Kaylee South Awarded Paul Ecke, Jr. Scholarship

Chris Beytes

Botrytis, look out! There’s a smart Ph.D. student at The Ohio State University who’s working on ways to take you down. She’s Kaylee South and she’s been awarded a $10,000 Paul Ecke, Jr. Scholarship by the American Floral Endowment to help pay for her education. Kaylee is pursuing her Ph.D. in agriculture and is researching botrytis in floriculture crops. Her focus is isolating bacteria with beneficial qualities that can be successfully applied to control botrytis.

Her future career goal is to work at a land-grant university teaching and working in research with floriculture crops. Kaylee earned her BS at the University of Georgia. She’s also a recipient of an AFE Vic and Margaret Ball Internship, which she did at the Sun Valley Group in California.

“There were a record number of applications this year, which shows the growing interest and need for AFE scholarships,” said Dwight Larimer, AFE Chairman and Education Committee Chair. “The high quality of students is a testament to their exceptional determination and passion, and I am confident these future leaders will help the industry progress.”

The Paul Ecke, Jr. Scholarship was established in 2010 and honors the late Paul Ecke, Jr. Paul recognized that creative scientists and educators are required to lead the floral industry in the 21st century and beyond. This scholarship assists in funding the education of floriculture graduate students who will become leading floricultural scientists and educators. GT