WESTMINISTER, Colorado, October 30, 2023 – Can you identify a weed species in any growth stage? Or, know all aspects of sprayer calibration, such as required spray volume?
This summer, students were tested on such weed science skills and more in the 2023 Weed Science Society of America (WSSA) National Weed Science Contest held at Bayer’s research farm in Union City, Tennessee. The contest provides opportunity for undergraduate and graduate students with future in agriculture and related disciplines.
The weed science areas students exhibited during this contest included:
- Weed identification. Students needed to correctly identify 25 weed species in any stage of development—including seed samples.
- Sprayer calibration. Students took a written test regarding all aspects of sprayer calibration, such as required spray volume, amount of herbicide needed per gallon or liter, nozzle nomenclature and selection, sprayer pressure, droplet size, boom height, and drift reduction techniques. This portion also included a team activity where students calibrated a sprayer.
- Herbicide identification. Students identified 10 different herbicides based on visual symptoms and selectivity when applied to crops and weeds.
- Weed control issues faced by farmers and other weed management practitioners. Students evaluated a crop production problem in areas such as weed management and recommended an effective solution. Examples included herbicide injury, weed resistance, or agronomic errors.
“This contest was a great educational opportunity for students to showcase their weed science knowledge,” says Matthew Wiggins, WSSA student contest chair. “Students did this not only through written tests, but also in hands-on tests that tackled real-world weed management problems and challenges.”
Regional awards sponsored by the Northeastern Weed Science Society, North Central Weed Science Society, Southern Weed Science Society, and Western Society of Weed Science were also given to students. All in all, 153 graduate students and 64 undergraduate students on 54 teams from 27 universities gleaned many hours of training under the guidance of university weed scientists. Top team and individual winners are shown below.
National Weeds Contest Winners
First place, Graduate Student Team
University of Arkansas. Team members include Tristen Avent, Pamela Carvalho-Moore, Samuel Noe, and Jared Smith.
First place, Undergraduate Team
University of Guelph. Team members include Noelle Adams, Stephanie Fletcher, Joe Rastapkevicius, and Curtis Vanrooy.
First Place, Individual Graduate Student
Jared Smith, University of Arkansas.
First Place, Individual Undergraduate Student
Cody Lehman, Penn State.
First place, Graduate Student Weed Identification
Jared Smith, University of Arkansas.
First Place, Undergraduate Student Weed Identification
Rhet Baxley, University of Arkansas.
First Place, Graduate Student Team, Sprayer Calibration
Mississippi State University. Team members include Kayla Broster, Jake Patterson, Antonio Tavares, and Amy Wilber.
First Place, Undergraduate Student Team, Sprayer Calibration
University of Guelph. Team members include Lucy McNiven, Alisha Sherman, Sophie Van Den Borre, and Kaitlin Woods.
First Place, Graduate Student, Written Problems
Tristen Avent, University of Arkansas.
First Place, Undergraduate Student, Written Problems
Yudai Takenaka, University of Illinois.
First Place, Graduate Student, Problem Solving
Marcelo Zimmer, Purdue University.
First Place, Undergraduate Student, Problem Solving
Jillian Ohm, University of Guelph.
First Place, Graduate Student, Unknown Herbicide
Tie: Tristen Avent and Jared Smith, University of Arkansas, and Alex Mueth, Purdue University.
First Place, Undergraduate Student, Unknown Herbicide
Tie: Hunter Lee, North Carolina State University, and Ethan Whitmoyer, Pennsylvania State University.
Northeastern Weed Science Society Regional Awards
Graduate Student Winners, Team
First Place: Virginia Tech. Team members include Navdeep Godra, Daewon Koo, John Peppers and Eli Russell.
Second Place: Virginia Tech. Team members include Caleb Henderson. Elisabeth Kitchen, Cynthia Sias Peppers, and Wyatt Stutzman.
Third Place: North Carolina State University. Team members include Jackson Alsdorf, Colton Blankenship, and Jacob Forehand.
Graduate Student Winners, Individual
First Place: Eli Russell, Virginia Tech.
Second Place: John Peppers, Virginia Tech.
Third Place: Daewon Koo, Virginia Tech.
Undergraduate Student Winners, Team
First Place: University of Guelph. Team members include Noelle Adams, Stephanie Fletcher, Joe Rastapkevicius, and Curtis Vanrooy.
Second Place: University of Guelph with team members Quinn Driscoll, Maggie Durnin, Marissa Jeens, and Kelly Ruigrok.
