Crop Science Students Win Weed Science Society Southern Region Title

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The Southern Weed Contest champions include (from left), Tristen Avent, Casey Arnold, Mason Castner, Maria Carolina and Juan Camilo Velasquez. The coaches are CSES faculty members Jason Norsworthy and Nilda Roma-Burgos.

The U of A weed science team closed the summer by winning the Southern Weed Science Society Southern Weed Contest in Memphis on Aug. 2.

Competitors rotated to different stations where various weed science-related scenarios were staged. From herbicide symptomology and calibration, to weed identification and crop/weed situation recommendations, students were tested and scored in each area.

Arkansas topped second-place Virginia Tech, third-place Mississippi State and seven other universities to win the title.

Team members, all students in the Department of Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences in the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences, include Tristen Avent, Mason Castner, Casey Arnold and Juan Camilo Velasquez.

Avent won the individual graduate student category with Castner and Arnold finishing third and sixth, respectively.

Avent also won the calibration and herbicide symptomology categories.

Maria Carolina de Carvalho Rocha Souze, an exchange student, won the undergraduate division.

The team is coached by Jason Norsworthy, Distinguished Professor and Elms Farming Chair of Weed Science, and Nilda Roma-Burgos, professor of weed physiology and molecular biology.

Other teams/universities competing included Auburn, Georgia, Louisiana State, North Carolina State, Tennessee, Texas A&M and Texas Tech.

The Weed Science Society of America promotes research, education and extension outreach activities related to weeds; provides science-based information to the public and policy makers; and fosters awareness of weeds and their impacts on managed and natural ecosystems.

About the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences: Bumpers College provides life-changing opportunities to position and prepare graduates who will be leaders in the businesses associated with foods, family, the environment, agriculture, sustainability and human quality of life; and who will be first-choice candidates of employers looking for leaders, innovators, policy makers and entrepreneurs. The college is named for Dale Bumpers, former Arkansas governor and longtime U.S. senator who made the state prominent in national and international agriculture. For more information about Bumpers College, visit our website, and follow us on Twitter at @BumpersCollege and Instagram at BumpersCollege.

About the University of Arkansas: As Arkansas' flagship institution, the U of A provides an internationally competitive education in more than 200 academic programs. Founded in 1871, the U of A contributes more than $2.2 billion to Arkansas' economy through the teaching of new knowledge and skills, entrepreneurship and job development, discovery through research and creative activity while also providing training for professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the U of A among the top 3% of U.S. colleges and universities with the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the U of A among the top public universities in the nation. See how the U of A works to build a better world at Arkansas Research News.