A team of six NDSU Horticulture and Forestry Club students won the National Association of Landscape Professionals’ National Collegiate Landscape Competition team award in the “Less Than Ten Students” category. The virtual competition was held March 15-19.
Team members are Halley Bartlett, Rachel Borgert, Kevin Friedt, Matthew Keller, Elizabeth Knutson and Ethan Lorenz. Team advisors are Harlene Hatterman-Valenti, assistant department head and professor of plant sciences, and Todd West, assistant dean for academic programs and professor.
Bartlett is a landscape architecture graduate student from Kenmare, North Dakota, and plans to work as a landscape architect and arborist.
Borgert is a landscape architecture graduate student from Maple Lake, Minnesota, and plans to work in landscape architecture with a horticulture niche.
Friedt is a senior landscape management student planning to start his own landscaping business after graduation and is from Harvey, North Dakota.
Keller is a master’s degree graduate student in landscape architecture from West Fargo, who plans a career in residential landscape design.
Knutson is a sophomore horticulture student planning a research career after graduation and is from Cokato, Minnesota.
Lorenz is a freshman horticulture student from Carver, Minnesota.
The association has held the annual networking and scholarship event for students enrolled in two- and four-year colleges and universities for more than 40 years.
Competitions usually include face-to-face career fairs, workshops and competitions, including actual plant and disease identification, landscape planning and building, and equipment handling competitions.
In 2020, due to COVID-19 health and safety concerns, the event was cancelled, although a virtual event without student competitions was held in April. Usually, 600 to 800 students from 60 to 70 colleges attend the event. This year, West estimated that 35 colleges and universities competed.
This year, all activities took place virtually. Student and industry groups met through Zoom and students participated in all online competitions, including online written tests and identification challenges. The identification challenges included annual and perennial plants, flowers and foliage, interior plants, plant problem diagnosis, and woody ornamentals. Students were individually judged and scores were combined for team rankings.
West has taken groups of students to this meeting for several years and student participation increased each year until 2020. “I am proud of how well the students did this year and I look forward to taking a team and participating at future NALP events in person as soon as it is safe,” he said.
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