The full 2021 WSSA awards program can be accessed here.
OUTSTANDING EXTENSION AWARD
Industry Sponsor: Corteva Agriscience
JANE M. MANGOLD
Jane Mangold is a Professor and Extension Invasive Plant Specialist in the Department of Land Resources and Environmental Sciences at Montana State University in Bozeman, MT. She has been in this position since 2008; prior to that she worked as a research scientist for USDA-Agricultural Research Service in Burns, OR. Her degrees are from Iowa State University (B.S. in Biology, 1994) and Montana State University (M.S. in Abused Land Rehabilitation, 1997; Ph.D. in Land Resources and Environmental Sciences, 2004).
Jane’s Extension and research program focuses on ecology and management of invasive plants on pasture, range, and wild lands. Much of her time is spent working on non-native annual grasses, but she has also researched and taught others about a variety of invasive and weedy species including spotted knapweed, hoary alyssum, houndstongue, field bindweed, tall buttercup, western salsify, non-native thistles, and perennial non-native grasses like crested wheatgrass and smooth brome.
During her tenure at MSU she has presented at nearly 400 Extension programs and in every county in Montana, been presenter or co-author on 58 conference presentations, and invited to give 44 additional presentations; she has published 46 Extension publications and 49 peer-reviewed journal articles. Jane has provided service and leadership at the university, state, and regional level. Some recent highlights include MSU Extension Program Leader for Agriculture and Natural Resources and a member of the Montana Invasive Species Council. Jane has served on various committees and the board of directors for Western Society of Weed Science. She was an Associate Editor for Invasive Plant Science and Management (2014-2019) and Journal of Rangeland Ecology and Management (2008-2010). She also served as a guest editor for a special issue of the journal Agronomy. Awards have included Outstanding Young Range Professional in 2009 from the Society for Range Management, Outstanding Early Career Weed Scientist in 2013 from Western Society of Weed Science, and the Presidential Award in 2013 from the Montana Weed Control Association. The MSU Extension IPM team, including Jane, won the Western Extension Directors Association Award of Excellence in 2020.
OUTSTANDING RESEARCH AWARD
Industry Sponsor: Corteva Agriscience
MITHILA JUGULAM
Mithila Jugulam is a Professor (Weed Physiology) in the Department of Agronomy at Kansas State University (KSU). She received her B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in Agriculture in India. She worked as a Scientist with Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) before obtaining her Ph.D. degree and postdoctoral training at the University of Guelph, Canada. She joined KSU in 2011.
Jugulam’s research program is internationally recognized for increasing our understanding of the evolution and fundamental mechanisms of herbicide resistance in weeds. Her research also focuses on the effect of climate change factors on herbicide efficacy, consequently weed management. She is an award-winning teacher with the responsibility to teach graduate and undergraduate courses related to herbicide physiology, molecular biology and molecular cytogenetics at KSU and also internationally. She has served as major/ co-major advisor for 13 MS and PHD students and 10 postdoctoral fellows/visiting scholars. She also served on supervisor committee of 9 graduate students.
Jugulam is a recipient of several awards, including, Outstanding Scientist Award- Sigma Xi ( KSU); Distinguished Achievement Award (Research) – NCWSS; Fulbright Specialist Award; Outstanding Research Award (Gamma Sigma Delta-KSU), KSU-College of Agriculture Excellence in Graduate Teaching Award, Faculty Development Award, and Academic Excellence Award (twice). Mithila is an active member of several professional societies including IWSC, WSSA, NCWSS, and WSWS.
Jugulam has authored or co-authored a career total of >80 peer-reviewed publications in high-impact journals including PNAS, Plant Physiology, Scientific Reports, Weed Science and Pest Management Science. She also edited a book “Biology, Physiology and Molecular Biology of Weeds.” She is currently on the Editorial Board for Pest Management Science, Weed Science journals. For more information about Mithila Jugulam’s lab and her publications, please access the following link: https://www.agronomy.k-state.edu/people/faculty/jugulam-mithila/
OUTSTANDING GRADUATE STUDENT
Industry Sponsor: Corteva Agriscience
ANIRUDDHA MAITY
Aniruddha Maity is a Ph.D. candidate with Dr. Muthukumar Bagavathiannan at Texas A&M University-College Station. Maity’s research interests include weed seed biology and ecology, herbicide resistance evolution, gene flow, and integrated weed management. His PhD dissertation research objectives included characterization of diversity for the weediness traits among the ryegrass accessions collected from across the Texas Blacklands region wheat fields; determination of herbicide resistance and its association with phenotypic traits; and elucidation of the impact of environmental stressors such as CO2, drought, and temperature on the weediness traits of ryegrass. Further, Maity investigated molecular mechanisms governing seed shattering in ryegrass using the genotyping by sequencing (GBS) approach.
