Five graduate students from the NDSU Department of Plant Sciences attended the 30th Annual Plant Science Graduate Student Symposium held at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada, March 21-22.

Each student gave a presentation in category-specific sessions. Roshan Sharma Poudel was awarded first place in the Plant Breeding and Genetics category for his presentation, “Backcrosses to Transfer and Pyramid Useful Genes in Winter Hardy Variety 'Norstar.’” He is a student under Francois Marais, associate professor in hard red winter wheat breeding and genetics.

Alison Stone, Elina Adhikari and Sintayehu Daba also presented their research work in the Plant Breeding and Genetics session, and Lucas Holmes gave a presentation in the Agronomy, Weed Science and Ecology session.

The event provides the opportunity for graduate students in the plant sciences and related studies to exchange ideas and learn about the research work of fellow graduate students. The responsibility for hosting and organizing the symposium rotates among the three participating universities: NDSU, University of Manitoba and University of Saskatchewan.

This year the University of Saskatchewan conducted the symposium under the theme “Seeding Sustainability: Nurturing Nature for a Better Future.” About 44 graduate students from the three universities attended and presented their research work in four different topic categories.

The trip for the NDSU students was funded by DuPont Pioneer, Monsanto, NDSU Student Government and NDSU Department of Plant Sciences.

NDSU is recognized as one of the nation's top 108 public and private universities by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education.