FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Paige Boyle and Olivia Caillouet, a pair of Honors College students from the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences at the University of Arkansas, recently earned awards at the annual conference for the American Society for Horticultural Sciences.

Boyle won first place in the undergraduate research oral presentation competition while Caillouet was third in the undergraduate research poster presentation category.

Boyle, who is majoring in environmental, soil and water science, and minoring in horticulture, worked with microbial ecology professor Mary Savin and soil and environmental science instructor Lisa Wood. The Bentonville native is planning to pursue a master's degree in environmental, soil and water science.

Caillouet, who is majoring in horticulture, worked with University Professor of horticulture Curt Rom. The senior from Little Rock recently completed internships on an organic farm in Big Sur, California, and another organic farm in Puerto Rico.

Boyle's research and participation was supported with Bumpers College and Honors College undergraduate research grants as well as an Honors College travel grant. Caillouet was supported by grants from the Bumpers College and the Southern Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education Young Scholar Enhancement Program, and travel grants from the Honors College and the Horticulture Department Mitchener Undergraduate Research fund. 

About the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences: Bumpers College provides life-changing opportunities to position and prepare graduates who will be leaders in the businesses associated with foods, family, the environment, agriculture, sustainability and human quality of life; and who will be first-choice candidates of employers looking for leaders, innovators, policy makers and entrepreneurs. The college is named for Dale Bumpers, former Arkansas governor and longtime U.S. senator who made the state prominent in national and international agriculture.

About the University of Arkansas: The University of Arkansas provides an internationally competitive education for undergraduate and graduate students in more than 200 academic programs. The university contributes new knowledge, economic development, basic and applied research, and creative activity while also providing service to academic and professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the University of Arkansas among only 2 percent of universities in America that have the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the University of Arkansas among its top American public research universities. Founded in 1871, the University of Arkansas comprises 10 colleges and schools and maintains a low student-to-faculty ratio that promotes personal attention and close mentoring.