Maity has received several competitive scholarships, fellowships, and awards at the institutional, national, and international levels throughout his career. As part of the 2019 Endeavour Leadership Award from the Government of Australia, Maity visited the Australian Herbicide Resistance Initiative (AHRI) at the University of Western Australia, where he was mentored by Dr. Hugh Beckie on a project investigating the adaptive characteristics of ryegrass accessions collected in Western Australian Wheat Belt, in comparison with the Texas Blacklands accessions. He was chosen as the 2019 Outstanding Graduate Researcher at the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, and the recipient of the 2020 Dean’s Outstanding Graduate Student Award from the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, TAMU.
Maity serves as a Scientist at the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (Indian equivalent to USDA-ARS). He received a B.Sc. from Uttar Banga Krishi Viswavidyalaya and an M.Sc. from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, India. Maity is an active member of many science societies including ASA-CSSA-SSSA, Weed Science Society of America, Indian Society of Genetics and Plant Breeding, and Indian Society of Weed Science He has authored or co-authored more than 30 articles in leading peer-reviewed journals in his area and several are currently in review/being developed. He also produced a number of popular and extension articles, book chapters, training manuals, and website contents. His publications have so far received 211 citations. Maity leads various student and professional groups in different capacities. He loves cricket, soccer, poetry, and political debate during his leisure time.
OUTSTANDING TEACHER AWARD
Industry Sponsor: Syngenta Crop Protection
KATIE JENNINGS
Katie received a B.S. degree in horticulture from the University of Maryland, and a Master of Science and PhD in weed science from North Carolina State University. She worked in industry with American Cyanamid and BASF as a Field Development Rep and a Project Development Manager. Katie is an associate professor and leads the research and extension program for weed management in vegetable and small fruit crops at North Carolina State University.
She maintains an active research program focused on control of Palmer amaranth, nutsedge species, and other troublesome weeds in vegetable and small fruit crops. She has published over 90 peer-reviewed scientific journal articles, 22 extension publications, 119 abstracts, and 6 book chapters.
Katie does not have a formal teaching appointment. However, she is often invited to lecture in courses in the Departments of Horticultural Science and Crop and Soil Science. She works with growers of over 20 vegetable and 4 small fruit crops, crops that are valued at over $650 million. Much of her work has been directly adopted by growers in North Carolina and many other states.
Katie has mentored 16 Master of Science and 7 PhD students and has served on many graduate committees. Her students have been very successful as they have won 75 awards for oral and poster competitions at the Southern Weed Science Society (SWSS), Weed Science Society of NC (WSSNC), National Sweetpotato Collaborators Meeting, the American Society of Horticultural Science, and the American Society of Enology and Viticulture; the SWSS Enrichment Scholarship, competitive national and international travel grants to conferences, and various awards at the SWSS and Northeastern Weed Science Society Weed Contests, and Outstanding Graduate Student Awards at the SWSS, and WSSNC weed meetings. Her students are professionally working in farming, academia, and industry.
Katie places a priority on education of growers through her extension program with a focus on reducing their risk from weeds. She has prioritized the development of students in her graduate education program so they are prepared professionally when they graduate.
OUTSTANDING PAPER: Invasive Plant Science and Management
Industry Sponsor: Cambridge University Press
Evaluation Landscape Characteristics of Predicted Hotspots for Plant Invasions Invasive Plant Sci Manag 13 (3): 163-175
ADRIAN LAZARO-LOBO
Adrian Lazaro-Lobo, Kristine O. Evans, and Gary N. Ervin
I received my bachelor’s degree in Biological Sciences and my master’s degree in Ecological Restoration from the Complutense University of Madrid. For my PhD, I am studying different aspects about biological invasions in the Department of Biological Sciences at Mississippi State University. I am interested in understanding how species interactions, abiotic factors, and landscape characteristics affect species distributions at multiple spatial scales and land covers, including forests, prairies, wetlands, and roadsides. I intend to use this ecological knowledge to help preserve biodiversity, restore ecosystems, and manage biotic resources.
