The Colegrave Seabrook Foundation is pleased to be awarding their Horticultural Research Scholarship by supporting two Plant Health Undergraduate Studentships 2023 through the Royal Society of Biology.
Funding for the support of these two projects, selected jointly by the Foundation’s Trustees, working with colleagues from the Horticultural Group of the Society of Chemical Industry, comes from the Colegrave Seabrook’s collaboration with The Crispa (Richard Cahn) Charitable Trust.
Richard Cahn, the well known and highly respected figure in the horticultural business world is perhaps best remembered for creating Roundstone Nurseries and garden centre in West Sussex. However, his career in horticulture began soon after WW2 when he combined his passion for plants and innovation and established his Crispa Cress business. Crispa Cress were innovators in the salad product market, not only through growing new crops, but also how they were packaged and marketed. Richard’s family and friends have established a charitable trust to give financial support to various causes and, through this, are supporting the Colegrave Seabrook Foundation in their work to fund students studying aspects of horticulture, with particular emphasis on horticultural research.
Jeff Colegrave, Chair of Trustees at the Colegrave Seabrook Foundation said:
“This is the fourth year in succession we have supported the work of the Royal Society of Biology who coordinate some very valuable projects with potential implications for commercial horticulture. This year the two research projects we are supporting, one being run by Dr Matthew Tinsley at the University of Stirling is looking into the potential use of biostimulants to improve plant health through a plants’ resilience to enhance biocontrol efficacy. The other, being supervised by Dr Sandra Varga at the University of Lincoln is investigating how fungi improve plant health through developing the understanding entomopathogenic and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal interactions within the rhizosphere of plants.”
Mike Norris, Commercial Director of Newey Ltd.& Co and representing the The Crispa (Richard Cahn) Charitable Trust said:
“Richard was a very likeable person who had a real passion for Horticulture, the people within the industry and how to innovate to succeed. From his early days of growing crops, through his commercial plant production in Roundstone Nurseries, right through to the Roundstone Garden Centre, he was always passionate about developing innovative techniques that would improve production methods and growing standards as well as developing people. Therefore, it is very fitting that we can support this research programme through the family’s charitable trust, in memory of Richard.”
These Royal Society of Biology placements take place during the summer of 2023 and will be carried out by undergraduate students as part of their studies for a science based degree. The projects are a great way to for students to find out what it’s like to contribute to a real research project, gain valuable research experience and learn new skills to boost their CV and meet and work with scientists who can help with career development while carrying out ground-breaking horticultural research.
