Helge Ness was a Norwegian botanist. He was born in Rosendal, Norway

Rosendal, Norway

Rosendal is the administrative centre of Kvinnherad municipality, Norway. Its population is 944 . It is especially known for the Barony Rosendal.Rosendal has its own website at ....

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In 1889, he became the first international student to graduate from Texas A&M University

Texas A&M University

Texas A&M University is a coeducational public research university located in College Station, Texas . It is the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System. The sixth-largest university in the United States, A&M's enrollment for Fall 2011 was over 50,000 for the first time in school...

, and began to work at that university. Ness was the first botanist in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 to produce hybrid oak

Oak

An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...

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He became head of the Botanical Division of Texas Agricultural Experiment Station (now Texas AgriLife Research).

Ness was part of a group of botanists at the beginning of the 20th century who studied controlled pollination in trees and pioneered studies of tree hybridization.