OUTSTANDING PAPER: Weed Science
Sponsor: Cambridge University Press
Phenotypic Diversity of Weedy Rice (Oryza sativa f. spontanea) Biotypes Found in California and Implications for Management Weed Science doi: 10.1017/wsc. 2020.43
WHITNEY BRIM-DEFOREST
Whitney Brim-DeForest, Elizabeth Karn, Teresa De Leon, Luis Espino, and Kassim Al-Khatib
Whitney Brim-DeForest is the County Director for University of California Cooperative Extension Sutter-Yuba, and the UCCE Rice and Wild Rice Advisor for Sutter, Yuba, Placer, and Sacramento counties. She holds a M.S. in International Agricultural Development and a PhD in Horticulture and Agronomy from the University of California, Davis. She also holds a dual BA in Biology and Music from Brown University. Whitney has been working in rice for more than 15 years, with her research and extension activities focusing primarily on the identification and management of weeds in rice and wild rice systems. She was also a Sustainable Agriculture Volunteer with the United States Peace Corps in Senegal, West Africa, where she served three years. She started working in rice systems in Senegal.
Over the past four years as an Extension Advisor, her research has focused on weedy rice, an emerging and important pest in California rice systems. In a relatively short amount of time, she and her team have conducted extensive research on California weedy rice including its genetics, identification, competition with cultivars, emergence, herbicide susceptibility, and even drone mapping.
She currently holds the UC ANR Presidential Endowed Fellowship in California Rice, serves on several WSSA committees, and the California Weed Science Society Board. She also teaches plant science and agriculture courses at California State University, Chico.
OUTSTANDING PAPER: Weed Technology
Sponsor: Cambridge University Press
Tillage Based, Site-Specific Weed Control for Conservation Cropping Systems Weed Tech doi 10.1017/wet20.20.34
MICHAEL WALSH
Michael J. Walsh, Caleb C. Squires, Guy R. Y. Coleman, Michael J. Widderick, Adam B. McKiernan, Bhagirath S. Chauhan, Carlo Peressini, and Andrew L. Guzzomi
Michael Walsh is an Associate Professor and Director Weed Research at the University of Sydney. Michael completed his B.Sc. at the University of Western Australia, M.Sc. from La Trobe University, Melbourne and PhD from the University of Wyoming. He joined AHRI in 1999 where he focused on the development and introduction of harvest weed seed control systems. Michael has spent 20 years working on the development of alternative weed control techniques and believes that recent technological advances are creating exciting opportunities for the future use of new weed control systems.
OUTSTANDING REVIEWER AWARDS
Sponsor: WSSA
SARAH WARD
After 25 years on the Colorado State University faculty as a professor of plant genetics, Dr. Sarah Ward is now Research Director for Landganics. She has been an active WSSA member, including 6 years as Associate Editor for Weed Science and serving for 10 years on the Board of Directors, first as Member-at-Large and then as Director of Publications. Originally from the UK, Sarah now lives in Montana.
CHARLIE CAHOON
Charlie Cahoon is an Assistant Professor and Extension Weed Specialist in the Crop and Soil Sciences Department at North Carolina State University. Charlie was born and raised in the blacklands of eastern North Carolina where he worked on his family’s row crop, vegetable, and hog farm. He graduated Summa Cum Laude from North Carolina State University with a BS in Agronomy-Soil Science. While still an undergraduate, Charlie stumbled into a summer job working for the legendary Extension Weed Specialist, Dr. Alan York. Following that summer, Charlie knew he had found his calling and commenced his graduate education in Weed Science under the direction of Drs. York and David Jordan. He received his PhD in 2015 and later that year began his career as an Extension Weed Specialist at Virginia Tech. Based at the Eastern Shore AREC in Painter, Virginia, Charlie had sole responsibilities for weed management in cotton, peanuts, and vegetables and split grain responsibilities with Dr. Michael Flessner. In 2018, Charlie was fortunate to replace his mentor at North Carolina State University as the Extension Weed Specialist for corn and cotton. In addition to his extension and research duties, Charlie teaches a cross-listed undergraduate/graduate introductory Weed Science course and guest lectures in various other classes. Charlie has authored or co-authored 30 peer-reviewed papers, 34 peer-reviewed extension publications, and 61 meeting abstracts. He has mentored 5 MS and 1 PhD students and served as a committee member for 11 additional students. Charlie has been involved with the SWSS, NEWSS, and WSSA. Charlie organized the 2019 SWSS Graduate Student Contest as chair of the contest committee. In further service to his discipline, he serves as an ad hoc reviewer for Weed Technology, Weed Science, Journal of Aquatic Plant Management, Agronomy Journal, Crop, Forage, and Turfgrass Management, Journal of Cotton Science, and Hort Technology. Charlie is a member of Wendell Baptist Church. In his spare time he enjoys tinkering on his 1962 John Deere 1010 tractor, farming/gardening, hunting, reading, playing cards, and spending time with his wife (Jenny), two children (Lila and Liam), and yellow lab (Sweet).
