2016 National Collegiate Landscape Competition

Spring is just around the corner, and so is the National Collegiate Landscape Competition (NCLC)!  This year will mark the 26th year that NC State Horticulture students will participate in this event. Alumni may remember the event as ALCA or the PLANET Student Career Days—the name has changed a few times in the past few years. During this event, students have the opportunity to attend workshops on relevant topics in the field led by industry professionals and attend the largest career fair for college students in the horticulture industry. In addition, they compete in 28 different horticulture-related events such as plant identification, landscape design, arboriculture, equipment operation, and plant installation. Last year, NC State hosted this event at the NC State Fairgrounds, and this year it will be hosted at Mississippi State University in Starkville, MS.

The team will travel to Mississippi the week of March 14-20, visiting a few botanic gardens and nurseries on the way. This trip is a great time for students to network with each other and industry professionals, learn more about their chosen career, and show off to the 65 other colleges and universities the level of excellence they’ve achieved in their field at NC State. Our participation in this special trip and event each year would not happen without the very generous sponsorship we have received over the years from local individuals and businesses in the horticulture industry, to whom we are incredibly grateful. If you are interested in becoming one of those sponsors, please contact Mr. Lee Ivy (rlivy@ncsu.edu) or Ms. Lis Meyer (emmeyer@ncsu.edu) for more information.