Horticulture student, Leander Archer, was awarded ‘Massey University Agriculture Student of the Year’. She also won second place in the academic prizes for the best third-year grade point average (GPA) within the Bachelor of Agricultural Science.

Leander has been a recipient of HortNZ and Pipfruit NZ scholarships for several years. This year she headed the Massey Horticulture Society, helped promote careers at field events and has taken part in a number of horticulture conferences.

Luke Posthuma, who has been a Horticentre Trust Scholar for two years in a row and a HortNZ Conference Awardee, won the ‘Massey University Award for Excellence in Horticulture’. He also took out first place in the academic prizes category with the highest GPA within the Bachelor of Agricultural Science.

HortNZ senior business manager, Sue Pickering, who manages HortNZ and Horticentre Trust’s scholarship programme and works with the students, says it’s great to see the return on investment the industry is making in these young people. “Leander will enter the horticulture workforce in 2016 with Agfirst in Hawke’s Bay, and Luke has had two job offers as well as the opportunity to do honours. This benefits the industry and the students. Also look out for Matt Francis who won the 2nd year awards for academic excellence.”