The HLA Research and Design Retreat was held May 9 at the John S. Wright Forestry Center. Organized by the HLA Graduate Students with the support of Kristina Cooley, the retreat gave the graduate students and visiting scholars an opportunity to present their research to their fellow HLA graduate students, visiting scholars, faculty and staff. They invited undergraduate Landscape Architect senior Rachael Herring to present her award winning capstone project on Dune Harbor Park. They also invited Landscape Architecture junior Odin Johnson to capture brilliant sketchnotes on their research presentations. Aletha Stahl from CILMAR presented an interactive presentation on intercultural communication and conflict management. The breakout session included a game where attendees imagined forest objects and creatures with personalities and relationships.
First and second place winners of the oral and poster presentations each received travel grants for future conferences. Congratulations to all the winners!
Masters’ Poster Presentations
- 2nd place – Jairam Danao, “Genetic Insights into Apple Fruit Mass”
- 1st place – Emmanuel Cooper, “Effect of Buckwheat and Silage Tarps on Sweetpotato Row-Middle Weed Control”
Masters’ Oral Presentations
- 2nd place – Kathleen Zapf, “Investigating the Potential of RGB and Hyperspectral Imaging to Enhance Selection for Cadmium Uptake in Carrots”
- 1st place – Katherine Pivaral, “Markets for Diversifying Agriculture – Case Studies of the US Midwest”
PhD Poster Presentations
- 2nd place – George Meyer, “Investigating the Biochemical Mechanisms Underlying the Phytotoxicity of Juglone”
- 1st place – Dhuha Mohamed, “Characterization of a Salt-Tolerant Wild Type and Salt-Sensitive Cultivated Tomato Genotypes”
PhD Oral Presentations
- 2nd place – Jeanine Arana, “Cover Crops: A Weed Management Option for Plasticulture Strawberry Row-Middles”
- 1st place – Freddie Mildenhall, “Cold Stressed Induced Disruption of the Circadian Clock: A Comparative Study of Arabidiopsis and Tomato”
Photos from the event are available in the HLA Research and Design Retreat 2024 gallery. More photos may be uploaded to the gallery in the near future.
Thanks to the organizing committee, Katherine Pivaral, Vera Vukovic, Camila Ulloa, Dhuha Mohamed, Ishraq Awashra, and Tanvir Dutt for putting on such a wonderful event and Kristina Cooley for supporting them!