Pa.
This scholarship memorializes Carville M. Akehurst, one of the founders of MANTS, an association formed from the state nursery and landscape associations of Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia.
Ryan N. Contreras, a graduate student in horticulture at the University of Georgia, received the 2008 Spring Meadow Scholarship of $2,500. Contreras is a member of the American Society for Horticulture Science and a University of Georgia horticulture graduate student associate. After graduation, he hopes to obtain a professorship at a land grant university and continue his research in plant breeding and genetics.
Dale and Liz Deppe of Spring Meadow Nursery created the scholarship in 1999 to help aspiring students from across the country obtain a degree in horticulture.
Kayla Harrison, a senior horticultural student at the University of Rhode Island, received the 2008 Timothy S. and Palmer W. Bigelow Jr. Scholarship of $2,500. Harrison is an active member of the National FFA Organization and University of Rhode Island horticulture club. After graduation, she plans to work in a greenhouse or wholesale business.
The Bigelow scholarship was created in 1988 by the Palmer W. Bigelow family of Bigelow Nurseries in Northboro, Mass., to aid students from New England who seek a career in horticulture.
Kathryn Sanford received the 2008 Muggets Scholarship of $1,500. An informal group called the Mugget Growers of America (MGA) began in 1981 as a social, educational and fundraising group. Each year, MGA participants meet at the ANLA Management Clinic to discuss important plant issues while contributing to the Muggets scholarship fund.
For more information about HRI grant programs or to make a gift to HRI, contact Teresa Jodon at (202) 789-2900.
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