University, Stockbridge Students Score at National Collegiate Landscaping Competition

Team members from left: Mike Davidsohn, Dan Nelson, Camron MacDougall, Ben Liebman, Nathan Carlino, Nate Lawson, Michael Tilton, Dylan Northrup, Genevieve Shepard, Kevin Atkinson, Michaela Elliott, Cory Rebello, Jack Mazzone, Matt Nelson
Team members from left: Mike Davidsohn, Dan Nelson, Camron MacDougall, Ben Liebman, Nathan Carlino, Nate Lawson, Michael Tilton, Dylan Northrup, Genevieve Shepard, Kevin Atkinson, Michaela Elliott, Cory Rebello, Jack Mazzone, Matt Nelson

A team of 13 students from majors across campus earned 15th place overall for the university in competition at the National Collegiate Landscaping Competition (NCLC), held March 14-17 at Alamance Community College in Graham, North Carolina.

More than 700 horticulture and landscape students from more than 60 colleges and universities competed in 30 real-world competitive events.

Four UMass Amherst and Stockbridge School of Agriculture students placed in the top 100:

  • 18 Matt Nelson (landscape contracting, sustainable community design)
  • 31 Ben Liebman (landscape contracting)
  • 57 Genevieve Shepard (landscape contracting, landscape architecture, theater)
  • 60 Dan Nelson (turfgrass science and management)

Students also ranked highly in team competitions:

  • 1st Place Maintenance cost estimating (65 teams competed) Dan Nelson
  • 1st Place Landscape plant installation (59 teams competed) Matt Nelson, Ben Liebman), Camron MacDougall (landscape contracting)
  • 2nd Place,3D Exterior landscape design (27 teams competed) Genevieve Shepard
  • 2nd Place Arboriculture Techniques (32 teams competed)– Michael Tilton (natural resource conservation), Cory Rebello (arboriculture and community forest management)
  • 3rd Place Hardscape Installation (40 teams competed) Matt Nelson, Ben Liebman

“These are some amazing scores,” said Michael Davidsohn, senior lecturer in landscape architecture. “They show the strength of our students’ education here at UMass and in the Stockbridge programs as well as the professional experience they gain from their internships.”

Organized by the National Association of Landscape Professionals, the NCLC is an annual competition and networking event for students in horticulture and landscaping majors from two- and four-year colleges and universities across the U.S. Participants in the competition complete a variety of tasks related to landscape design, construction and management.

“We are fortunate that our team is supported by the Massachusetts Association of Landscape Professionals, Massachusetts Arborists Association, corporate sponsors and many alumni,” Davidsohn said.

He said one of the team’s biggest supporters has been the landscape contracting firm R. P. Marzilli & Co., founded by alumnus Robert Marzilli, which this year awarded the RP Marzilli Scholarship to Michael Tilton.