{"id":79197,"date":"2025-12-03T03:35:14","date_gmt":"2025-12-03T03:35:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/79197\/"},"modified":"2025-12-03T03:35:14","modified_gmt":"2025-12-03T03:35:14","slug":"plant-science-students-honored-with-national-awards-fresno-state-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/79197\/","title":{"rendered":"Plant Science students honored with national awards \u2013 Fresno State Today"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fresno State seniors William Dowling, Bryan Mendoza Torres and Mariela P\u00e9rez-Garc\u00eda were honored with Golden Opportunity Scholar Awards<\/a>, the highest student honor bestowed by the American Society of Agronomy<\/a>, at its annual meeting<\/a> in Salt Lake City, Nov. 9 to 12.<\/p>\n

Fresno State received the most awards of any university this year. The event recognized 15 students from across the nation for their academic success, community and campus service, research and employment experience, future career path, potential graduate school plans and research interests.<\/p>\n

Dowling (of Fresno) has worked in the campus horticulture nursery and gained hands-on knowledge through its classes, products, research and community events.<\/a> The campus Horticulture Club<\/a> member has received the Agriculture Future of America Scholar<\/a> honor, and plans on entering the horticultural industry after he graduates in December 2025.<\/p>\n

Mendoza Torres (Cantua Creek) assists private crop consultants as a field technician with Pacific Agronomics Inc<\/a>. He has also interned with Nutrien Ag Solutions<\/a> and as an irrigation technician. After he graduates in 2026, he hopes to attend graduate school and receive his certified crop adviser license.<\/p>\n

P\u00e9rez-Garc\u00eda (Kerman) interned locally with Bayer Crop Science<\/a> this past summer at its Fresno research station, where she set up trials and gathered data on insect and weed populations in vegetable, almond and grape crops. After graduating in 2026, she plans to pursue a master\u2019s degree in plant science.<\/p>\n

Dowling and P\u00e9rez-Garc\u00eda also attended last year\u2019s conference and are members of the Plant Science Club<\/a>, which donates produce that it raises on campus to the Amendola Family Student Cupboard<\/a>. They helped the soil judging team win regional team titles in 2024<\/a> and 2025<\/a> and competed at the 2025 national soil judging event<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Besides receiving their awards<\/a>, they also competed at the conference in soil judging, crop judging and quiz bowl contests with five other Fresno State students \u2014 Andrea Contreras Cisneros, Luke Alexander Fernandes, Cristian Gutierrez, Fatima Arellano Rodriguez and Alberto Tamayo.<\/p>\n

Travel costs were covered by the American Society of Agronomy for the award recipients to attend the event, held in conjunction with the Crop Science Society of America<\/a> and Soil Science Society of America<\/a>. They had opportunities to connect with industry mentors at the event, which included thousands of scientists, professionals, educators and students.<\/p>\n

The students were accompanied on the trip by assistant professor Dr. Sangeeta Bansal<\/a>. An expert in soil health and sustainability practices and research, she also organized and moderated a graduate student oral research competition and served as a judge for a soil physics and hydrology poster contest.<\/p>\n

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