Horticulture Students Win 12 Awards at Regional Meet; Two Named Officers

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Members of U of A's Horticulture Club, with department head Wayne Mackay (back, fourth from right) show off awards they won at the Southern Region of the American Society for Horticultural Sciences meeting in Jacksonville, Florida.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Twelve horticulture students from the U of A's Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences combined for 12 awards at the recent 82nd Southern Region of the American Society for Horticultural Sciences annual meeting in Jacksonville, Florida.

Waltram Ravelombola, a doctoral student in horticulture, was the big winner, receiving the Norman F. Childers Outstanding Graduate Student Award.

In addition, Arkansas' horticulture team won the overall Outstanding Club Share Award. Club members include Kelsey Brazelton, Kenneth Buck, Will Delacey, Rhiannon De La Rosa, LeRoi Emerson, Rebekah Fritschie, Morgan Gramlich, Claire Krofft, Malory Martin, David Su, Hilary Viguet and Brandon Wodka.

The students participated in the Association of Collegiate Branch activities, which is made up of students from universities in the Southern Region, including many other Southeastern Conference members.

In the J. Benton Storey Horticulture Judging Competition, the club also won first place in two of the three categories, the Fruit and Nut, and Vegetable sections.

"The purpose of ACB is to represent our Department of Horticulture, promote interaction and fellowship between students at different universities, and serve as a training ground for future leaders in horticulture," said clinical assistant professor Garry McDonald, who coaches the team in competitions. "This year our students excelled in the competition, pretty much sweeping the vegetable, and fruit and nut competition, and we are well represented as ACB officers. Our department is very proud of all of them."

Individually, Wodka was the top scorer in vegetable judging and tied for third in fruit and nut judging.

Buck and Gramlich each tied for second in fruit and nut judging, and tied for third in vegetable judging. Delacey tied for third in fruit and nut, and vegetable judging, and De La Rosa tied for third in fruit and nut judging.

Brazelton was elected president-elect for the ASHS Association of Collegiate Branches and will preside over the 2019 ACB meeting. De La Rosa was elected ACB vice president-elect.

McDonald, and instructor, recruiter and special projects coordinator Shannon Mason are co-advisors of the Horticulture Club.

Along with the horticulture students, Aubry Dunteman, a food science major in Bumpers College, placed second in the research paper competition at the Southern ASHS meeting. Working on her honors project with food science research scientist Renee Threlfall, her presentation was "Impression of Consumer Sensory and Composition Attributes of Fresh-Market Blackberries."

About the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences: Bumpers College provides life-changing opportunities to position and prepare graduates who will be leaders in the businesses associated with foods, family, the environment, agriculture, sustainability and human quality of life; and who will be first-choice candidates of employers looking for leaders, innovators, policy makers and entrepreneurs. The college is named for Dale Bumpers, former Arkansas governor and longtime U.S. senator who made the state prominent in national and international agriculture.

About the University of Arkansas: The University of Arkansas provides an internationally competitive education for undergraduate and graduate students in more than 200 academic programs. The university contributes new knowledge, economic development, basic and applied research, and creative activity while also providing service to academic and professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the University of Arkansas among only 2 percent of universities in America that have the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the University of Arkansas among its top American public research universities. Founded in 1871, the University of Arkansas comprises 10 colleges and schools and maintains a low student-to-faculty ratio that promotes personal attention and close mentoring.