Bryan A. Champion scholarship awarded to OSU grad student

COLUMBUS – The Horticultural Research Institute and the AmericanHort foundation, in conjunction with the Ohio Nursery and Landscape Association, has named Ohio State University graduate student Coralie Farinas as its 2019-2020 Bryan A. Champion Memorial Scholarship recipient.

The funds will help Farinas continue her mission to contribute to plant disease solutions for ornamental plants. As a green industry student, Farinas holds undergraduate degrees in both horticulture science and plant biology. She is currently working on her graduate degree studying Phlox and powdery mildew with ultimate goals to provide the industry quick tools to help screen resistant lines of ornamentals susceptible to powdery mildew.

"The sum of my experiences not only proves my motivation to contribute to the advancement of the horticultural industry but offered formative experiences that deepened my commitment," Farinas said.

Farinas has either interned or volunteered with the American Phytopathological Society, Plant Pathology Graduate Student Association, National Institute of Agronomic Research and the AmericanHort Scholar program, among others. She hopes to have a career as a plant pathologist upon graduation.

For nearly 10 years, the Bryan A. Champion Scholarship Fund has been supporting the next generation of horticultural students. Bryan A. Champion was a fifth-generation nurseryman with passion for the nursery and landscape industry. As president of Herman Losely & Son, in Perry, Ohio, Champion passed away in 2011 at the age of 47, and his peers swiftly established the fund in his honor.