NITHYA SUBRAMANIAN
Nithya Subramanian is a Molecular Weed Scientist at Texas A&M University (TAMU), College Station. Prior to that, she worked as a postdoctoral scientist in Plant Breeding & Genetics at TAMU and previously at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. She received her doctoral degree in Plant Genetics at the University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington, England/The James Hutton Institute, Dundee, Scotland; and her B.Sc., M.Sc. & M.Phil in Biochemistry at Bharathiar University, Tamil Nadu, India. Her current research primarily focuses on understanding the physiology and molecular biology of weed species adaptation to management tools and environmental conditions. She is collaborating with a team of scientists in understanding the nature and dynamics of gene flow between crop and wild relatives and fitness (specifically sorghum-johnsongrass; rice-weedy rice). She investigates the utilization of weedy/wild relatives of crops as a source of germplasm for crop improvement, with a focus on crops that are important to TX and parts of the southern US. Her research also focuses on developing novel herbicide-resistant crops using classical breeding and CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing approaches. Dr. Subramanian has co-mentored a number of graduate and undergraduate students with their research projects, and participated in graduate student advisory committees. She also trained several students and staff with molecular tools and genetic mapping. She authored or co-authored more than 25 peer reviewed journal articles and one book chapter. She has reviewed articles for several peer-reviewed journals, including Weed Science, Crop Science, PLoS One, Molecular Breeding, and Food and Energy Security.
OUTSTANDING EARLY CAREER WEED SCIENTIST
Industry Sponsor: BASF Corporation
CHENXI WU
Dr. Chenxi Wu is currently a Research Scientist of Bayer CropScience based in St Louis, Missouri. Chenxi grew up as a farm kid in Guangxi, China and received her B.S. degree in Ecology from China Agricultural University. Her passion for precision Agriculture brought her to the United States to obtain her M.S. degree in Weed Ecology from Iowa State University in 2011, and Ph.D. degree in Molecular Weed Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2016, under the direction of Drs. Mike Owen and Pat Tranel, respectively.
Chenxi began her career with Monsanto/Bayer in 2016 and was privileged to have Drs. Doug Sammons and Alejandro Perez-Jones served as her manager and mentor. As a R&D scientist with the leading global enterprise in high-tech Agriculture, Chenxi demonstrated a strong ability to innovate by leading some of the most cutting-edge research projects to identify novel weed control technologies. Chenxi played a significant role in Bayer’s next generation weed control system, the parallel development of crop tolerance traits and novel herbicides to greatly enhance the ability of farmers to fight herbicide resistance. Bayer’s novel weed control system will provide great value to growers in key markets, including US, Canada, Argentina and Brazil.
Chenxi’s research helped provide novel insights to effectively mitigate the evolution of herbicide resistant weeds, which has informed industrial weed management strategies and was featured by major media outlets. Her doctoral research which focused on the fitness costs of five key herbicide resistance traits was recognized by the International Weed Science Society (IWSS) with the Larry Burrill Outstanding Student Research Award in 2016. During her four years’ tenure with Bayer, she authored five peer-reviewed publications, including the first research in decades that elucidates the molecular mechanism of synthetic auxins resistance, work that was published in PNAS.
Chenxi is actively engaged in Bayer’s outreach programs and in regional/national weed science communities, including service on committees, section moderator, and judge for student presentation/weed contest/photo contest. She is also an associate editor for the Weed Science journal since 2019 and has reviewed more than 40 papers for other journals in the field.
