Horticultural society names outstanding UWRF senior

Senior Jameson Coopman has been named the 2015 Outstanding Senior in Horticulture at UW-River Falls by the American Society for Horticultural Science (ASHS). Coopman is a senior double majoring in horticulture and Spanish.

Coopman, of Waunakee, Wisconsin, will graduate in May and has accepted a graduate assistantship at the University of Florida in the environmental horticulture program where he will conduct research on native orchid ecology and restoration.

At UWRF, Coopman has been actively involved in the Horticulture Society, including organizing a landscape renovation at the UWRF Kao House for International Activity. He also participated in an undergraduate research project using tissue culture strategies and has had two internships, the first with the Denver Botanic Gardens focusing on micro-propagation and the second with Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania that focused on conservatory management.

Students are selected for the ASHS Outstanding Senior Award on the basis of their academic achievements, leadership abilities, participation in campus and club activities and service to their department. Annually, only one student per institution is honored with this award.

In addition, ASHS recognizes students with the ASHS Collegiate Scholars Award. Students must be in the top 15 percent of their class based on academic standing (grade point average). The 2015 recipients from UWRF (all are horticulture majors except Courtney Vikeras, who is a biology major) are: Emily Balder, Cannon Falls, Minnesota; Aaron Pingel, Clintonville, Wisconsin; Peter Ault, Eau Claire, Wisconsin; Nathanael Holmes, Ellsworth, Wisconsin; Katie Eggert, Hutchinson, Minnesota; Joel Sehloff, Malone, Wisconsin; Brittany Rootes, Minneapolis, Minnesota; Sarah Kummeth, Osseo, Minnesota; Courtney Vikeras, Rochester, Minnesota; Jameson Coopman, Waunakee, Wisconsin; and Phil Martola, West Bend, Wisconsin.