Shannon Still, a Longwood Program graduate fellow, has been named the first recipient of the Louise Roselle Fellowship in Public Horticulture.

Established by trustees of the Unidel Foundation to honor the wife of University President David Roselle, the fellowship will be available each spring to a rising second-year fellow with high academic standing, an excellent research program and demonstrated leadership potential.

"The new fellowship came as a complete and pleasant surprise," James E. Swasey, director of the Longwood Fellows Program, says. "It is a prestigious addition to an already outstanding program--a recognition that really enhances our program, coming, as it does, with a stipend for the individual as well as for the individual's research."

According to Swasey, the named fellowship is to honor Louise Roselle's active interest in landscape design and renovation on campus and her personal interest in gardening and horticulture. He says Still was an excellent choice as the first recipient.

"Shannon is an outstanding example of the kind of fellow we seek for our program in public garden leadership," Swasey says. "Many candidates apply, but only five or six are chosen each year. So, Shannon's competition for this award among our fine student pool was stiff."

"I was surprised and extremely happy when my name was announced as the first Louise Roselle Fellow," Still says. "All of the first-year fellows are evenly matched and deserving of the award."

Still earned a bachelor's degree in agriculture, with a major in horticulture, in 1997 from Ohio State University, where he specialized in floriculture and minored in agriculture business.

Still's thesis research for his master's degree involves the growth and flowering of the blue poppy, Mecocnopsis, at different temperatures.

"I wanted a physical science research project, one that would ideally benefit Longwood Gardens, which wants to grow this plant for its conservatory display," Still explains.

--Susan Morse Baldwin, AS '95M