OUTSTANDING INDUSTRY AWARD
Sponsor: WSSA
PETER J. PORPIGLIA
Peter has spent his career developing technologies and building industrial research teams in Weed Science, Plant Growth Regulation and other disciplines. After completing graduate degrees at Cornell and Virginia Tech, his research philosophy was bolstered working for a Syngenta legacy company (CIBA-GEIGY) in various positions including Director of Research and Development for the Weed Control business. During this time, Peter’s teams introduced nearly a dozen new active ingredients at the Weed Science Society of America which were subsequently commercialized. Peter has held management positions in several global organizations with responsibility for product development in numerous countries around the world. He was fortunate to help build a start-up company around natural insecticide chemistries which are now marketed by a major consumer products company. Currently, Peter is Vice President of Product Development and a member of the Executive Committee at AMVAC Corporation in Newport Beach, California. Peter has been an active member of all regional weed science organizations and a member of the Weed Science Society of America for more than 25 years. At WSSA, he has served on several committees as well as eight years on the Board including four years on the Executive Board. Peter has authored numerous papers and presentations in all the Weed Science Societies in the USA as well as multiple international societies. In addition, he is an active advisor in academic graduate programs at Cornell and Iowa State Universities. Like many, Peter has been weathering the pandemic from his home in Putnam Valley, NY.
WSSA PUBLIC SERVICE AWARD
Sponsor: Bayer U.S. – Crop Science
DAVID E. ERVIN
David Ervin is a Professor Emeritus of Environmental Management and Economics and a Senior Fellow in the Institute for Sustainable Solutions at Portland State University. He has conducting interdisciplinary research on agricultural and environmental topics in academe, federal government and non-profit think-tanks. Prior posts include Professor and Head of Agricultural and Resource Economics at Oregon State University, Professor of Agricultural Economics at the University of Missouri-Columbia, Chief of Resource Policy Branch in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service, Visiting Scholar at the Office of Technology Assessment, U.S. Congress, and Director of the Policy Studies Program for the Henry A. Wallace Institute for Alternative Agriculture. He has BS and MS degrees from The Ohio State University and a Ph.D. from Oregon State University. His current research program focuses on the sustainability of genetically engineered crops, with emphasis on pest resistance management, the valuation of ecosystem services from natural and urban systems, and motivations for business sustainability. His research and education projects have received $12 million in competitive funding since 2000. He has published extensively on these topics and other subjects in peer-reviewed journals. During 2008-2010, he chaired the National Research Council Committee “Impact of Biotechnology on Farm Sustainability in the United States” and co-authored its report. Since 2013, he has served as a member of the WSSA-Herbicide Resistance Education Committee. In 1987 and 2008, he was a visiting scholar in the Department of Land Economy at Cambridge University. His consulting assignments include the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the European Commission, and the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation. He speaks to local, national and international audiences on the sustainability of agricultural systems, ecosystem service valuation, and business sustainability. In his spare time, he enjoys growing heirloom tomatoes and hiking and cycling in the wilds of the Pacific Northwest and Europe.
US-HRAC HERBICIDE RESISTANCE MANAGEMENT AWARD
Sponsor: US HRAC
MICHAEL WALSH
Michael Walsh is an Associate Professor and Director Weed Research at the University of Sydney. Michael completed his B.Sc. at the University of Western Australia, M.Sc. from La Trobe University, Melbourne and PhD from the University of Wyoming. He joined AHRI in 1999 where he focussed on the development and introduction of harvest weed seed control systems. Michael has spent 20 years working on the development of alternative weed control techniques and believes that recent technological advances are creating exciting opportunities for the future use of new weed control systems.
WSSA FELLOW AWARDS
Sponsor: WSSA
SCOTT SENSEMAN
Scott Senseman graduated from Wilmington College of Ohio in 1986 with a B.S. in Agricultural Business. He completed his M.S. and Ph.D. at the University of Arkansas in Agronomy-Weed Science (1990) and Agronomy-Pesticide Residue (1994), respectively. He served on the faculty in the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences at Texas A&M University for more than 18 years starting in October 1994. Prior to that appointment, he served as Head of the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Tennessee where he has been employed since July, 2013. He also served as Deputy Assistant Dean for Strategic Planning for the Herbert College of Agriculture from April 2019 to May 2020. He is currently Professor and Interim Dean of UT Extension that began in June of 2020. He has authored or coauthored 107 peer-reviewed journal articles and 229 abstracts of poster and oral presentations. In 2007, he finished service as editor for the Weed Science Society of America’s Ninth Edition of the Herbicide Handbook. He served as President for both the Southern Weed Science Society (2014) and the Weed Science Society of America (2018). Dr. Senseman helped develop and teach the beginning course in agronomy (SCSC 101 Introduction to Agronomy), two undergraduate courses related to the evolution, role, and fate of agricultural chemicals in row crop production (SCSC 435 Ecology of Agrochemicals and SCSC 446 Weed Management and Ecology), a graduate and distance course related to herbicide mode of action and environmental fate (SCSC 650 Mode of Action and Environmental Fate of Herbicides) as well as an analytical course related to instrumentation used in environmental aspects of agronomy (SCSC 618 Methods of Plant, Soil, and Water Analysis in Environmental Systems). He also co-developed and co-taught PLSC 456/556 Turfgrass Weed Science at the University of Tennessee. Dr. Senseman has served as major advisor or co-advisor for 22 graduate students and has served on 66 other graduate student committees and four international undergraduate internships during his academic career.
