Samuel Bibby Defends Plant Sciences Master’s Thesis
Samuel Bibby successfully defended his plant sciences master’s thesis, “Corn-Alfalfa Intercropping With Different Row Spacings”, on May 5, 2022, at North Dakota State University (NDSU). His advisor is Marisol Berti, professor and leader of the forage and biomass crop production program.
Bibby conducted an experiment to determine if seeding alfalfa with corn could increase alfalfa forage yield following corn production and provide a profitable corn crop during year one. The seeding year for alfalfa is often the least productive, providing only one to two cuttings. Bibby found intercropping alfalfa with 30-inch corn row spacing to be the most economical way to establish alfalfa compared to alfalfa seeded the year after corn or alfalfa intercropped with 60-inch corn row spacing.
Bibby is from Ettrick, Wisconsin, and has a bachelor’s degree in soil and crop science from the University of Wisconsin, Platteville. He chose to attend NDSU for his graduate degree because he was interested in the research opportunities and he liked the passion people have for their work at NDSU.
He recommends the NDSU Department of Plant Sciences to future students, saying, “I cannot recommend the department and faculty/staff enough. Everyone I have worked with has been kind and always happy to lend a hand or advice.”
During his graduate studies, Bibby was active in the NDSU Plant Sciences Graduate Student Association. He also received awards for research presentations. He was awarded second place for a poster presentation he entered in the Forages and Grazing Land Section at the 2021 American Society of Agronomy annual meeting. In 2022, he received third place for his presentation in the Agronomy and Cropping Systems section of the annual Plant Sciences Graduate Student Symposium.
Currently, Bibby is a research specialist in the forage and biomass crop production project led by Berti.
Bibby’s graduate committee members were Berti, James Anderson, Edward Deckard, and Abbey Wick.
Author: Kamie Beeson
Editor: Karen Hertsgaard
