2018 Scholarship Winner
Amanda WoodhamsWe are very pleased to announce the winner of the 2018 EWHA Dawn Fleming Student Scholarship is Amanda Woodhams.
Amanda is building her foundational horticultural knowledge for a life working with plants. She gained the skillset of a tree climbing arborist having completed a Certificate 3 in Arboriculture at Melbourne Polytechnic in 2017.
To cap off her training she was awarded the Victorian Apprentice (Trainee) of the Year at the 2018 Victorian Training Awards.
Amanda is on track to complete an Associate Degree in Urban Horticulture at the University of Melbourne and a Diploma of Arboriculture at Melbourne Polytechnic in November 2019. These qualifications will give her the skills of a consulting arborist with a broad range of horticultural knowledge.
Amanda has also entered her fourth year working at Cruden Farm, the much loved garden and home of the late Dame Elizabeth Murdoch now open to the public. She is responsible for planting out & developing the exquisite perennial borders in the Walled Garden as well as hedging, pruning, tree planting and cultivating the kitchen garden.
This year she has been singled out within her team to begin conducting large tours.
Amanda’s dedication to her craft is testament in her 2018 self-funded trip to visit the great gardens of the UK such as Great Dixter, Lost Garden of Helligan, Eden Project and RHS Wisley.
Whilst travelling she attended the Beth Chatto Garden Symposium to hear garden luminaries such as Dan Pearson and Olivier Filippi. She finished her trip with a five day intensive workshop on Tree Anatomy illustration delivered by Sarah Simblet at Oxford University.
Amanda’s lecturers note that her enthusiasm is ever present as is her “support for her fellow students”. At the recent Victorian Tree Climbing Competition Amanda volunteered, judging more than 56 tree climbers. Amanda’s industry involvement and communication skills will hold her in good stead as an ambassador in a male dominated arena of horticulture.
Amanda hopes to one day “manage one of Australia’s great, mature landscapes open to the public for community enrichment.”
On receiving the news Amanda wrote: “What joyful news to receive! This award is an affirming signpost during these foundation years of building my horticultural skills and plant knowledge. In a practical sense this award enables me to fund a trip to the Arboriculture Australia Conference in 2019 – a place I’ll be able to learn cutting edge techniques for tree care and urban forestry as well as meet with more senior tree care professionals who can one day mentor me.”
