Argentine Trip is Class Highlight

by Lori McGinnis

The South American nation of Argentina proved to be an ideal classroom setting for 20 College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources students during the spring 2008 semester.
The students participated in a study abroad tour led by Darrell Watts, professor emeritus of biological systems engineering; agronomy and horticulture professor Steve Mason; and Nora D'Croz-Mason, adjunct assistant professor of agronomy and horticulture.

The course consisted of preparation of a research project on Argentine culture, economics or agriculture.  The trip focused on culture, economics, crop production, irrigation and no-till, Mason said.

"It was a semester-long class, with the trip to Argentina being the highlight," Mason said. "It was a learning experience with lots of fun activities, and as such, was much more than a spring break on Padre Island. It was a great learning experience as we live in a world environment and exposure to other countries is a huge educational benefit."

Watts has led study abroad tours before and has been to Argentina many times, but this was the first study abroad for the Masons. They intend to lead the trip again in 2010.

The students participating this year have a variety of degree programs, including agronomy, horticulture, mechanized systems management, animal science and environmental studies, Mason said.

Andrew Jobman, an agronomy senior from Gothenburg, said he learned about Argentinaís system of no-till agriculture and the relationship between the countryís agricultural economy and South America and the world.

As technology makes international interactions easier, international issues will affect individuals more and more, Jobman said. Studying abroad reinforces that.

"It opens up a lot of international opportunities that are out there to students that may not ever have explored had they not traveled abroad and experienced another culture," Jobman said.

Maria Lewis, an animal science junior from Arco, Idaho, said she knew she wanted to study abroad and Argentina was the perfect place because her grandmother is from the country and her mother was born there.

"It was my first experience out of the United States," she said. "I definitely gained an appreciation for Argentine culture."

As well as having a great time, Lewis said studying abroad provides a great opportunity to step out of the classroom and apply knowledge learned to hands-on experiences.

The Casa Rosada, the presidential palace in Buenos Aires, was one of the sites a CASNR study abroad group visited in Spring 2008.

Argentine soil scientist Eduardo Martellotto talks to CASNR agronomy seniors Andy Jobman and Mike Manning, right.

Young Entrepreneur Takes Top Prize

The 10th Annual New Venture Business Plan Competition sponsored by the UNL Center for Entrepreneurship and Cornhusker Bank named their winner on December 5th 2008.

Daniel Moore, an undergraduate in horticulture business, won first place and $1,000.00 for his business plan. The Other Side Garden Center is a retail operation with a proposed located in Omaha Nebraska emphasizing Great Plants for the Great Plains promoted by the Nebraska Statewide Arboretum. These plants are chosen for their ability to flourish in our Nebraska climate. Dan's business idea promotes other horticulture and food products developed in Nebraska such as wine, sauces, cheese, and seasonal fruits and vegetables grown here in our state. His business idea extends the market window for a garden center and promotes economic development in our state.

Two other Agronomy and Horticulture students also received awards. Tied for second place in the graduate division were Justin Van Wart with his business plan for Goin' Green Organic Lawn Care and Trentee Applegarth with her plan for Earth Designs.

Entrepreneurship education is an important part of our programs in horticulture at UNL; the awards won by Dan Moore, Justin Van Wart, and Trentee Applegarth are just some of the many examples of the success stories we have with our students.

Horticultural Entrepreneurship Student Wins Award

Garrett Lange wins 3rd place in the all University of Nebraska - Lincoln business plan competition held December 8th sponsored by Cornhusker Bank and the Center for Entrepreneurship, UNL.

A big part of the business class for horticulturists at UNL is writing a business plan for an idea specific to the students' interests. Garrett wrote his plan on Venture America - The Premiere Local Source for Education in Wilderness Adventures. The concept grew out of Garrett's passion for the outdoors combined with his desire to educate young people about the environment. Garrett's plan involved working with church youth groups and middle school age students to provide them with outdoor adventures such as hiking, exploring, backpacking, and rafting experiences in locations in Nebraska and surrounding states. Garrett competed with 23 other business plans and was chosen from among the top students in entrepreneurship, and business management classes.

Garrett, we are proud of your accomplishments in our department.

Garrett is a Big Red Green Team Winner!

Former Landscape Design Option Grad Garners the 2007 Rome Prize

Alan Berger a 1986 Horticulture/Landscape Design graduate from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln has garnered the prestigious Prince Charitable Trusts 2007 Rome Prize in Landscape Architecture and takes up a year's residency at the American Academy in Rome this month. For those unfamiliar with the prize, it was established in 1894 and chartered by an Act of Congress in 1905, the American Academy in Rome and is a center that sustains independent artistic pursuits and humanistic studies. It is situated on the Janiculum, Rome's highest hill. Each year, through a national competition, the Rome Prize is awarded to 15 emerging artists (working in Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Design, Historic Preservation and Conservation, Literature, Musical Composition, or Visual Arts) and 15 scholars (working in Ancient, Medieval, Renaissance and early Modern, or Modern Italian Studies).

One of Alan's professors at UNL, Richard Sutton, notes that this prize would be similar to an Agronomy graduate receiving the World Food Prize. Alan will be examining the Landscape Reclamation and the Pontine Marshes and says, "My work will critically analyze the reclamation of the Pontine Marshes landscape in relation to Rome's urbanization over time. The research will pursue archival records to ask: How was reclamation of The Marshes regarded from the time of Pliny to the modern era? How was it represented? What is the relevance for reclamation today?"

This spring Alan visited the UNL campus as a part of the College of Architecture Hyde Lecture series. That lecture reprised his two books on design and planning of urban areas to reuse and understand the wasted areas that too often ensue in the development process.

During Alan's last semester at UNL, Dr. Jay Fitzgerald convinced Alan to take an extended internship at Longwood Gardens. After graduating from UNL Alan completed his Master of Landscape Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania where he studied with the renown landscape architect and planner, Ian McHarg.

Alan then practiced landscape architecture with private firms in the San Francisco and Houston areas before beginning his teaching career at UC-Denver in its graduate Landscape Architecture program. In 2002 he accepted an associate professor position at the Harvard Graduate School of Design and has consulted extensively with the Environmental Protection Agency about rehabilitation of brown-fields.

Alan is married, has one daughter and resides near Boston.

Professor Alan Berger, Harvard Graduate School of Design, reviews with Dr. Jay B. Fitzgerald a project he completed 25 years ago. Fitzgerald who taught Berger Introductory Horticulture retires this fall from UNL and was on hand last March for Berger's Hyde Lecture.