• W.E. Manning Memorial Scholarship Recipient •

Olivia Caillouet, 24, of Fayetteville, enrolled in the online Master of Science in Agricultural and Extension Education program to have the flexibility she needed to balance taking college classes, working as a graduate assistant, and traveling to expand her horticulture knowledge.

“The really great thing about online learning is the way it fits with my graduate assistantship,” Caillouet said. “I love the flexibility. I love the ability to start and stop lectures when I’m taking notes. That’s not something you can do in the classroom.”

Her assistantship through the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences required her to work with on-campus students within the college, she said.

Caillouet was one of four students to receive the W.E. Manning Memorial Scholarship for online U of A students in fall 2018, the first time the scholarship was awarded. She said she will use the scholarship to spend her 2019 spring break in Panama to study and compare Panamanian and United States agricultural practices.

In 2016, she studied horticulture for one month in Nampula, Mozambique, as part of her sustainability minor capstone project. In 2015, Caillouet spent two months in Adjuntas, Puerto Rico, with the Tierra Verde Project to learn about sustainable beekeeping and tropical farming.

The graduate student also served as the assistant manager for the Bentonville Farmer’s Market and has clocked more than 40 hours of community service at the Botanical Gardens of the Ozarks. She plans to pursue a doctorate degree.