{"id":1407,"date":"2026-04-17T21:32:38","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T21:32:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.utc.edu\/in-the-media\/?p=1407"},"modified":"2026-04-21T21:34:41","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T21:34:41","slug":"utc-student-earns-regional-botany-award","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.utc.edu\/in-the-media\/2026\/04\/17\/utc-student-earns-regional-botany-award\/","title":{"rendered":"UTC student earns\u00a0regional botany award"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>A Hamilton County Herald article highlights UTC graduate student Andy Wall earning the 2026 North Carolina Botanical Garden Award at the Association for Southeastern Biologists conference. Working under Professor Joey Shaw, Wall conducted extensive research at Cloudland Canyon State Park, documenting 665 plant species and identifying 28 rare species. His work provides valuable data for conservation and land management while contributing specimens to UTC\u2019s herbarium, continuing a strong tradition of student research excellence at UTC. &gt;&gt;&gt;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hamiltoncountyherald.com\/Story.aspx?id=26517&amp;date=4%2f17%2f2026\" id=\"https:\/\/www.hamiltoncountyherald.com\/Story.aspx?id=26517&amp;date=4%2f17%2f2026\">Read More<\/a>&gt;&gt;&gt;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Hamilton County Herald article highlights UTC graduate student Andy Wall earning the 2026 North Carolina Botanical Garden Award at the Association for Southeastern Biologists conference. Working under Professor Joey Shaw, Wall conducted extensive research at Cloudland Canyon State Park, documenting 665 plant species and identifying 28 rare species. His work provides valuable data for&hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"more-link-wrap\"><span><a class=\"more-link button text\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.utc.edu\/in-the-media\/2026\/04\/17\/utc-student-earns-regional-botany-award\/\"><span>Continue Reading <\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2031,"featured_media":87,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,329,76,410,48,25,22],"tags":[693,694,392,669,695],"class_list":{"0":"post-1407","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-awards","8":"category-college-of-arts-sciences-topic","9":"category-graduate-school","10":"category-hamilton-county-herald","11":"category-media","12":"category-research","13":"category-topic","14":"tag-andy-wall","15":"tag-cloudland-canyon-state-park","16":"tag-department-of-biology-geology-and-environmental-science","17":"tag-dr-gretchen-potts","18":"tag-north-carolina-botanical-garden-award","19":"entry"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>UTC student earns\u00a0regional botany award - UTC in the Media<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.utc.edu\/in-the-media\/2026\/04\/17\/utc-student-earns-regional-botany-award\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UTC student earns\u00a0regional botany award - UTC in the Media\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A Hamilton County Herald article highlights UTC graduate student Andy Wall earning the 2026 North Carolina Botanical Garden Award at the Association for Southeastern Biologists conference. Working under Professor Joey Shaw, Wall conducted extensive research at Cloudland Canyon State Park, documenting 665 plant species and identifying 28 rare species. His work provides valuable data for&hellip; Continue Reading\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blog.utc.edu\/in-the-media\/2026\/04\/17\/utc-student-earns-regional-botany-award\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"UTC in the Media\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-17T21:32:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-21T21:34:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blog.utc.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/162\/2025\/07\/Hamilton-County-Herald.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"475\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"JAy Blackman\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Hamilton County Herald\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.utc.edu\\\/in-the-media\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/17\\\/utc-student-earns-regional-botany-award\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.utc.edu\\\/in-the-media\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/17\\\/utc-student-earns-regional-botany-award\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"JAy Blackman\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.utc.edu\\\/in-the-media\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/97203dc7c03b98f61f30ae1dcb6730c3\"},\"headline\":\"UTC student earns\u00a0regional botany award\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-17T21:32:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-21T21:34:41+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.utc.edu\\\/in-the-media\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/17\\\/utc-student-earns-regional-botany-award\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":87,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.utc.edu\\\/in-the-media\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/17\\\/utc-student-earns-regional-botany-award\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/blog.utc.edu\\\/app\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/162\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/Hamilton-County-Herald.jpg?fit=475%2C400&ssl=1\",\"keywords\":[\"Andy Wall\",\"Cloudland Canyon State Park\",\"Department of Biology Geology and Environmental Science\",\"Dr. Gretchen Potts\",\"North Carolina Botanical Garden Award\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Awards\",\"College of Arts &amp; 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