NDSU plant sciences graduate students will host the 29th annual Plant Sciences Graduate Student Symposium, scheduled for March 22-23 in Fargo. Titled “Supporting Life through Agricultural Innovation,” the symposium was planned by the Graduate Student Association of the Department of Plant Sciences, and also includes students from the University of Saskatchewan and University of Manitoba. The event rotates yearly between the three universities and provides opportunities for graduate students to exchange research results and ideas.
Scheduled speakers include Wes Jackson, president of the Land Institute in Salina, Kansas, and NDSU alumni Justin Faris, a wheat geneticist at the USDA-ARS in Fargo, and John Soper, vice president of Crop Genetics Research and Development for Pioneer Hybrid.
Jackson’s keynote address, “When Ecology Comes to Agriculture,” is set for March 22 at 4:15 p.m. in the Memorial Union Prairie Rose room. He earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from Kansas Wesleyan, a master’s degree in botany at the University of Kansas and a doctorate in genetics at North Carolina State University. Jackson worked as a professor of biology and environmental studies at Kansas Wesleyan and California State University, Sacramento, before founding the Land Institute in 1976. His most recent publications include “Nature as Measure” and “Consulting the Genius of the Place: An Ecological Approach to a New Agriculture.” More information on the Land Institute can be found at www.landinstitute.org.
Faris’ presentation, “Wheat Domestication: Unlocking the Secrets to Agricultural Revolutions in the Past and Future,” is scheduled for March 23 at 8 a.m. in Loftsgard Hall Room 114.
Soper will present the closing banquet keynote address, titled “Next Generation Agriculture,” on March 23 at 6 p.m. at the Plains Art Museum in downtown Fargo.
The symposium features research presentations by graduate students from the participating universities. Topic areas are plant breeding and genetics, plant pathology, agronomy, weed science, plant ecology and physiology.
Three sessions will run concurrently from 8:45 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. on March 23, and the top three presentations in each category will receive awards at the closing banquet.
Symposium sponsors include DuPont Pioneer; CHS Foundation; NDSU Department of Plant Sciences; NDSU Graduate School; NDSU Provost’s office; Monsanto; Amity Technology; the North Dakota Barley Council; and the NDSU plant sciences research projects of Phil McClean, Mohamed Mergoum and Suzie L. Thompson.
All sessions are open to the public, except for meals and the banquet. For more information, contact Samira Mafi at samira.mafi@ndsu.edu or visit www.ag.ndsu.edu/plantsciences/graduate/gsa/symposium-2013.
NDSU is recognized as one of the nation's top 108 public and private universities by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education.