History of ACS Scholarship Awards

The ACS scholarship may be used for any educational purpose that is consistent with the mission of the ACS such as the study, development, preservation, promotion and appreciation of conifers (including ginkgo) in landscapes and gardens available to the public or in the wild.

An additional benefit of the ACS Scholarship is authoring an article for the Conifer Quarterly, the ACS magazine.

2021:

Jennifer Jung is in her senior year in the Urban Forestry program at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver. While in high school, she volunteered in the ACS Reference Garden at Wellesley College Botanical Garden. She is particularly interested in Asian conifers.

Clare McLean is a student in the Horticulture/Sustainable Landscape Management program at Edmonds College in Lynnwood, Washington. She intends to pursue a career as a garden writer and photographer following graduation in 2022.

Hannah Michaelis is a junior in the Environmental Plant Sciences program at Missouri State University, Springfield Missouri. For the past two summers she has interned at the Lovett Pinetum.

Mila Pruiett is a senior in Biology at Lewis and Clark College, Portland, Oregon. She was awarded a grant to support a summer internship studying how coniferous urban and rural forests differ by seed rain and nurse log availability.

Zane Smith is pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree in Plant Sciences with a concentration in Plant Genetics and Biotechnology at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee. His particular interest is in exploring the genetic diversity of Chamaecyparis thyoides.

2020:

Brooke Dietsch to help support her senior year in the Public Horticulture program at Iowa State University. Brooke demonstrated her interest in conifers by previous coursework, nursery jobs, and an internship at the Iowa Arboretum.

Alex Martin, a sophomore in the Urban Forestry program at the University of British Columbia. Alex is a certified Master Arborist and interested in arboriculture practices.

2019:

Steven Augustine, a PhD student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, to support travel to collect seeds from pines in Mexico's Sierra Madre Oriental range.

Andoni Rodriguez Eraso, a student in the Master of Landscape Architecture program at the University of Cincinnati to support his studies of using dwarf conifers in green roofs.

Robert Hammond, to help support his senior year in the Horticulture program at Cincinnati State University.

Max Goldstein, a 2019 graduate of the Horticulture program at Western Kentucky University, was awarded $1000 to help support an internship at the University of Manoa in Hawaii.

2018:

Robert Hammond from Cincinnati State University. His main interest is why conifers are disappearing from Ohio forests.

Jessica Rae Bernardine, of Texas State University. Jessica will use her scholarship to help with her research and tuition.

Abigail Clarke, University of Delaware, majoring in Ecology & Conservation, Agriculture & Resources, with a minor in Landscape Horticulture and Design.

2017: Cole Hamilton Western Kentucky University, used his scholarship to help pay for his education. He is a senior and upon graduation plans to become an agronomist, while growing his passion for conifers!

2016: Tanner Dell, Iowa State University, a freshman majoring in horticulture. Tanner used his scholarship to to cover school expenses. Tanner’s work experience at the Bickelhaupt Arboretum has given Tanner a passion for “all things plant”. Brandon Miller,Iowa State University, used his scholarship as a Graduate Student to to assist his work on his thesis to improve production techniques for rare, unusual and underrepresented woody plants including Ginkgo, pines and firs.

2015: No scholarship awarded

2014: Stephanie Krieg, Oregon State University, used her scholarship to help pay for her education and allow her to indulge in her secret passion, broom-hunting, which she was introduced to while taking a plant propagation course at Chemeketa Community College.

2013: Lauren Axford, of Empire State College, Saratoga Springs, NY, and McGill University, Quebec, Canada, used her scholarship to purchase relevant texts and materials to do an independent study on the propagation of unusually hardy conifer specimens at Pine Hollow Arboretum.

2012: (No applicants; no scholarship awarded)

2011: Mitchell Zost & Alan Dosenberry, seniors at Michigan State University, were awarded a Special Request Scholarship and shared $2,500 to cover expenses related to an original research project at the Harper Conifer Collection at Hidden Lake Gardens in Tipton, MI. The project was monitored by Dr. Bert Cregg, Department of Horticulture, Michigan State University. [CQ: Vol.28, No. 3]

Michelle Kehyaian, B.S. Environmental Design, at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, used her $2,500 to attend the ACS National Meeting in Silverton, OR, and set up a network that will help her maintain and further develop the Benenson Ornamental Conifer Collection at the New York Botanical Gardens. [CQ: Vol. 29, No. 4.]

2010: Jared Barnes, a PhD Candidate, North Carolina State University, used part of his $2,500 to cover expenses for an NCSU-sponsored trip to England. He also used some of the scholarship to cover school-related expenses pursuant to getting a Doctorate in Horticulture. [CQ: Vol. 27, No.4, pp. 9-11]

2009: The ACS Scholarship was increased to $2,500

Marlyse Duguid, B.S., University of Connecticut, received $2,500 to cover school-related expenses to complete her Masters Degree in Forestry at the Yale School of Forestry. [CQ: Vol. 27, No.2, pp. 38-39]

2008: Ryan Contreras, a PhD candidate in horticulture at the University of Georgia, received $1,000 to cover school-related expenses and attend the 2009 ACS National Meeting on Long Island, NY. Contreras presented a synopsis of his research at the meeting. A synopsis of his joint research with John M. Reuter (University of Georgia) on developing a Japanese cedar that will not brown in winter was published. [CQ: Vol. 27, No.1, pp. 19-23]

Matthew S. Wilson, a MS candidate in horticuture at Auburn University, received $1,000 to cover school-related expenses and purchase educational materials. [CQ: Vol. 26, No.2, pp. 14-15]

2007: Andrew Pulte, a MS candidate in horticulture at the University of Tennessee, received $1,000 to cover school-related expenses and help offset his travel and lodging to attend the 2007 ACS National Meeting in Seattle, WA. [CQ: Vol 26, No.1, pp. 38-39]

2006: Kevin Stevens received $1,000 to attend a six-week garden seminar in Kyoto, Japan.

2005: The ACS Scholarship is established. The amount is set at $1,000. No applications were received this first year

Read more about our 2018 winners.