This summer dozens of students tested their weed science know-how in contests sponsored by the Northeastern, North Central and Southern weed science societies. The hard-fought competitions focused on aspects of weed science that will benefit students as they enter the workforce, including skills in weed identification, sprayer calibration, herbicide symptom identification and weed control issues faced by faced by farmers and other weed management practitioners.
Both graduate and undergraduate students participated in individual and team competitions – culminating many hours of training under the guidance of university weed scientists. Top winners are shown below by region.
To build on these successful events, WSSA plans to host a North American collegiate weed contest during the summer of 2023, which will be open to students from all regions of the U.S. and Canada. The event will be held on Bayer’s research farm in Union City, Tennessee. Stay tuned for further details!
Northeastern Weed Science Society
Graduate Student Winners, Team
· First Place: Virginia Tech, with team members Eli Russel, Matt Spoth and John Peppers
· Second Place: North Carolina State University with team members Eric Jones, Colten Blankenship and Jose DeSanctis
· Third Place: Pennsylvania State University with team members Andrew Lefever, Ashley Isaacson, Laurel Wellman and Luiz Augusto
Graduate Student Winners, Individual
· First Place: Eli Russel of Virginia Tech
· Second Place: Matt Spoth of Virginia Tech
· Third Place: Luiz Augusto of Pennsylvania State University
Undergraduate Student Winners, Team
· First Place: Cornell University with team members Elizbeth Fitzgerald, Michael Lovier, Rebecca Stup and Megan Wittmeyer
· Second Place: University of Guelph with team members Karen Reymer, Noelle Adams and Stephanie Fletcher
· Third Place: Guelph University with team members Corine Bateman, Sophia Marsig and Curtis Vanrooy
Undergraduate Student Winners, Individual
· First Place: Megan Wittmeyer of Cornell University
· Second Place: Karen Reymer of the University of Guelph
· Third Place: Corine Bateman of the University of Guelph
North Central Weed Science Society
Graduate Student Winners, Team
· First Place: Purdue University with team members Claudia Bland, Jesse Haarman, Lucas Maia and Matt Osterholt
· Second Place: Kansas State University with team members Isaac Barnhart, Sachin Dhanda, Sarah Zerger and Tyler Meyeres
· Third Place: University of Illinois with team members Isabel Werle, Logan Miller, Lucas Bobadilla and Pavle Pavlovic
Graduate Student Winners, Individual
· First Place: Jesse Haarman of Purdue University
· Second Place: Matt Osterholt of Purdue University
· Third Place: Logan Miller, University of Illinois
Undergraduate Student Winners, Team
· First Place: University of Illinois with team members Caleb Van Hoveln, Nathan Welch, Travis Wilke and Yudai Takenaka
· Second Place: Ohio State University with team members Brock Horn, Cameron Collett, Cori Lee and Sam Shilling
· Third Place: Western Illinois University with team members Dustin Steinkamp, Jamie Hidreth, Kinsey Tiemann and Stephanie Reiter
Undergraduate Student Winners, Individual
· First Place: Yudai Takenaka of the University of Illinois
· Second Place: Adam Aberle of North Dakota State University
· Third Place: Dustin Steinkamp, Western Illinois University
Southern Society of Weed Science
Top Teams
· First Place: University of Arkansas
· Second Place: Virginia Tech, Team A
· Third Place: Mississippi State University
Graduate Student Winners, Individual
· First Place: Tristan Avent of the University of Arkansas
· Second Place: Eli Russell of Virginia Tech
· Third Place: Mason Castner of the University of Arkansas
Undergraduate Student Winners, Individual
• First Place: Maria Carolina of the University of Arkansas
• Second Place: Jacob Forehand of North Carolina State University
• Third Place: Hunter Lee of North Carolina State University