Gagnier: This Award Allows Me To Continue To Share My Passion

Earlier this summer, the American Society for Enology and Viticulture awarded 25 scholarships worth $108,000 to students so they could pursue scientific research advancing the wine industry. The scholarships went to individuals across the United States and Canada, including several right here in the Pacific Northwest.

But, the largest and most prestigious award, the President’s Award went to Washington State University’s Bernie Gagnier. Because of her leadership capacity and ongoing research efforts, she was awarded $12,500. She noted the support from the industry is humbling.

“They give this scholarship to the student, so to feel this level of support from the national wine industry, it’s the American Society for Enology and Viticulture, so for everyone to say we want to support this student, it’s awesome. And I think it’s going to allow me to grow and connect with ever more people in this area.”

The south central Washington native says it took her a while to find wine making as her passion. But with this scholarship, Gagnier said she’ll be able to give back to the industry she loves.

“It’s my way of sharing my passion with however far it can reach. I love this, I appreciate all of the work that goes into it, and now I get to share that with whoever consumes it. So I think that has always been exciting for me, and will continue to be exciting for me.”

Other scholarship winners include:

Jonathan Brumley – Washington State University, Pullman
Hannah Charnock – Brock University, Canada (ASEV Dennis Martin Scholarship Recipient)
Pierre Davadant – Washington State University, Prosser
Geraldine Diverres – Washington State University, Prosser
Lindsay Garcia – Oregon State University, Corvallis
Jared Hrycan – University of British Columbia, Canada
Cassandra Hutcheson – Texas A&M University, College Station
Angelica de Castro Iobbi – Oregon State University, Corvallis
Glycine Jiang – Cornell University, New York
Venkateswara Rao Kadium – North Dakota State University, Fargo
Mathew Lange – Oregon State University, Corvallis
Chase Lucas – Oregon State University, Corvallis
April Mahovlic – University of British Columbia, Canada
Lauren Marigliano – University of California, Davis (ASEV James Wolpert Scholarship Recipient)
Alexa McDaniel – Washington State University, Prosser
Portiaa-Anne McGonigal – University of British Columbia, Canada
Ramesh Pilli – North Dakota State University, Fargo
Tajbir Raihan – University of Kentucky, Lexington
Jeremy Schuster – Oregon State University, Corvallis
Gabriela Sinclair – University of California, Davis
Kaylah Vasquez – California State University, Fresno
Hongrui Wang – Cornell University, New York (ASEV Michael Vail Scholarship Recipient)
Nicholas Wendrick – University of Florida, Gainesville
Nikolas Wilson – University of British Columbia, Canada