Meet our Recipients

2023 Scholarship Recipients

Our scholarships are for students interested in post-secondary study of horticulture, landscaping, forestry, agriculture, plant sciences, and environmental science topics related to plant life: topics such as conservation of local plant species, control of invasive plants, and soil conservation. Eligible students include those in their senior year in local high schools, as well graduates from local high schools who are already attending a post-secondary institution. In May, Scholarship Chair, Leslie Keeling, announced the 2023 educational scholarships were awarded to four outstanding students, Maya Barnett, Anna Lick, Madeline Wolfe, and Olivia Simione.

Maya Barnett

Maya just finished her first year at the University of Vermont where she is studying plant biology with minors in wildlife biology and sustainable landscape horticulture. She is hoping to start undergraduate research this coming year.

At school, Maya has been very involved with the university's cycling and Nordic clubs. She has also been getting to know Vermont’s Green Mountains quite well by backcountry skiing at Bolton Valley.

After working with professional gardeners Cindy Heath and Henry Homeyer and at Gardeners’ Supply and Riverview Farm, this summer Maya is working for Randolph Mountain Club as a member of the trail crew in the northern Presidential Range. Her work will be focused on trail maintenance and construction to mitigate erosion and protect the surrounding fragile ecosystems.

Anna Lick

Anna just graduated from Kearsarge Regional High School and will be attending the University of Vermont in the fall where she will be majoring in environmental studies with a focus in environmental education. Anna was inspired to pursue this route by attending St. Paul’s School Advanced Studies Program where she took a course called Society and Sustainability.

Currently she is working at Sweet Beet Farm in Bradford as a farmer apprentice after taking a course with them through her high school. Anna plans to get involved with UVM’s sustainability, climbing, outing, and skiing clubs to help her explore what the world has to offer. Her career plans include volunteering while in Burlington to create a better environment and eventually providing environmental education to children or working in agriculture.

Anna Lick

Madeline Wolfe

Madeline is currently a sophomore at Dartmouth College, studying Geography and Environmental Studies, with focuses on sustainable agriculture and climate change. After a gap year working at Riverview Farm where she came to better understand the science required to maximize crop yields, Madeline currently is doing research on three projects: climate change impacts on irrigated agriculture; regenerative agriculture modeling; and agroecological transitions. One of Madeline’s interests is the relationship between the changes in the environment and the impact that humans have on those changes. This summer she is looking forward to taking an Agroecology class that has a lab portion at Dartmouth's Organic Farm!

On campus, Madeline is involved with the Outing Club and Club Triathlon, and she loves to hike, run, bike, and spend any free time she has outdoors. Madeline isn’t sure yet about her future plans but is considering research, education, or farming sustainably.

Olivia Simione

Olivia grew up in Grantham, NH and graduated from Lebanon High School in 2022. She is now a rising sophomore at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania where she is majoring in Environmental Science with a minor in Spanish. She identified some of her favorite freshman classes as Food & A Sustainable Society, 10 Ways to Know Nature, as well as Geology & Climate Change. Olivia is especially looking forward to taking Unity and Diversity of Biology as well as Environmental Policy next year.

Even before she started classes in the fall of her freshman semester, Olivia was working on LaFarm, the college’s 3-acre diversified vegetable production farm that grows food for the college, food banks, and community. She said that her gardening hobby that developed through working on her family’s community garden plot in Eastman quickly turned into a serious passion during her fall semester on the farm.

Olivia Simione

Olivia applied for and was hired as the Farm Apprentice for the 2023 year. This is a position in which a student works closely with the farm manager to learn all the ins-and-outs of farming, working part time during semesters and full time in the summer. This position follows a framework developed by Pasa Sustainable Agriculture* in which individuals earn a certificate after a year as a Diversified Vegetable Pre-Apprentice (DVP). After completing the DVP, individuals are eligible to enroll in a more intensive two-year program as a Diversified Vegetable Apprentice. Olivia hopes to enroll in this program in the future.

Aside from farming, Olivia is also a Composting Intern at the Lafayette Office of Sustainability, demonstrating leadership in reducing food waste and repurposing food waste by giving it a new life through composting. She was recently awarded the “Highest Honors: Emerging Leader” Hoff Award, in recognition for her leadership in strengthening the presence of the farm and sustainability at Lafayette.

*For more information about the DVP program:
https://pasafarming.org/soil-institute/farmer-training-development/diversified-vegetable-pre-appr enticeship/

YEAR	RECIPIENT	COLLEGE	MAJOR
2002	Mike Burns	University of New Hampshire
2003	Mike Burns	University of New Hampshire
2004	Lynn Wharton	Vermont School of Floral Design
2005	Carol Gage	College of Life Long Learning
2006	Kyle Cummings	University of Rhode Island	Landscape Architecture
2007	Kyle Cummings	University of Rhode Island	Landscape Architecture
2008	Kyle Cummings	University of Rhode Island	Landscape Architecture
2009	Kyle Cummings	University of Rhode Island	Landscape Architecture
2010	Riley Allen Jared Johnson	University of New Hampshire University of New Hampshire	Applied Science & Horticulture Forestry Technology/Dairy Management
2011	Samuel Nelson Carina Pappalardo Alexander Wulff	University of New Hampshire University of New Hampshire University of Maine	Forestry Technology Forestry Technology Environmental Science
2012	Keelin Banks Samuel Nelson	Green Mountain College University of New Hampshire	Sustainable Agriculture Forestry Technology
2013	Jesse Cutting Erica M. Johnson Peter J. Martin	Paul Smith's College UNH, Thompson School College of the Atlantic	Forestry Technology Horticulture Technology Biology
2014	Mary Caffrey Hannah Hibbard	UNH, College of Life Sciences & Agriculture UNH, Thompson School	Zoology Horticulture
2015	Jessica Kowalski Stacie Powers	UNH, College of Life Sciences & Agriculture UNH, College of Life Sciences & Agriculture	Environmental Conservation & Sustainable Agriculture Environmental Conservation & Sustainable Agriculture
2016	Caroline Wren	Colby College	Environmental Science
2017	Brianna Hanson Caroline Wren	University of New Hampshire Colby College	Ornamental Horticulture/Entrepreneurial Studies Environmental Science
2018	Ethan Daly Caroline Wren	Boston College Colby College	Environmental Science Environmental Science
2019	Julianne Borger Ethan Daly Shaun Kronenwetter Caroline Wren	Smith College Boston College Colby College Colby College	Environmental Science & Policy Environmental Studies Environmental Economics & Policy Environmental Science
2020	Allison Carl	University New Hampshire	Biochemistry & Environmental Science
2021	Christopher Brahan	University of Maine	Environmental Science
2022	Maya Barnett Christopher Brahan	University of Vermont University of Maine	Plant Sciences Environmental Science