DMGA Awards Scholarships for 2011-2012 School Year

Ms. Andrea McMullin and Mr. Jamari Linder each received a five hundred dollar scholarship to use toward their work on horticulture degrees.  Both Andrea and Jamari are DeKalb County residents who attend Gwinnett Technical College.

Andrea McMullin grew up in Delaware, raising and preserving vegetables for the family’s use.  She moved to upstate New York and developed perennial beds in addition to continuing growing vegetables.  Her move to Atlanta 3 years ago was a drastic change in climate, soils, and plants.  Andrea discovered the horticulture program at Gwinnett Technical College a year ago, and has been taking classes ever since.  Her interest is Landscape Design, and her favorite classes were woody and herbaceous identification and design classes.   Her favorite plant is the Japanese tree peony, which she was delighted to discover can be grown in DeKalb County.  Andrea plans to open a small garden design business in the next year or so.

Jamari Linder grew up in Ellenwood, Georgia, and is very familiar with the successes and problems of growing plants in our climate.  He has been gardening for the past six years, starting when he was fourteen years old.  He attributes his interest in gardening to his father and brother, both of whom have strong eyes for detail in the landscape.  Jamari is in the Environmental Horticulture program at Gwinnett Technical College.  His favorite class was Landscape Design Principles.  Dragon wing begonias, fatsia japonica and weeping willows are his favorite plants.  Jamari plans on becoming a Landscape Architect and expanding the landscape business he currently runs with his brother, J. Linder Design and Consultants.

DMGA is also proud to have contributed $500 in April 2012 to the Georgia Master Gardener Scholarship Fund.  The purpose of the Fund is to provide scholarships for students pursuing degrees at the University of Georgia, College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, in the Department of Horticulture.  The  University of Georgia Foundation will administer the scholarship fund.  Total deposits of $25,000 must be accumulated before the first Master Gardener Scholarship can be awarded. The scholarship endowment is currently over 60% funded.

Previous Scholarship Winners

2010-2011 school year

Nathan Wilson, UGA, received a $1000 scholarship.  Nathan has been gardening since he was old enough to dig a hole in the ground. As a child he enjoyed watching Walter Reeves on television, but his most significant mentor was his step-grandfather who helped him start his first vegetable garden.  At UGA, Nathan found Identification of Woody Plants to be one of his better courses—a hard course, but one that gave him knowledge and experience he will use for a lifetime.  Nathan’s ideal job will include teaching others horticultural skills. He believes that knowledge of plants, particularly edible ones, helps people maintain their independence.

Candler Woods, UGA, received a $1000 scholarship.  Candler's studies at UGA include working at the trial gardens as part of the UGA Trial Garden Sustainability Program.  As he grew up, his dad kept him busy with home gardening tasks, imprinting him with a love of the botanical world.  However, it was when he traveled to Greece as a high school student that Candler “was bitten by the gardening bug.”  Seeing how much could be grown in a small space awakened his interest in horticulture.  In the future he looks forward to participating in and promoting public community gardens.

Glyana Shine, Gwinnett Tech,  received a $500 scholarship.  Glyana was raised on a farm, but her love of plants developed as she spent time with her mother-in-law in her flower gardens.  As an eighteen wheel driver, Glyana has observed horticulture practices in varied climates and over many years.  From these observations and her studies at Gwinnett Technical College, she has concluded that organic gardening must be the way of the future.  Upon completing her studies, Glyana plans to build a greenhouse and stock it with unique dish gardens. She’ll start a business called "Live and Love," an apt description for a company she hopes will blend a love for people and a love for the earth on which they live.

Tony Gobert, Gwinnett Tech, received a $500 scholarship.  Tony grew up on a farm in Louisiana at a time when the garden provided a major part of a family's food supply.  Inspired by his mother and father, he developed a special bond with his family and the earth at an early age.  His studies at Gwinnett Technical College follow a career that included college, the U.S. Army, GE, and GTE.  Tony hopes to see more local urban gardens because the health of our children and grandchildren can be improved by the consumption of more fresh vegetables.  He is interested in the efficient capture and usage of water as it benefits our environment and the quality of our fruits and vegetables. 

2009-2010 school year

Kate Cassidy, a Senior at The University of Georgia, received a scholarship for $1000.  Kate is from Rome, Georgia.  With a grandmother who was a farmer, Kate has been gardening since she was three years old.  After starting out as a chemistry major, her main interest became organic farming.  Kate's favorite course was Post Harvest Biology.  She would advise older gardeners against getting too excited about new varieties, adding there's nothing wrong with sticking to tried and true plants. 

Catherine Buckley, a second year student at Gwinnett Technical College and a resident of DeKalb County, received a scholarship for $500.  She discovered her special interest in gardening after a legal career and motherhood by volunteering at the Coralwood School and Diagnostic Center, a public school dedicated to children with special needs. Among her projects at Coralwood have been a sensory garden and outdoor classroom as well as the recently opened outdoor trail.  Catherine became a DeKalb Teacher Master Gardener in 2007.

2008-2009 school year

Clifford Brock, a General Horticulture student at The University of Georgia, received a scholarship for $1000.  Clifford is pursuing a degree in the Horticulture program and has been gardening since he was ten years old.  His primary horticultural interest is in woody ornamentals, and his favorite class to date is the Woody Ornamentals course with Dr. Tim Smalley.  He returned to UGA after a few years away from college, where he had previously started a degree in music composition.  Clifford is looking at employment options for after he graduates in December of 2009.

Christopher Rigole, an Environmental Horticulture student at Gwinnett Technical College and a resident of DeKalb County, received a scholarship for $500.  Christopher is majoring in Environmental Horticulture, a 2 year program at Gwinnett Technical College.  He will receive an Associate in Applied Science Degree when he completes his studies at the end of this summer. Chris left a career in IT in order to start a  program that will get him out of a cubicle and outdoors.  He particularly likes the landscape design aspect of environmental horticulture, and has taken classes in landscape design, botany and woody plant ID in his one and a half years of study.  Chris is working full time to put himself through the Gwinnett Tech program.

2007-2008 school year

Sean Bloszies, a General Horticulture student at The University of Georgia, received a $1000 scholarship.  Sean's goal is working towards a more sustainable industry and to be in organic production.  He would like to pursue the new Certificate in Organic Horticulture, a recent introduction at UGA, after he graduates in the Spring of 2008.  Sean grew up in Columbus, Georgia.  A dream job for Sean would be to work at Callaway Gardens.

Marjorie Poole, an Environmental Horticulture student at Gwinnett Technical College and a resident of DeKalb County, received a $500 scholarship.  Marjorie will receive an Associate in Applied Science Degree when she completes her studies.  Marjorie left a corporate sales career in order to pursue her lifelong interest in growing plants.  She likes the hands-on aspect of environmental horticulture, and has taken classes in Botany and Landscape Design in her one and a half years of study.

2006-2007 school year

Lara Jackson, a horticulture student in her junior year at The University of Georgia, received a $1000 scholarship.  Lara began her studies at Georgia State University in Atlanta before transferring to UGA. She is interested in finding her niche in the cut flower industry and would like to combine that with her interest in raising greenhouse plants.  Lara's dream is to have a flower shop with greenhouse attached.  To that end, she is taking Dr. Allan Armitage's Greenhouse Crop Production course and has also attended his Woody Plant ID course.

DMGA members are honored to be assisting in the education of the next generation of horticulture professionals.