Southeast student Brianna Voelker receives a scholarship from Bryan Stringer, Scholarship Committee chair of the Missouri Landscape and Nursery Association.

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo., Feb. 2, 2016 A Southeast Missouri State University horticulture student was presented a $1,000 college scholarship in January from the Missouri Landscape and Nursery Association (MLNA) at the 2016 WESTERN Trade Show and Education event in Kansas City, Missouri.

Brianna Voelker, a sophomore agribusiness major, horticulture option, from Waterloo, Illinois, received the award Jan. 21.

A graduate of Waterloo High School, Voelker says she enjoyed the seminars and presentations given by nursery and landscaping businesses during the trade show.

I also appreciated getting the opportunity to network with large nursery operations that have been in the industry for generations, she said.

Also at the WESTERN, Southeast Missouri State University senior Ethan Hochstein, a senior agribusiness major, horticulture option, from Springfield, Illinois, was selected to represent Missouri on the Western Nursery and Landscape Association (WNLA) Student Advisory Council which is facilitated by Dr. Sven Svenson, Southeast associate professor of Agribusiness: Horticulture.

These students provide ideas and suggestion to the (WNLA) Board to increase and improve student participation and educational experiences at the WESTERN event, and to improve their employment opportunities in the green industries in general.

The Missouri Landscape and Nursery Association (MLNA) Education Foundation is a 501(c)3. It annually awards a $1000 scholarship to a college horticulture student enrolled in a two-year or four-year program in Missouri. Scholarship funds are raised from revenues from the annual MLNA silent auction and donations made to the MLNA Education Foundation. MLNA also supports the Future Farmers of America awards in landscape and nursery management studies with $500 annually.