Third Place: Penn State. Team members include Ayden Jodon, Cody Lehman, and Ethan Whitmoyer.
Undergraduate Student Winners, Individual
First Place: Cody Lehman, Pennsylvania State University.
Second Place: Hunter Lee, North Carolina State University.
Third Place: Ethan Whitmoyer, Penn State.
First Place, Graduate Student, Weed Identification
Tie: Eli Russell, Virginia Tech, and Laurel Wellman, Penn State.
First Place, Undergraduate Student, Weed Identification
Cody Lehman, Penn State.
First Place, Graduate Student Team, Sprayer Calibration
North Carolina State University. Team members include Diego Conteras, Brock Dean, and Stephen Ippolito.
First Place, Undergraduate Student Team, Sprayer Calibration
University of Guelph. Team members include Lucy McNiven, Alisha Sherman, Sophie Van Den Borre, and Kaitlin Woods.
First Place, Graduate Student, Written Problems
Eli Russell, Virginia Tech.
First Place, Undergraduate Student, Written Problems
Cody Lehman, Penn State.
First Place, Graduate Student, Problem Solving
Marinda DeGier, University of Guelph.
First Place, Undergraduate Student, Problem Solving
Curtis Vanrooy, University of Guelph.
First Place, Graduate Student, Unknown Herbicide
Cynthia Sias Peppers, Virginia Tech.
First Place, Undergraduate Student, Unknown Herbicide
Ethan Whitmoyer, Penn State.
North Central Weed Science Society Regional Awards
Graduate Student Winners, Team
First Place: Purdue University. Team members include Claudia Bland, Lucas Maia, Alex Mueth, and Marcelo Zimmer.
Second Place: University of Illinois. Team members include Alexander Lopez, Pavle Pavlovic, Isabel Werle, and Travis Wilke.
Third Place: University of Minnesota. Team members include Datta Chiruvelli, Navjot Singh, Mark Temper, and Eric Yu.
Undergraduate Student Winners, Team
First Place: University of Wisconsin. Team members include Sabeel Abuhakmeh, Zachary Olson, Jacob Roden, and Daniel Zhu.
Second Place: Ohio State University. Team members include Heather Oberlin, Ella Pollng, Timothy Sullivan, and Kristoffer Tovar.
Third Place: University of Illinois. Team members include Filipi Machado, Yudai Takenaka, and Nathan Welch.
Graduate Student Winners, Individual
First Place: Marcelo Zimmer, Purdue University.
Second Place: Alex Mueth, Purdue University.
Third Place: Jada Davis, Purdue University.
Undergraduate Student Winners, Individual
First Place: Yudai Takenaka, University of Illinois.
Second Place: Sabeel Abuhakmeh, University of Wisconsin.
Third Place: Jacob Roden, University of Wisconsin.
First Place, Graduate Student, Weed Identification
Alex Mueth, Purdue University.
First Place, Undergraduate Student, Weed Identification
Yudai Takenaka, University of Illinois.
First Place, Graduate Student Team, Sprayer Calibration
Purdue University. Team members include Estevan Cason, Josue Cerritos, Jada Davis, and Emma Lagerhausen.
First Place, Undergraduate Student Team, Sprayer Calibration
University of Wisconsin. Team members include Sabeel Abuhakmeh, Zachary Olson, Jacob Roden, and Daniel Zhu.
First Place, Graduate Student, Written Problems
Marcello Zimmer, Purdue University.
First Place, Undergraduate Student, Written Problems
Yudai Takenaka, University of Illinois.
First Place, Graduate Student, Problem Solving
Trace Thompson, University of Missouri.
First Place, Undergraduate Student, Problem Solving
Jacob Roden, University of Wisconsin.
First Place, Graduate Student, Unknown Herbicide
Alex Mueth, Purdue University.
First Place, Undergraduate Student, Unknown Herbicide
Yudai Takenaka, University of Illinois.
Southern Weed Science Society Regional Awards
Graduate Student Winners, Team
First Place: University of Arkansas. Team members include Tristen Avent, Pamela Carvalho-Moore, Samuel Noe, and Jared Smith.
Second Place: University of Arkansas. Team members include Tanner King, Maria Souza, Juan Velasquez, and Cole Woolard.
Third Place: Mississippi State University. Team members include Kayla Broster, Jake Patterson, Antonio Tavares, and Amy Wilber.
Undergraduate Student Winners, Team
First Place: University of Tennessee-Martin. Team members include Colton Fuller, Ali Prince, Lorna Stemen, and Tyler Ward.
