The Department of Agronomy and Horticulture Awards Banquet was held March 27 at the Hillcrest Country Club in Lincoln. The banquet was an opportunity to honor the achievements of students, faculty and staff, past and present.
The evening included a buffet meal, club and award presentations, prize drawings and a silent auction. Stephen Baenziger, agronomy professor and Wheat Growers Presidential Chair, provided the keynote speech.
Megan Franklin, a senior horticulture major, was awarded the Martin Massengale Outstanding Senior Award. The award honors Massengale, the president and chancellor emeritus and founding director of the Center for Grassland Studies and Foundation Distinguished Professor. Massengale has recently begun his transition into retirement after more than four decades at the university.
Franklin will graduate this May with a bachelor’s degree in plant biology. She will begin her doctoral studies in the fall at North Carolina State University researching plant metabolic engineering.
Mitchell (Ben) Samuelson, a horticulture master’s student specializing in soil microbiology, was honored with the Agronomy and Horticulture Graduate Student Association Outstanding Member Award for his proactive attitude, leadership, involvement and valuable contributions to AHGSA and the department.
Samuelson is researching the factors that impact degradation of an experimental bio-based mulch fabric and to characterize microbial communities in compost extracts and the possibility of using them to inoculate residues and alter their processing in soils. He is advised by Rhae Drijber, agronomy professor, and Sam Wortman, assistant professor of agronomy.
Nathan Peterson, a junior agronomy major, received the Agronomy Club Outstanding Student Member award. Peterson was selected because of his willingness to step in and help whenever needed. He will be a committee chairman next year and a key person in leading the club.
Cecile Renfro received the Range Club Trail Box Award. The Trail Boss award recognizes a club member who has demonstrated significant participation and contributions to the Range Club.
Renfro will graduate in May with a major in plant biology with a focus in ecology and management and a minor in grassland ecology and management. After graduation she will be a range technician for the U.S. Forest Service on the Thunder Basin National Grassland and the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest near Douglas, Wyoming.
Elizabeth Conley was awarded the President’s Citation by the Horticulture Club and Pi Alpha Xi, the National Honor Society for Horticulture, in recognition of outstanding service in the field of horticulture. Conley has been a research technologist for professor Ellen Paparozzi since 1990.
Luqi Li, agronomy doctoral student, received the Pi Alpha Xi Scholarship. Li’s research involves the ecology and genetics of yellow nutsedge, Cyperus esculentus, in an attempt to understand more about the genetic diversity of the species, optimizing herbicide control strategy and evaluating its competitiveness against cool-season turfgrass. Li is advised by Roch Gaussoin, agronomy professor.
Richard Ferguson, professor and interim department head, presented the Horticulture Club with a plaque in honor of providing funds to renovate and provide furnishings for Plant Sciences Hall Room 274. The donation came as a result of the club’s successful plant sales. The plaque will be displayed in the room.
