17 November 2025 Student Jake Linklater named Young Horticulturalist of the Year

The Bachelor of Science — Conservation and Ecology student has been working away at his degree part-time while managing the Nova Natives nursery. He’s a 29-year-old father of two who came to Lincoln to gain a better understanding of the industry he loves.

His studies have taught him loads of new skills and a new way of looking at his work, which helped boost him to the top spot in the competition.

“There are certain things I learned during my studies last year that I actually use all the time at work now, such as the way to understand volumetric water content in your soil. I didn’t expect the soil physics to be so interesting and useful,” he said.

“There was a lot of stuff in the competition that came up which I wouldn’t have known unless I did those courses at uni.

“In order to have a better understanding of plant science, I needed that higher-level learning.

“I did a soil science paper last year and that really helped me understand how the nursery soil media works. There was an ecology paper I took which helped me understand the diverse aspects of biology and how they integrate together.

“It really helped me understand how it’s all put together in an applied sense. It really fascinates me.”

The competition took place over two days in Auckland. Last year it was won by Lincoln University alumna Anna England.

As well as the main title, Jake also won the Bayer Best Practice Award for scoring the most points in practical challenges, and the Horticentre Sustainability Award for his understanding and application of sustainability.

Each of the six contestants had already proven themselves in role-specific competitions earlier in the year. Jake won the Plant Producer of the Year title, which was held at Lincoln University as part of our continued support of the competition.

Second place in Young Horticulturalist of the Year was taken by Lincoln alum Nina Downer, who earlier in the year was named Young Viticulturalist of the Year.