Davis, Calif., August 2, 2017…For 37 enology and viticulture students throughout North America, the pursuit of scientific research and advancement just got a little easier thanks to the American Society for Enology and Viticulture’s (ASEV) awarding of $100,000 in scholarships.

Among the 37 recipients, two students: Megan Hall (Viticulture) of Cornell University, New York, and Sydney Morgan (Enology) of the University of British Columbia, Canada, were the first to receive ASEV’s new Presidents’ Award for Scholarship. Hall and Morgan each received $12,500 as a special scholarship for exceptional students who exceeded expectations of the traditional scholarship program and showed remarkable leadership potential. Additionally, ASEV awarded 35 students with scholarships totaling $75,000 to support their studies in enology and viticulture. These students, along with the 2017 Best Student Presentation Award winners, were honored at the Student-Industry Mixer, ending the 68^th National Conference with a brighter outlook for the future.

“ASEV provides a host of services to the industry, but we’re especially proud of our continuing and expanding commitment to elevating the future of this industry. Our scholarships to exceptional students all over North America are one of the many ways we help build future leaders and ensure the advancement of the wine industry. We increased our scholarship funding by 33 percent this year by introducing the Presidents’ Award for Scholarship in Enology and Viticulture and finding two amazing recipients for this honor,” said outgoing ASEV President Nichola Hall of Scott Labs.

“ASEV has really helped me along these past few years and receiving this award is a huge honor,” said Megan Hall, recipient of the ASEV Presidents’ Award for Viticulture. “This award has allowed me to meet with board members in ways I have not been able to before and be able to talk to them about opportunities. This is just the beginning, so I’m excited to see what comes next.”

“It’s such an honor to be recognized for my commitment and my research work,” said Sydney Morgan, ASEV Presidents’ Award recipient for Enology. “I have had such a great experience with ASEV. This has really opened a lot of doors for me.  I’m excited to bring other students on-board with me, especially in Canada and other regions in North America and tell them about the opportunities ASEV offers students in the wine research field. ”

In addition to the scholarships, ASEV recognized student presentations in oral, poster and flash talk formats. The following are the winners of the 2017 Best Student Presentation Awards:

Viticulture:

• Oral Presentation: Jake Uretsky, University of California, Davis, A Preliminary Study of Taxonomic and Geographic Relationships among Accessions of Vitis berlandieri and Associated Taxa
• Poster: Karla Huerta, University of California, Davis, Evaluation of Genetic Diversity in Wild Vitis from Northern and Central Mexico
• Flash Talk: Garret Stahl, Washington State University, Tri-Cities, Evaluation of Stomatal Conductance as an Irrigation Scheduling Tool in Grapevine

 Enology:

• Oral Presentation: Zachary Cartwright, Washington State University, Pullman, Reduction of Brettanomyces bruxellensis Populations from Oak Barrel Staves Using Steam
• Poster: Lingjun Ma, University of California, Davis, Tannin Reacts with SO₂ during Aging, Yielding Newly Discovered Flavan-3-ol Sulfonates in Wine
• Flash Talk: Paul Mawdsley, California Polytechnic Institute, San Luis Obispo, Effect of Timing of Cluster Thinning on Pinot noir Grapes and Wines

“I’ve noticed the quality in the student presentations submitted and presented during the National Conference is higher, making it more competitive. It’s only getting tougher to choose who to give the awards to, but that’s a good problem to have,” said Kristen Barnhisel of J. Lohr Vineyards & Wines, ASEV Second Vice President and Chair for the Scholarship Committee and Best Student Presentation Committee. “I love that I get to work with some of the best students in the country and give them a conduit to start a career in the industry through scholarships, professional development, mentorship and networking at the conference.”

The following is the list of scholarship recipients:

ASEV Presidents’ Award for Scholarship in Enology and Viticulture

• Megan Hall (Viticulture), Cornell University, New York
• Sydney Morgan (Enology), University of British Columbia, Canada

ASEV Traditional Scholarship

• Kathleen Amaral, California State University, Fresno
• Theodore Baglien, Oregon State University, Corvallis
• Jordan Beaver, University of California, Davis
• Robert Beezer, Washington State University, Pullman
• Mathias Bougreau, Texas Tech University, Lubbock
• Zachary Cartwright, Washington State University, Pullman
• Christopher Chen, University of California, Davis
• Ruiming Chen, Cornell University, New York
• Natasha Cureau, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
• Carina Duran, Oregon State University, Corvallis
• Katherine East, Washington State University, Prosser
• Laila Fayyaz, University of California, Davis
• Molly Felts, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
• Jaclyn Fiola,* Ohio State University, Columbus
• Suzanne Fleishman, Pennsylvania State University, University Park
• Ian Forest, University of Nevada, Reno
• Andrew Harner, Pennsylvania State University, University Park
• Karla Huerta, University of California, Davis
• Todd Jenkins, University of California, Davis
• Jared Johnson, Oregon State University, Corvallis
• Chase Jutzi, Oregon State University, Corvallis
• Anne Kearney, Cornell University, New York
• Yevgen Kovalenko, University of British Columbia, Canada
• Edward Kronfli, University of California, Davis
• Jerry Lin, University of California, Davis
• Xiaochi Ma, Washington State University, Pullman
• Margaret McCoy, Washington State University, Prosser
• Curtis Merrick, Washington State University, Pullman
• Andy Nguyen, University of California, Davis
• Matthew Noestheden, University of British Columbia, Canada
• Steven Schneider, Missouri State University, Springfield
• Maria Smith, Pennsylvania State University, University Park
• Jacob Uretsky, University of California, Davis
• Xuefei Wang, Washington State University, Pullman
• Runze Yu, University of California, Davis

*Recipient of the ASEV Michael Vail Scholarship

For more information about scholarships and best student presentation awards, visit www.asev.org.