Four seniors receive the Botanical Society of America Young Botanist Award

The Botanical Society of America has announced that four Connecticut College students have been awarded the Young Botanist Award for their outstanding achievements.

This year’s recipients from Conn are Sam Fuss ’23, Ellie Hollo ’23, Sam Pelletier ’23 and Matthew Yamamoto ’23. The purpose of the Young Botanist Award is to offer individual recognition to outstanding graduating seniors in the plant sciences and to encourage their participation in the Botanical Society of America.

Fuss is a botany major and has a minor in studio art. She plans to work as a teaching assistant in Acadia National Park. Hollo is a botany major and a Slavic studies minor. After graduation, Hollo will participate in a summer internship in curation and horticulture at Betty Ford Alpine Gardens in Vail, Colorado. Pelletier is a botany major with a chemistry minor and will work as a laboratory technician in Margaret Franks’ lab at Cornell after graduation. Yamamoto is a botany major and a music minor. This summer, he will work as a biological science technician doing vegetation management at Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. He will then pursue a master's degree in botany at the California Botanic Garden and Claremont Graduate University this fall. 

“Only 22 students across the country received this award. That four students at Connecticut College received it is telling of the students’ individual accomplishments and the excellence of the botany program at Conn,” said Associate Professor of Botany Page Owen. 

Each of the 22 awardees, who were selected based primarily on the accomplishments described in recommendation letters and supporting materials, received a Certificate of Special Achievement from the Society and complimentary student membership for the rest of the calendar year, and will have their names published in the Plant Science Bulletin.

Connecticut College is a private liberal arts college located in New London, Connecticut. The College's botany program is highly regarded for its research and teaching excellence and has produced many successful botanists and plant scientists over the years.