Do not miss Milwaukee Area Open Days 2024!
Do not miss Milwaukee Area Open Days 2024!
Following our mission to educate members and the community about the art and science of gardening, floral design, landscape design, and horticulture while embracing best practices that promote sustainability, protect the environment, and conserve our natural resources, Garden Club of Greater Milwaukee established a scholarship in 2018.
In 2024 we granted $15,000 in scholarships offering multiple opportunities through public and private colleges, universities, and technical colleges in Wisconsin. The announcement and the application for GCGM merit-based scholarships was made available to Wisconsin students studying horticulture or plant sciences.
GCGM application process requires completing information about their educational background, employment history and internships, field work, and college transcripts. Additionally, each student was asked to submit essay describing the reason they are applying for the scholarship and specific field of study along with two letters of recommendation from professors or people involved with their field of study.
I’ve been fortunate enough to have been involved with different research applications throughout high school and my undergraduate education at UW-River Falls. I’ve worked on a range of crops including roses, apples, cherries, and turfgrass. These different genera and taxa have exposed me to a variety of breeding systems and their genetic architecture that supports them. I’ve also been introduced to multiple selection and breeding systems such as metabolomics, marker assisted selection, advanced phenotyping techniques and molecular biology.
After my undergraduate education, I plan to attend graduate school to be trained professionally in plant science, breeding and genetics. Given this knowledge and experience, I will pursue a professorship in higher education. This allows me to give back to the community who built my knowledge, to train the next generation of students, and conduct research for horticultural crops.
My career goal is to support gardeners with new varietals of ornamentals and fruits for their landscapes. This scholarship assists in funding my undergraduate education and helps me experience internships, research and classroom experience to prepare me for graduate school.
Thank you, Garden Club of Greater Milwaukee, for awarding me this opportunity
I am a junior at Ripon College, double majoring in biology and environmental studies with a minor in educational studies. My career goals align well with this scholarship program's intentions, as I am deeply passionate about pursuing a career in a botany-related field. In addition, I am driven to conserve and protect the environment using my educational background and experience. My ultimate goal is to work as an education coordinator at a nature center.
Since coming to Ripon, I have expanded my love for plants beyond gardening and am interested in environmental sciences, sustainability, and the power of education. I am involved in various clubs, organizations, jobs, and research programs that have increased my passion for plants and more specifically prairie plants. This past summer, I was in a research program at Ripon, where I researched prairie pollinators floral preferences in central Wisconsin prairies.
Also, I attended an Eriogonum Society conference in Salida, Colorado, where I fell in love with the genus Eriogonum and spent the last semester researching the genus and learning how to create herbarium collections. I am the campus greenhouse employee, and this past spring and summer, I helped to plant and grow native prairie plant species for a new prairie study garden on campus. As president of the Environmental Group of Ripon, I have organized and participated in prairie clean-ups within our campus prairie where we remove woody invasives and clear trash.
Thank you, Garden Club of Greater Milwaukee, for encouraging me to continue my botany and environmental studies journey.
My career journey has been deeply rooted in hands-on experiences and a passion for agriculture and horticulture. From working on our family farm, museum, and petting zoo, to my employment at the Flower Source Greenhouse, I have honed my skills in growing fruits, vegetables, and ornamental plants. At the greenhouse, I have gained valuable experience in plant care, propagation, and customer service, further solidifying my love for horticulture.
In addition to my work at the greenhouse, I am eagerly anticipating my upcoming summer internship at the Sturgeon Bay Peninsular Agriculture Research Station. This opportunity will allow me to delve deeper into the nuances of fruit and vegetable growing, providing me with invaluable knowledge and hands-on experience that will better prepare me for my future career aspirations.
Over the years, I have taken on increasing responsibilities, from tending to our family garden since childhood to spearheading the planning and care of extensive demonstration gardens. The creative freedom afforded by my family has allowed me to delve deeper into the study of horticulture, culminating in projects like establishing new orchards and fields of specialty crops. I have embraced the social and educational aspects of our family business. Engaging with thousands of visitors each season has sharpened my communication and teaching abilities, reinforcing the importance of agriculture in society. These experiences have laid a solid foundation for my career aspirations in production agriculture and plant research and genetics. Looking ahead, I am committed to continuing my involvement in agriculture and horticulture.
This scholarship will help alleviate financial burdens but also enable me to gain foundational knowledge at UWRF that one day will help me pursue my goals of owning a farmer’s market or conducting research to enhance fruit and vegetable genetics. With the support of my family, I am eager to expand our family business into production agriculture, offering educational experiences like U-pick fruit crops.
I am grateful for the support from the Garden Club of Greater Milwaukee. With a strong foundation in practical experience, education, and a network of support, I am ready to embrace the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead in my professional career in horticulture.
