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MSU 2013 WSSA posters available

Thursday, February 7th, 2013

-E. Taylor-Hill

We just returned from Baltimore, MD (home of the 2013 Superbowl Champions) where we attended the 2013 Weed Science Society of America annual meeting. It was a great opportunity to look at weed related research from around the nation and beyond and to take a look at how the rise in herbicide resistant weeds seems to be impacting agriculture across the U.S. (look for a future blog on that).

Now that we are back I posted the 3 posters that we presented. Our topics included…

  • Influence of soil amendments on seed mortality of herbicide resistant Palmer amaranth
  • Volunteer glyphosate resistant (RR) corn control in RR sugarbeets
  • Cover crop influence on weed pressure in organic dry beans

Visit the Presented Research section to view the posters.

Posted in Cover Crops, Glyphosate, Herbicide Resistance, Meetings, Organic, Sugar beet, Travels, Weeds | No Comments »

Quick Pics from NCWSS in St. Louis

Monday, January 7th, 2013

-E. Taylor

In December several of us were able to attend the 67th Annual Meeting of the North Central Weed Science Society in St. Louis, MO. The trip began with an opportunity for the other graduate students and I, along with Dr. Karen Renner to tour the headquarters of Monsanto and to visit the Missouri Botanical Gardens. It was a tremendous experience to be able to interact with some of the key scientists at Monsanto and to look at some of their ongoing projects. At the meeting MSU weed science research was highlighted in several poster and oral presentations given by the students and faculty. David Powell, Ph.D. candidate with Dr. Christy Sprague, was awarded 2nd place for his poster titled “Efficacy of PRE and POST Herbicides for Controlling Multiple-Resistant Palmer Amaranth in Michigan.” During the awards banquet, I also had the honor of receiving one of the Distinguished Achievement Awards for Professional Staff (NCWSS newsletter with article). On our last full day in town we also took the opportunity to visit the top of the Gateway Arch, which was only 1 block from the meeting venue.   Below are a few photos from our trip.

Posted in Honors/Awards/Graduations, Meetings, Travels | No Comments »

Catching up…2011 NCWSS student award winners

Thursday, February 23rd, 2012

-E. Taylor

In December 2011, the MSU weed science group traveled to chilly Milwaukee, WI to attend the 66th annual meeting of the North Central Weed Science Society. One of the highlights of the meeting is the chance for undergraduate and graduate students to compete against other universities within the region with poster and oral presentations regarding their research. This year MSU was well represented at the awards ceremony, bringing 5 awards back to East Lansing!

1st place Weed Biology, Ecology and Management, oral presentationAlexander J Lindsey-97-1st-02

  • Alexander Lindsey
  • Dairy compost influence on weed competition and potato yield

1st place Mixed Student Papers, oral presentationRyan C Holmes-117-1st-02

  • Ryan Holmes
  • Row width and population effects on weed and crop development in black and small red beans

2nd place Mixed Student Papers, oral presentationAlicia J Spangler-118-2nd-02

  • Alicia Spangler
  • Differential response of common lambsquarters, Powell amaranth and sugarbeet to nitrogen

1st place Agronomic Crops, posterLaura E Bast-9-1st-02

  • Laura Bast
  • Evaluation of application program and timing in herbicide-resistant corn

1st place Undergraduate, posterDavid G Reif-1-1st-02

  • David Reif
  • Control of the parasitic weed field dodder in glyphosate-resistant sugar beets

*Thanks to Glenn Nice for providing photos from the event.

Posted in Honors/Awards/Graduations, Meetings, Travels | No Comments »

Plants in unexpected places- Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park

Thursday, February 16th, 2012

-E. Taylor

Last week the Weed Science Society of America meeting convened in Waikoloa, HI on the “Big Island” of Hawai’i. It was a great chance to caught up on the latest happenings in our field and visit with colleagues and old friends. Another benefit to being in such an extraordinary location was looking at plant life over an array of different climates,varying most in rainfall from the Kona coast (~10 inches annually) and the leeward side of the island (>300 inches annually in some areas). Hopefully over the coming weeks I will get a chance to share a few photos and stories from the trip.

One of the highlights for me was visiting the Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park. The park encompasses two of the Big Island’s five volcanoes, Mauna Loa and Kilauea. Mauna Loa, the largest volcano in the world, is active, but has not erupted since 1984. Kilauea, on the other hand, has lava currently flowing from rift zone vents. With all of the different ages of lava flows in one location there are many different stages of plant succession to see. Below are the photos of a few plants that caught my eye, several of which are from the Kilauea Iki pit crater which was a lava lake in 1959, very recent by geological standards.

Lush vegitation surrounds the Kiluaea Iki pit crater

Lush vegetation surrounds the Kilauea Iki pit crater

Ferns and fountain grass emerging from where lava stood only 60 years ago

Ferns and fountain grass emerging from where lava flowed only 60 years ago

'ohi'a lehua (Mertosideros polymorpha), a flowering evergreen tree, found in the Kiluaea Iki crater

'ohi'a lehua (Mertosideros polymorpha), a flowering evergreen tree endemic to Hawaii, found here in the Kilauea Iki crater

Root penetrating a lava tube

Roots penetrating a the Thurston Lava Tube

Other interesting links:

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Weed Olympics

Wednesday, August 3rd, 2011

-E. Taylor

Last week my fellow graduate students and I embarked on a journey to the first ever Weed Olympics, hosted by the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. Usually there are several regional competitions held during the summer, but this was the first time that everyone competed in one location. Events at the contest included: Farmer/client problems, Herbicide identification, Weed identification, Sprayer calibration, and a written Herbicide calculation exam.

MSU sent two graduate teams composed of: Ryan Holmes, Alicia Spangler, and David Powell (Go Green!) and Alex Lindsey, Laura Bast, and Erin Taylor (Go White!). The competition was fierce and though we did not place we were proud to see another team from the North Central Region take 1st place over all. Congratulations Purdue!

Weed Olympics

Weed Olympics 2

Posted in Meetings, Teaching/Education, Travels | No Comments »

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