January 23, 2024
Graduate student Shailesh Raj Acharya presented a poster titled “Genetic Architecture of Salinity Tolerance in Field Peas” at the 2024 NPGA Annual Convention. The event was organized by the Northern Pulse Growers Association and held in Minot, ND.

The Northern Pulse Growers Association is a nonprofit association representing dry pea, lentil, chickpea, lupin and fava bean growers from Montana and North Dakota. The Northern Pulse Growers Association strives to increase pulse producers profitability through education, research, domestic and international marketing and government relations.

September 01, 2023
Graduate student Gurminder Singh was selected to receive the Graduate Student Travel Award to present his research at the ACS Tri-Societies (ASA-CSSA-SSSA) International Annual Meeting in St. Louis, Missouri. The ASA, CSSA, SSSA International Annual Meeting offers a chance for leading scientists, researchers, educators, policymakers, students, exhibitors, and government institutions to gather to discuss cutting-edge developments in agronomy, crops, and soil science and features groundbreaking research. The meeting includes scientific sessions, workshops, poster Sessions, an exhibit Hall, and student-focused programming.

June 28, 2023
Gurminder Singh was selected as a recipient of the 2023 GPB Graduate Research Award. The financial assistance he received significantly advanced his research, and he is grateful for this recognition and support from the NDSU Genomics, Phenomics, and Bioinformatics (GPB) program. Additionally, Singh was chosen as an Encompass Scholar for the 2023-24 academic year. The Encompass Scholars program, sponsored by Bayer Crop Science, offers graduate students a unique opportunity to engage in professional development and industry networking.

March 3, 2023
Graduate student Gurminder Singh was recently awarded the prestigious Gerald O. Mott Meritorious Graduate Student Award in Crop Science. Singh, a Ph.D. student in Genomics, Phenomics, and Bioinformatics program at NDSU, focuses his research on cloning the tan spot susceptibility gene in wheat. 

Singh is very honored to have been selected. "I am grateful for the support of my department and mentors, and I am inspired to continue pursuing excellence in my field and making meaningful contributions to crop science research."

The Gerald O. Mott Meritorious Graduate Student Award in Crop Science recognizes top-notch graduate students pursuing advanced degrees in crop science disciplines. Departments select students based on academic achievements, research and teaching contributions, leadership accomplishments, service activities and personal qualifications.  The award is offered by the Crop Science Society of America (CSSA) and recipients receive a certificate and are recognized in the CSA News.  The award honors the first CSSA President Gerald O. Mott, who trained 75 graduate students during his 45 year career at Purdue University and the University of Florida. Many of his students have become eminent forage scientists.

April 12, 2023
Graduate student David Adeleke was recently awarded with a travel fellowship for the Great Lakes Bioinfomatics Conference (GLBIO) 2023. GLBIO is organized by the Great Lakes Bioinformatics Consortium to provide an interdisciplinary forum for the discussion of research findings and methods. An important goal for the conference is to foster long term collaborative relationships and networking opportunities within the domain of computational approaches to biology. The program will include oral presentations, poster presentations, invited keynote speakers and tutorials.

January 29, 2023
Graduate student Peter Beerbower was selected to receive the Graduate Student Travel Award to present his research at the 2023 IWGC (International Weed Genomics Consortium) Annual Meeting in Arlington, Virginia. The event is designed to provide resources, tools, and training to those who wish to expand their research efforts into the field of weed genomics, with the goal of both synergizing ongoing efforts and increasing the number of scientists engaged in this exciting new frontier.

Peter Beerbower is currently a PhD student under Michael Christoffers in the Plant Sciences department, working on the generation of protoplasts from the pigweed species waterhemp, with the aim of completing CRISPR-mediated gene editing to reverse the mutation of a gene linked to ALS-inhibiting herbicide resistance within waterhemp populations. Additionally, Dr. Yan has described him as a "veteran" of the program, as he completed his master's at NDSU in the GPB program (when it was only Genomics and Bioinformatics) under Dr. McClean, where he helped map a bean rust resistance gene within common bean.