The winners of the EWRS Student Award 2022 for oral and poster presentations during the Symposium in Athens, June 2022

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Posted on July 13th, 2022 on 15:06:47 by Lena Ulber

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We are happy to present you the student award winners at the 19th EWRS Symposium - what do they tell us about the Symposium?

During the 19^th EWRS Symposium in Athens, a team of EWRS SciCom members examined all oral and poster presentations given by students. In total, 32 oral and 16 poster presentations were evaluated regarding content, layout and additional criteria such as enthusiasm, voice, audience contact and ability to respond to questions for oral presentations.

The EWRS is proud to announce the winners of the EWRS Student Award 2022:

Best oral presentations

1. Solèmne Skorupinski 
2. Georgia Nikolakopoulou
3. Okan Güzel and 3. Danielle Neta (Vaknin)

Best poster presentations

1. Alicia Rouge
2. Jovana Krstic
3. Alfredo Manicardi

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Short presentation of the winners and their research topics

 

Oral presentations

First position: Solèmne Skorupinski

I am a PhD student at INRAE (French national research institute for agriculture, food and environment), in the Agroecology research unit, based in Dijon.

I aim to model the effects of cropping systems on the dynamics of perennial weed in order to complement the existing FlorSys weed-dynamics model. I am running greenhouse experiments on several perennial species to analyze the regrowth process from fragments of their vegetative organs. This will allow modelling the shoot elongation as a function of thermal time and available reserves in the organ. Finally, the new FlorSys version including perennials will be used to identify efficient agroecological systems for managing this type of weeds.

 

Second position: Georgia Nikolakopoulou

My research was about the effect of irrigation on weed occurrence in oregano crop when they remain in the experimental station throughout the life cycle of oregano. Our hypothesis that irrigation affects the weed development was indeed verified. Additionally, we proved that relative abundance had significant statistical differences between irrigated and non-irrigated blocks. We also demonstrated that the weed which had been affected the most was Silybum marianum. Furthermore, we proved that we have a higher yield of essential oil when weeds are not present. Assays were conducted on an already established oregano crop in the experimental station of the Agricultural University of Athens in Spata.

 

Third position (a): Okan Güzel

The study, in which SSR analysis was applied to weedy rice seeds collected from 78 accessions in Turkey, aimed to determine the genetic diversity and to interpret its effect on resistance. We assessed the molecular genetic diversity and population structure of weedy rice populations using 11 simple sequence repeat markers. All studies were carried out in the Weed Science Lab at the Ondokuz Mayis University.

 

 

 

 

Third position (b): Danielle Neta (Vaknin)

Danielle Neta (Vaknin), M.Sc. student at Tel-Hai college, Upper Galilee, Israel. My experiments take place at the Newe Ya'ar Research Center. In my research, I am studying the biology, phenology and the life cycle of Ambrosia grayi, a naturalized species new to the Israeli flora. Moreover, part of my study is also focused on finding new and improved chemical weed management options for the control of A. grayi. The knowledge that I produce will be used to develop an integrated weed management approach for the eradication of this naturalized species in Israel.

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Poster presentations

First position: Alicia Rouge

I’m conducting research at the French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment (INRAe, Dijon, France) on the effects of cover crops on weeds, crop-weed competition and crop yields, under contrasted levels of water and nitrogen availability. My Ph.D. thesis aims to contribute to herbicide reduction by providing essential knowledge on cover crop choice and management for enhanced weed suppression at the cropping system level.

 

 

 

 

Second position: Jovana Krstic

I have been employed at the Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops since 2019, where I started my PhD dissertation. One part of the dissertation is about the competitive abilities of different soybean genotypes with invasive weed species in Serbia, which are more difficult to control with mechanical measures in organic production. The other one, which I presented as poster presentation at the 19^th EWRS Symposium, refers to Integrated Weed Management in soybean, where I tested a combination of pre-emergence and post-emergence herbicides and broadcast and band application with mechanical measures (inter-row cultivation). In addition, I also work on other tasks including ecology, biology, and weed management.

 

Third position: Alfredo Manicardi

How do plants survive herbicides? How do they perceive and react to them? Why are there so few resistant plants in the natural environment? In the University of Lleida I characterize the mechanisms which regulate Amaranthus palmeri resistance to herbicides targeting enzymes acetolactate synthase (ALS) and 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate (EPSP) synthase as well as increasing resistance over generations within populations.

 

 

 

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What do they tell us about the 19^th EWRS Symposium in Athens? How was their experience?

"Participation in the 19^th EWRS Symposium brought me new acquaintanceships and knowledge in weed science, and for me, it was an opportunity to present my research and also myself as a young researcher. This is my first participation in an international symposium and I would like to express my gratitude to the organizers of the symposium who made it possible for students and early-career scientists to attend such a prestigious event." (Jovana Kristic, Serbia)

“If you have knowledge, let others light their candles in it.” - Margaret Fuller
The best thing about science is that every researcher enjoys talking about their work. Everyone in EWRS has shared views, perspectives, and goals, which is lifeblood for a PhD student like me. I returned from Athens full of enthusiasm, feeling my ideas were feed by the flames of the other researchers candles. (Alfredo Manicardi, Spain)

"It was my first experience to give a speech in front of a great society. I sharpened my knowledge on weed science. Also I gained and shared new ideas and best practices. It was impressive that learning about the latest innovations and insight. It gave me a great opportunity to meet academics, colleagues and industry experts face to face." (Okan Güzel, Turkey)

"To attend the 19^th EWRS Symposium and be able to present my work was a great opportunity, both professional and personal. It was my first experience at an international congress and it was very instructive and inspiring. Meeting and exchanging with weed scientists about our work gave me new ideas and perspectives for my research." (Solèmne Skorupinski, France)

"I enjoyed attending the conference, for me, many of the studies presented in the Symposium were very novel and had inspired me to pursue new directions in my own research. Getting to know people during the conference was pleasant and Greece was welcoming and beautiful. It was the first time I took part in a weed conference on an international scale, and I must say that it was a very positive first experience for me." (Danielle Neta, Israel)

"EWRS was the first symposium I participated in as a speaker, and it was a unique experience for me. It was an honor to present my research work, connect with fellow researchers and receive many constructive comments. I would like to thank everyone who voted for my presentation as it gives me strength to continue my research activity. Finally, I would like to thank the supervisor of this research, Ms. Oikonomou F., the Ph.D. Candidate Doulfi D., and the Agronomist Fournarakos A. who were an integral part of this assay." (Georgia Nikolakopoulou, Greece)

“I was very pleased to discover a friendly community of weed scientists at my first European symposium this year. The organization also helped me feel part of this community as I had the chance to share my knowledge and research on cover crops and weed management. I particularly enjoyed the challenge of presenting my first scientific paper as a poster and the second one as a talk in front of a multicultural audience. Besides, time for informal discussions, such as during the field trip, were a great opportunity to meet new potential collaborators.” (Alicia Rouge, France)

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Thanks to all of you, and our best wishes for a challenging and inspiring future in weed research!

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