Charleston, W.Va. (WVDN) – Four in-state students attending West Virginia University (WVU) studying landscape and horticulture are receiving $5,000 each, thanks to the West Virginia Nursery & Landscape Association (WVNLA) Marcus W. Rennix scholarship program. The WVNLA board of directors approved their applications at its October 22 meeting.
Robert Gompers, WVNLA president who owns Highland Landscaping in Buckhannon, W.Va., said the WVU scholars will be recognized at the association’s February 18, 2026, Winter Symposium in Charleston. “We hope each of these Mountain State scholars will stay in West Virginia after graduation and contribute to our thriving profession.”
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Sophia Folwell of Williamstown, a senior majoring in Landscape Architecture and minoring in Sustainable Design. She spent the past summer interning with Scott Getz, a licensed independent landscape architect in Charlotte, N.C.
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Reagan Rowland of Charles Town, a senior studying Landscape Architecture.
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Joshua Cross of Summit Point, a senior majoring in Landscape Architecture, who has worked the past few summers at Reading Landscapes in Winchester Va.
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Cameron Mahar of the Eastern Panhandle, a junior majoring in Landscape Architecture and Environmental and Community Planning. She has provided analysis and restoration of Bathtub Gully in Morgantown and planning and along the Elk River Trail corridor in Braxton County.
Julie Robinson, WVNLA executive director, said the association prioritizes scholarships to West Virginia citizens wherever they are studying to help boost the nursery and landscape industry. The Marcus W. Rennix scholarship applications are taken via the WVNLA website on a rolling annual basis. Applicants seeking scholarship funding must be studying horticulture, landscape architecture, or nursery and greenhouse management. She said students must be in-state residents who have completed half the required courses in ornamental horticulture or landscape architecture and maintained at least a 2.5 grade point average.
Registration information for the WVNLA’s February 18 Winter Symposium is at https://wvnla.org/wvnla-events/winter-symposium-2025/.
