Botany & Plant Pathology
2024 BPP Research Showcase
Held on November 13 at the Beck Agricultural Center, the 2024 Research Showcase highlights findings that fuel the Department of Botany and Plant Pathology's mission to protect the environment, improve plants, and manage natural resources. Over 80 graduate students, post doctoral researchers, visiting scholars, and undergraduate students had the opportunity to present their research to several faculty, staff, and industry partners. In addition to the poster presentations, we had talks from our Weier award winner, along with research lightning talks by both graduate and undergraduate students. See the full list of poster titles here.
Weier Award Winners:
- Outstanding PhD Student: Rebecca (BeKa) Leuschen-Kohl
- Honorable Mentions: Denise Caldwell and Sienna Ogawa
Undergraduate Poster Awards:
- First Place: Emily Whittington
- Second Place: Ethan Fox
- Third Place (tie): Lane Bell and Ava Barnes
Department Head Tesfaye Mengiste gives opening remarks 
The audience at the Beck Center 
Dr. Anjali Iyer-Pascuzzi presents the 2024 Weier Outstanding PhD Student Award to Rebecca (BeKa) Leuschen-Kohl 
Dr. Mengiste presents Emily Whittington with the first place prize in the undergraduate poster contest. 
Marcelo Zimmer, Weed Science Program Specialist and PhD student, presents his poster 
Graduate student Sienna Ogawa discusses her research 
Undergraduate student Kay Annunziata presents her research lightning talk 
Juan Diego Gutierrez presenting his lightning talk 
Graduate student Brenden Lane with his poster 
Wily Sic Hernandez presents his research in a lightning talk 
Denise Caldwell presenting her lightning talk 
Diwen Wang presents her lightning talk 
BeKa Leuschen-Kohl, recipient of the Weier Outstanding PhD Student Award, presents her poster 
Visiting Scholar Emanuel Santos presents his research 
Denise Caldwell presents the research in her poster 
Jean Paul Lyakaremye discusses his poster with undergraduate student Morgan Murff