Calling all floral industry faculty, students, and department chairs: American Floral Endowment are now accepting applications for the Altman Family Scholarship and the Paul Ecke, Jr. Scholarship.
Applications are due by Feb. 1, 2021.
These merit-based, prestigious scholarships are for graduate students who have the skills and passion to become leading floricultural scientists and educators.
Applicants must be in the process of successfully completing either a bachelor's or master's degree in horticulture or a related field (e.g., agricultural engineering, entomology, agricultural marketing and economics, plant pathology, etc.) and must have the intention of pursuing an MS or Ph.D. degree on a full-time basis.
The Altman Family Scholarship was established by Ken and Deena Altman — owners of Altman Plants — who support numerous efforts to improve education and research for the industry.
They are highly appreciative of the field of horticulture and established the Center for Applied Horticultural Research as an effort to help the industry.
These scholarships help continue to inspire and enable students to pursue their dreams in the industry. “My end goal would be to serve the industry with an open-access platform for sharing that kind of information—growing guidelines for new crops, how to reduce post-harvest losses, how to increase usage for floriculture crops. Like a floriculture almanac where you can come and find this information," said one of the 2020 Altman recipients, Mason Marshall.
The Paul Ecke, Jr. Scholarship honors the late Paul Ecke, Jr., who made significant contributions to the floriculture industry and believed strongly in research and education.
He was concerned about the future of floriculture and recognized that innovative researchers and educators are necessary for the continued success of the industry.
One student will receive $5,000 for two consecutive years, providing that they continue to meet requirements for this duration and submit an annual update.
“It is really a high honor. Just being able to say that I am an AFE scholar opens up opportunities in our horticulture world," noted the 2020 Paul Ecke, Jr. recipient, Annika Kohler, when asked about how the scholarship has impacted her.
Students must apply online on or before Feb. 1, 2021, at endowment.org.
