Ag-hort scholarships top $300,000

Scholarships worth more than $300,000 have been awarded to 130 students studying agricultural and horticultural sciences.

At a ceremony this week the students received funds from a variety of sources for undergraduate study and postgraduate research.

Vice-Chancellor Steve Maharey presented many of the awards along with representatives from donor companies such as the TrustPower, Horticulture New Zealand, Turners and Growers and PGG Wrightson, among others.

Two new scholarships were awarded this year, the Bank of New Zealand Partners Maori Scholarship, which was awarded to Nicole Hammond, and the QEII Athol Patterson Bursary, which was given to Thomas Harvey.

Applied Academic Programmes Scholarships Committee chairman Dr Kerry Harrington says the
scholarships offer several benefits. "They help them get through their education without building up too large a student loan, and, because many are funded by agricultural businesses keen to encourage good students to select agriculture as a career path, they address the shortage of agricultural and horticultural graduates within New Zealand. The scholarships also allow the funding businesses to interact with their scholarship winners, often resulting in the students working for these companies in future years.”

Awards were also presented to the top students from last year:

• Jessica Shailer won the Sally Newton Prize in agriculture for the top student in 100-level Plants in Agriculture.
• James Lawn won the Sally Newton Prize in agriculture for the top student in 200-level Pasture and Crop Agronomy.
• Samuel Berry won the Lord Bledisloe Prize for top agricultural/horticultural student, after completing 240 credits.