2005 UNIVERSITY GRADUATE MEDALIST
and
2005 DEAN'S GRADUATE MEDALIST, COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGY
Laurel L. May
M.S., Plant Science

Laurel May will be completing her M.S. degree with an overall 3.9 GPA while working full time as an intern for the U.S. Department of Agriculture as a marketing specialist. Her internship will convert to a full-time job when she graduates. Her experience in agriculture goes back many years. She and her husband owned a family farm growing sweet potatoes for more than 18 years while raising four sons. She completed her B.A. in plant science in 1994 and then worked for several years. After the unexpected death of her husband, she returned to school in 2002 to pursue her graduate degree. Her thesis investigated the biology, seasonal population dynamics and control of an Asian wooly aphid on hackberry trees, a common shade tree in Central California. She was awarded $97,000 in funding over a two-year period to continue her project. She is active in community service, in her church and with Boy Scouts of America.