Student Spotlight
Passionate Professionals, Innovative Researchers, and Knowledgeable Specialists
It is a great time to be a horticulturist and an especially great time to be a graduate student in the Department of Horticultural Science. As many of you know, there are numerous grand challenges at the global scale and local scale with regard to food security, environmental stewardship, landscape design, recreation and, of course, human health and welfare.
Meet Patrick Veazie: Horticulture Breeding and Biotech Student
Patrick Veazie began his freshman year at NC State with a major in agricultural science. To help determine whether an agriculture career path was a good fit for Patrick, he searched for a related part-time job to work during the school year and visited the Department of Horticultural Science.
Cockson Wins Industry Award for Floriculture Research
Paul Cockson, a master’s student in Horticultural Science, was recently awarded the 2019 Altman Family Scholarship from the American Floral Endowment (AFE). This year’s scholarship efforts focused on three graduate students at leading institutions who are actively engaged in meaningful research, are excellent with communication, and possess qualities of leadership and commitment to the industry.
Top Ten Finish for Horticulture Hardscapers
Like pioneers in the earliest days of our nation, 36 students and three faculty members ventured west to Fort Collins, Colorado, and scaled the Great Rocky Mountains. Except this snowshoe trek was an early team building exercise to inspire and refocus before participating in the 44th National Collegiate Landscape Competition hosted by Colorado State University.
Hassan’s Hopeful Horticulture
Feeling disconnected from becoming a medical major, Sarah Hassan, took a tour of Kilgore Hall that changed her career trajectory. While touring the Department of Horticultural Science, Sarah found the healing power of plants with a supportive community.
Student Spotlight: International Award-Winner Paul Cockson
Paul Cockson, senior agroecology student in the 2018 Department of Crop and Soil Sciences and undergraduate researcher in Horticultural Science, received the International Society for Horticultural Science Young Minds Award.
Student Spotlight: Takshay Patel
Takshay Patel, a Horticultural Science Ph.D. candidate, left India to discover purpose as a plant breeder.
Student Spotlight: MacKenzie Hare
Now approaching graduation, undergraduate student MacKenzie ‘Mac’ Hare was inspired to pursue a landscape design career after taking an introductory course to horticulture.
Student Spotlight: Weed Science’s Competitive Ability
Ph.D. student Matt Bertucci is a multi-discipline researcher with determination to impact the weed science of row crops. His goal is to progress grower practices and mold future generations of weed scientists.
Student Spotlight: Nicholas Tuschak Basinger
Ph.D. student and Renaissance man Nicholas Tuschak Basinger earned a bachelor’s degree in health and exercise science from Furman University and had plans to study physical therapy in graduate school. Instead, after a couple of on-farm internships – plus some soul searching and school searching – he decided on NC State and horticulture.