My name is Daphne Jacak and I am a sophomore student at UW-River Falls. My love for horticulture started when I was very little. I grew up on a 20-acre hobby farm and always loved to grow gardens, search for native edible plants, and experiment with plant’s taste, smell, and luster. Throughout high school I worked at Witte’s Vegetable Market who taught me how to own a family business, grow, produce, and market fruit and vegetable crops. From these experiences I decided to pursue a Horticultural degree at UW River Falls.
At River Falls I am very active in the Horticulture Society, where I currently hold the position of Senior Floral Purchaser. In this role I organize and purchase plants for sales that fund our society, design floral arrangements for events and sales on campus, and supervise plant related workshops held by the society. We also volunteer for various local businesses and events and work closely with the River Falls Garden Club for plant sales and events. With the skills gain from my education and experiences I hope to produce plants that will help beautify the world landscapes and introduce new varieties into society for others to enjoy.
My goal is to dive into the greenhouse production and/or the landscape design business. I feel these professions are a perfect combination of my interests in art, science, and horticulture. If the opportunity comes about, I would love to start my own business in designing and producing landscape varieties, annual, and perennial flowers. Seeing my professors have a passion for their own crops, I also aspire be able to introduce a new variety to the market as a breeder.
This summer I am interning at the Green Bay Botanical Garden. I am excited to learn about the industry of public gardening, gain valuable social experience, and practice my skills of leadership, teamwork, and public speaking. I look forward to producing plants that bring smiles to growers and will become a lasting beauty in the world around me.
I want to thank the Garden Club of Greater Milwaukee for their generous scholarship and encouragement as I pursue my passion in Horticulture.
I am so thankful to be receiving the Garden Club of Greater Milwaukee Scholarship this year. After I graduate college, my goal is to get a position working as a soil scientist for the Federal Government whether it be through the US Department of Agriculture, the Bureau of Land Management, or the Department of Interior. My goal as it relates to the Garden Club is to learn about, protect, and conserve the environment. I have a passion for soil science and how it directly impacts the crops, flowers, and trees we grow. I want to use the knowledge I have gained throughout college to help farmers and landowners manage their land to prevent soil erosion,
maintain high soil fertility, and promote pollinators with the re-introduction of native plant species. Throughout college I have had many opportunities to really get into what I was studying and to join related clubs. I am currently an officer for the Soil and Water Conservation Society Chapter on campus. I am the research coordinator and am continuing the twenty year research project that the club has been working on for 9 years now on rotational grazing practices on a local farm.
I am employed at the pedology lab I have completed my own research project with some other students. We looked for spodosol development in Schmeeckle Reserve and determined if the portable x-ray fluorescence is an acceptable diagnostic for determining spodic material presence. I am also an active member of the soil judging team and competed in Oklahoma for the national competition this year and went to Illinois for the regional competition in October. Soil judging has been extremely beneficial because it allows me to look at soils from around the United States
and understand how texture, color, structure, parent material, slope position, etc. affects soil development and how the land can be effectively used. Overall, I’ve had a great experience at UWSP this far and am excited to finish one more semester and graduate in December of 2023.
Catherine is a 4.0 sophomore at St. Norbert College with a double major in environmental science and studio art. She has proven herself adept at finding the connections between the two fields and making her insights accessible to a broad public. Her studies are focused on an exploration of science communication, and helping others understand the beauty and the botany that surrounds them.
Not only is Catherine an astute observer of the natural world and a gifted artist, but she has a knack for sharing her insights and discoveries with others. Peers and faculty in other fields praised Catherine’s presentation of her summer research work. Faculty at St. Norbert wrote outstanding recommendations describing her as “an ambassador for the complexities of ecology and the essentialness of art in our contemporary lives.
Catherine is an artist whose work helps instill in the public an
appreciation for the natural world.” Catherine shows a true desire for pursuing a career in science communication and sustainability by merging her passions and talent in both environmental science and art. She feels introducing scientific information to a wider audience is her life’s work. By using visuals to inspire appreciation for the natural world, her goals align well with the principles that drive the mission of the Garden Club of Greater Milwaukee, the successor to the Milwaukee Art Museum Garden Club
Hayden’s application with his credentials, experience and goals was exceptional. His interest in horticulture as a career was established as a child. After graduating from Neenah High School, he attended Fox Valley Technical College for one year and graduated on the Dean’s List with a 3.8 GPA as a Horticultural Technician. He went on to UW River Falls and continues to earn honors and will complete a bachelor’s degree in Professional Horticulture. Hayden plans to graduate in spring 2022.
Hayden is currently the president of Horticulture Society on campus, a club for students involved in the horticulture department that competes regionally at (MACHS) Mid America Collegiate Horticulture Society. They also hold fundraising events, meet with industry professionals, and overall share the love of plants. Currently he is employed at Harrington’s Greenhouse in Ellsworth, WI where they grow flowering annuals, vegetables, and ornamentals. This summer Hayden will be focusing on an internship with the city of River Falls Public Works, along with summer classes. He will be working closely with Public Works to help manage the parks department along with helping them design some garden bed features. Hayden hopes to one day own and operate his own greenhouse growing bedding annuals, ornamentals, and perennials.
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