Syngenta Flowers awards $15,000 in scholarships

Syngenta Flowers Inc. recently awarded the 2015 Goldsmith Seeds Floriculture Business Advancement Scholarship to Jackie Wang and the 2015 Glenn Goldsmith Breeding Excellence Scholarship to Kim Shearer Lattier.

“The academic and field work that both Jackie and Kim have accomplished made them truly stand out in a very competitive field,” Scott Valentine, head of Syngenta Flowers, said. “The applications received this year were of such high quality that selecting the winners was very difficult.”

Lattier and Wang received the awards during a luncheon at Syngenta during the California Spring Trials. Both received $7,500.

Shearer Lattier is a graduate student at Oregon State University. She is working toward a master’s degree in horticulture with a focus in plant breeding and genetics. The lecturer, researcher and author will use her scholarship to advance her education in the classroom and the field.

Wang is pursuing a Bachelor of Science in public horticulture at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. She has successes in the classroom and in real-world experiences -- especially in public gardens and plant conservatories -- that mark her as a perfect recipient of the scholarship.