Six NDSU Horticulture and Forestry Club students exceled at the Mid America Collegiate Horticulture Society conference and competition held at Iowa State University Oct. 9-10. They won seven individual awards and second place in the team competition.
Connor Hagemeyer, a freshman horticulture major from Clara City, Minnesota, took first place in woody plant identification, placed second in herbaceous plant identification and was first overall individual.
Meredith Swanson, a senior horticulture major from Upsala, Minnesota, took first place in the general knowledge exam, tied for third in herbaceous plant identification and was third overall individual.
Mitch Stephens, a senior horticulture major from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, tied for third place in woody plant identification.
Swanson; Stephens; Torie Jones, a junior horticulture and public history double major from Fessenden, North Dakota; and Andrew Scheldorf, a sophomore horticulture major from Chokio, Minnesota, made up the second place overall team, missing first place by two points.
“It’s the first time since I’ve been at NDSU that they’ve placed as a team,” said Horticulture and Forestry Club co-adviser Harlene Hatterman-Valenti, professor and assistant department head of plant sciences. Todd West, associate professor of plant sciences, is the other club co-adviser.
Ryan Carda, a freshman agriculture and biosystems engineering major from East Bethel, Minnesota, also competed for NDSU.
In addition to the competition, the conference agenda included a speaker and tours of the ISU campus, greenhouse, horticulture research farm and display gardens.
Conference attendees also visited the Iowa State Arboretum, the Des Moines Botanical Gardens and the USDA North Central Plant Introduction Station, where they observed how germplasm is collected and stored for distribution and how genetic diversity is preserved.
“I really enjoyed being able to go to this conference as a freshman," Hagemeyer said. "It showed me many great opportunities and helped me learn many new things. I am so glad I got involved in the Horticulture and Forestry Club right away in the beginning of the year and I am looking forward to the rest of the year and years to come.”
The Mid America Collegiate Horticulture Society is a branch of the Association of Collegiate Branches within the American Society for Horticultural Sciences. The society is comprised of horticulture clubs from universities and two-year colleges in Midwest Region states, including Colorado, Kansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.
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