Graduate Student Winners, Individual
First Place: Jared Smith, University of Arkansas.
Second Place: Tristen Avent, University of Arkansas.
Third Place: Maria Souza, University of Arkansas.
Undergraduate Student Winners, Individual
First Place: Colton Fuller, University of Tennessee-Martin.
Second Place: Tyler Ward, University of Tennessee-Martin.
Third Place: Lorna Stemen, University of Tennessee-Martin.
First Place, Graduate Student, Weed Identification
Jared Smith, University of Arkansas.
First Place, Undergraduate Student, Weed Identification
Rhet Baxley, University of Arkansas.
First Place, Graduate Student Team, Sprayer Calibration
Mississippi State University. Team members include Kayla Broster, Jake Patterson, Antonio Tavares, and Amy Wilber.
First Place, Undergraduate Student Team, Sprayer Calibration
University of Tennessee-Martin. Team members include Colton Fuller, Ali Prince, Lorna Stemen, and Tyler Ward.
First Place, Graduate Student, Written Problems
Tristen Avent, University of Arkansas.
First Place, Undergraduate Student, Written Problems
William Yates, Auburn University.
First Place, Graduate Student, Problem Solving
Jared Smith, University of Arkansas.
First Place, Undergraduate Student, Problem Solving
Colton Fuller, University of Tennessee-Martin.
First Place, Graduate Student, Unknown Herbicide
Tie: Tristen Avent and Jared Smith, University of Arkansas.
First Place, Undergraduate Student, Unknown Herbicide
Colton Fuller, University of Tennessee-Martin.
Western Society of Weed Science Regional Awards
Graduate Student Winners, Team
First Place: University of Nebraska. Team members include Vipin Kumar, Mandeep Singh and Thiago Vitti.
Second Place: Kansas State University. Team members include Alec Adam, Isaac Barnhart, and Sarah Frye.
Third Place: Kansas State University. Team members include Ethan Denson, Sachin Dhanda, and Rishabh Singh.
Undergraduate Student Winners, Team
First Place: Kansas State University. Team members include Patrick Belk, Ashlynn Hartman, Tess Kern, and Abby Livingston.
Second Place: University of Nebraska. Team members include Alina Gava, Danilo Krabbenborg, and Aleksandra Pantic.
Third Place: University of Nebraska. Team members include Bruno Henrique Correa, Marta Nabaggala, and Thales Rodrigues da Silva.
Graduate Student Winners, Individual
First Place: Vipin Kumar, University of Nebraska.
Second Place: Sarah Frye, Kansas State University.
Third Place: Mandeep Singh, University of Nebraska.
Undergraduate Student Winners, Individual
First Place: Ashlynn Hartman, Kansas State University.
Second Place: Alina Gava, University of Nebraska.
Third Place: Aleksandra Pantik, University of Nebraska.
First Place, Graduate Student, Weed Identification
Sarah Frye, Kansas State University.
First Place, Undergraduate Student, Weed Identification
Ashlynn Hartman, Kansas State University.
First Place, Graduate Student Team, Sprayer Calibration
University of Nebraska. Team members include Vipin Kumar, Mandeep Singh and Thiago Vitti.
First Place, Undergraduate Student Team, Sprayer Calibration
University of Nebraska. Team members include Alina Gava, Danilo Krabbenborg, and Aleksandra Pantic.
First Place, Graduate Student, Written Problems
Isaac Barnhart, Kansas State University.
First Place, Undergraduate Student, Written Problems
Ashlynn Hartman, Kansas State University
First Place, Graduate Student, Problem Solving
Sarah Frye, Kansas State University.
First Place, Undergraduate Student, Problem Solving
Thales Rodrigues da Silva, University of Nebraska.
First Place, Graduate Student, Unknown Herbicide
Thiago Vitti, University of Nebraska.
First Place, Undergraduate Student, Unknown Herbicide
Tess Kern, Kansas State University.
About the Weed Science Society of America
The Weed Science Society of America, a nonprofit scientific society, was founded in 1956 to encourage and promote the development of knowledge concerning weeds and their impact on the environment. The Society promotes research, education and extension outreach activities related to weeds, provides science-based information to the public and policy makers, fosters awareness of weeds and their impact on managed and natural ecosystems, and promotes cooperation among weed science organizations across the nation and around the world. For more information, visit www.wssa.net.
Press Contact:
Lee Van Wychen
Executive Director of Science Policy
National & Regional Weed Science Societies
202-746-4686