Penn State Honors Ag Leaders with 2025 Leadership Awards

By Blake Jackson

Agricultural leadership took center stage at the Penn State Ag Council’s fall meeting in State College, where two distinguished professionals were honored with the 2025 Leadership Awards.

This year’s honorees include Jim MacKenzie, owner of Octoraro Native Plant Nursery, and Kelly Shenk, agricultural adviser with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Each received a Penn State Nittany Lion statuette, and their names were added to a permanent display on the University Park campus.

Troy Ott, dean of Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, praised the awardees for their contributions to Pennsylvania agriculture. “Our award winners exemplify the highest standards of leadership in Pennsylvania’s agricultural community,” Ott said. “Acknowledging their achievements highlights the essential role leadership plays in advancing the industry and strengthening our communities.”

MacKenzie, co-owner of Octoraro Native Plant Nursery in Kirkwood, was recognized for his decades-long dedication to promoting native plants and environmental restoration. A longtime member of the Pennsylvania Landscape and Nursery Association, MacKenzie has served on its board of directors and government relations committee.

MacKenzie also served as vice chairman of the state Department of Environmental Protection’s statewide water resources committee and now sits on the board of the Center for Plant Excellence.

“Jim is a visionary,” said Greg Kirkham, council president. “With Mark Gutshall, he started the nursery, growing mid-Atlantic native trees and shrubs for what he saw as a developing need for plants for riparian buffers and environmental restoration.” In addition to leading one of the region’s premier nurseries, MacKenzie donates plants to schools and nonprofits to educate youth about native ecosystems.

The Leadership in Action Award was presented to Shenk, who has spent over 30 years with the EPA, serving as the agriculture adviser for its mid-Atlantic region. Shenk has played a key role in the Chesapeake Bay Program and served on committees for the Agriculture in Balance and Pennsylvania in the Balance conferences.

“Kelly has been instrumental in the success of these programs,” Kirkham said. “She has devoted years to building partnerships with federal and state agricultural agencies and the agricultural community to find collaborative solutions to achieving the agency’s shared goals of vibrant agriculture and clean water.”

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