DAVID L. JORDAN
David Jordan was raised on a small farm in eastern North Carolina and received BS and MS degrees from North Carolina State University and a PhD in Agronomy from the University of Arkansas (1993). David was a Post-Doctoral Associate at the University of Georgia (1993) and a faculty member at the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center (1993-1996). David is currently a Professor at North Carolina State University in the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences. David’s first formal experiences with weed science were in Doug Worsham’s weed science course and through an internship with DuPont under Louis Rodrigue. David’s MS and PhD programs were directed by Alan York and Robert Frans, respectively. David focused on weed management in rice and soybean at LSU. David’s focus in North Carolina has been peanut-based cropping systems in areas of agronomy, weed science, and IPM with both research and extension responsibilities. From 2007 to 2011, David provided assistance in weed science programs across several agronomic crops in North Carolina due to vacancies in key weed science positions. David has instructed courses in weed science, soil-crop management systems, IPM, and peanut production. David has directed statewide education programs associated with peanut management in North Carolina since 1996. David has served in elected, appointed, and volunteer positions in both WSSA and SWSS as well as other professional organizations and societies. David has made significant contributions in Sub-Saharan Africa since 2002 in areas of agronomy, weed science, IPM, and aflatoxin mitigation in peanut. David’s work in the United States includes general weed management, pesticide compatibility, adjuvants, and management of herbicide-resistant weeds. David has led efforts to develop risk management tools for peanut in several countries. David has co-authored over three hundred peer-reviewed papers and has advised, co-advised or served on committees for over 90 graduate students. Since becoming a member of both the WSSA and SWSS in 1987, David has worked alongside many dedicated and talented people in academia and graduate education, industry, government and regulatory agencies, and NGOs as well as farmers and their advisors to address important issues related to managing weeds.
WSSA HONORARY MEMBER AWARD
Sponsor: WSSA
BHAGIRATH SINGH CHAUHAN
Bhagirath Chauhan is Professor and holds a joint appointment with the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation (QAAFI) and School of Agriculture and Food Sciences (SAFS) at the University of Queensland (UQ), Australia. He conducts research on weed biology and management. His specific interests are weed seed ecology, nonchemical weed management options, herbicide use, management of herbicide-resistant weeds, and integrated weed management systems using agronomic and varietal components.
Bhagirath comes from a rural background of Haryana, India and completed his BS (Hons) Agriculture (1998) and MS (Agronomy) (2000) from Haryana Agricultural University. He was awarded John Allwright Fellowship for PhD from the University of Adelaide, Australia, where he studied the ecology and management of weeds under no-till conditions. After completing his PhD (2007), he joined the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Philippines, as a post-doctoral fellow. Later, Bhagirath was promoted to the head of the weed science department. At IRRI, he developed a strong collaboration in several countries, including India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Pakistan, Nepal, Malaysia, and Vietnam. His main work at IRRI was to develop weed management strategies for direct-seeded rice systems. In 2014, Bhagirath moved to Australia and joined UQ as the weed team leader, where he is continuing his research and teaching.
Professor Chauhan has published >350 articles in peer-reviewed journals and several books and book chapters. He has also published several extension and conference articles. He serves as Associate Editor for Weed Science, Speciality Chief Editor for Frontiers in Agronomy and Associate Editor for Indian Journal of Weed Science. He has been the Editor-in-Chief of Crop Protection. Bhagirath is a life member of several societies, including Asian-Pacific Weed Science Society (APWSS), International Weed Science Society and Indian Society of Weed Science (ISWS). He has won the Young Scientist Award from the APWSS and Best Book Award from the ISWS.
Bhagirath thanks his parents, wife, teachers and friends for helping him to shape his life with positivity and passion. He is married to Neetu Rani and has a son, Vivek, and a daughter, Varsha. His hobbies are watching Bollywood movies and cricket.