Western Society of Weed Science - UC news (2 of 2)

My second WSWS post today is intended to provide folks a sense of the involvement of UC weed scientists in the WSWS meeting and organization.  I'll just run through a few UC highlights from the 66th WSWS meeting program for those that may not have been able to attend the meeting.  I'll apologize in advance if I miss anyone - let's just say UC research and extension was well-represented at the meeting.  Here are some examples:

Research posters:

• Stapleton:  Feasibility of Solar Tents for Hydrothermal Inactivation of Weedy Plant Propagative Material.
• Kyser et al. Aminocyclopyrachlor Gives Selective Control of Barb Goatgrass in California Annual Rangeland.
• LeStrange: Weeds as Sources of Inoculum for Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus in CA Vegetable Crops.
• Moretti et al. Distribution of Glyphosate-resistant Junglerice (Echinocloa colona) in Perennial Crops of the Central Valley of California (this poster won 1st place in the student poster contest!).
• Sosnoskie et al. Effects of Post-emergence Herbicides on Glyphosate and Paraquat-Resistant Hairy Fleabane Seed Production.
• Mejorado et al. Evaluation of C14-Glufosinate Translocation in Young Almond (Prunus dulcis) Trees. (this was an undergraduate student research poster)
• Orloff et al. Effect of Grain Type and Application Timing on the Safety of Small Grain Herbicides in Northern California.
• Sosnoskie et al. A Survey of the Distribution of Glyphosate-Resistance in Hairy Fleabane in California.

Plenary Session Presentations:

• Carl Bell: Carl gave one of the opening presentations of the meeting "Two and a half centuries of invasive plants in California".  I thought this was a really interesting take on weeds and the history of southern California.
• Kassim Al-Khatib: Kassim spoke about UC IPM "Setting priorties and building partnerships: a key for UC IPM success in challenging times".  One of the things that struck me was that the UC IPM website gets about 50,000 'hits' per day and accounts for close to 1/3 of all UC extension web traffic!  Talk about high impact...

Research presenetations:

• LaStrange and Smith: Preemergence Herbicide Trials in California Bell Peppers.
• Sosnoskie et al.: Evaluating Mesotrione for Crop Safety and Weed Control Efficacy in Grape and Walnut.
• Stapleton et al.: The Effect of Combined Solarization and Destabilized Green Waste Composting on Weed Seed Mortality and Soil Biology.
• Jasieniuk et al.: Evolution and Spread of Glyphosate Resistance in Horseweed and Hairy Fleabane in California Orchards and Vineyards.
• Shrestha et al.:  A Growing Degree Day Model for Phenological Development of Hairy Fleabane (Conyza bonariensis).
• Norris: Organizing plant photographs using Adobe Lightroom.
• Kaffka et al.: Prospects for Biofuel Feedstock Crops in California.
• Hutmacher et al.: Agronomic Aspects of Growing Switchgrass and other Cellulosic Biofuel Crops in California.
• Wright et al.: Weed Control Research and Challenges in California Biofuel Crops.
• DiTomaso et al.: Risk Assessment of the Potential for Biofuel Crops to Become Weedy Invaders in California.

WSWS Service:

• I rotated off the WSWS Board of Directors this year
• Lynn Sosnoskie and John Roncoroni co-chaired the (three!) Horticultural Crops sessions
• Marcelo Moretti was elected as a student liason to the WSWS Board of Directors

Awards:

• Marcelo Moretti won one of the student research poster contests with his work on glyphosate resistant junglerice poster.
• Tom Lanini was presented with award of WSWS Fellow.  Joe and Gale already mentioned this earlier today but I wanted to point out to those that may not know that this is a pretty nice honor.  Typically, the Fellow award is one of the highest awards presented by a scientific society and is given in recognition of years of scientific excellence as well as service to the society.  Well-deserved, Tom, congratulations!

Overall, I thought this was a very good WSWS meeting.  The presentation were good, it's a great opportunity to catch up with colleagues from all over the West, and the Catamaran was a great venue in San Diego.  I'm looking forward to the 2014 WSWS meeting in Colorado Springs CO.

Brad