Winners Announced for Fred Winter Scholarship in Horticulture

Winners Announced for Fred Winter Scholarship in Horticulture

At the May meeting of the Philadelphia Society for Promoting Agriculture, Dr. Carl Brown announced the two winners of $1,700 each for the 2023 Fred Winter Memorial Scholarship in Horticulture are Erin Quinn of Rutgers University and John Coltellino from Maryland who is currently going to school at Clemson University.

Erin recently transferred from Notre Dame to Rutgers to be closer to family.  She says, “In the next year, I would like to expand my research on amaranth and hibiscus to allow for a broader range of knowledge to be publicly available on the vegetables. After graduation, I intend to further my education in the fields of plant biology and horticulture to the extent of a PhD. I would like to continue doing research in the subjects
to expand my knowledge while also teaching others about the importance of horticulture and horticulture research.

Using my passion for herbal medicine to help other people live healthier lives is my ultimate goal. I strongly believe that anyone can improve their overall health by rethinking what they are consuming daily. Therefore, learning about vegetables and their nutrient contents is not only part of my passion for herbal medicine,but also is essential for me in reaching my career goals.”

In his application, John said, “I started at a small flower farm in high school and have since worked in many areas of horticulture including: retail,
wholesale, hydroponics, landscape management, and greenhouse production. Diverse experience has shown me which areas of horticulture I want to focus on and has shown me problems in the industry.

After graduation I want work towards becoming a greenhouse specialist at a botanical garden. When I shadowed a horticulture manager last summer, I discovered a need for better horticulture records and practices. For this reason, I want to better the field by streamlining greenhouse production and developing better practices for growing nursery materials.I also want to master propagation to adapt and advance practices for hard-to-propagate plants, which would allow for better distribution of rare plants between botanical gardens and the public.

This year, the ten applicants almost all had a GPA of 3.3 or higher along with excellence experience in various areas of horticulture.  This in turn made it extremely hard work for our panel of six judges who evaluated your applications.

Dr. Winter was an outstanding physician, a true horticulturalist, and plant breeder.  He maintained over 200 varieties of rhododendron, several of which he developed himself on his farm near Pottstown, Pa.  We expect the award winners will be exceptional horticulturalists that will follow in his footsteps.