Horticulture, Landscape and Turf Sciences Students Win SASHS Awards; McDonald Top Educator

Photo Submitted

U of A award winners at the Southern Region American Society for Horticulture Science annual meeting, including (far left) Gehendra Bhattarai, the region's top graduate student, five individual category winners and (far right) clinical assistant professor of landscape horticulture Garry McDonald, the J. Creighton Miller Jr. Distinguished Educator Award winner.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Horticulture students from the U of A's Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences won first place in four different categories plus two other major honors at the Southern Region American Society for Horticulture Science annual meeting. 

Virginia Beasley, Autumn Brown, Max Mckeown, David Su and Josh Tebow each won a category in various divisions. Beasley won the master's student oral presentation event, Brown the undergraduate student oral presentation contest, Mckeown the greenhouse floral and foliage plants section, and Tebow and Su tied for first in the individual fruit and nut crops category.

In addition, Tebow was second in the individual vegetable crops section and Mckeown third in woody ornamentals. Students from the Department of Horticulture, Landscape and Turf Sciences placed third in the woody ornamentals team competition and third in the fruit and nut crops team contest.

Gehendra Bhattarai won the Norman F. Childress Award as Outstanding Graduate Student from the Southern Region and Maxwell Vonkreuzhof was the "People's Choice" winner in the master's student oral presentation competition.

Rhiannon de la Rosa was voted president-elect of the ASHS-SR Association of Collegiate Branches.

Clinical assistant professor of landscape horticulture Garry McDonald was honored with the J. Creighton Miller Jr. Distinguished Educator Award.

The meeting was Jan. 31-Feb. 5 in Birmingham, Alabama.

The Southern Region includes Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee. Membership varies over the years from about 400 to 500 active members.  Membership includes 400-500 research scientists, teachers and extension specialist from universities, state, federal and private research organizations, and industry, along with a student section. 

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 2.7 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.