From the Director
Memorial Day is here, and summer is upon us. Our faculty have been busy with field work, and other aspects of academia such as publishing refereed journal articles, garnering grant funds, and winning awards as shown in sections below. We held our undergraduate spring graduation in May, and our undergraduate numbers continue to increase to pre-pandemic levels. A new forest management assistant professor, Dr. Carissa Wonkka, joined us in January and is off to a good start. Our summer crops have been planted at the Jay Research Facility, and we anticipate a good fall harvest along with solid results from our field experiments. Our Spring Flower Festival was a great success this year, and we look forward to our summer events that will highlight our turf, cropping systems, and entomology programs. We are interviewing candidates for our weed scientist position and hope to select the newest WFREC faculty member before the end of June. We continue to look forward with excitement to the building of the graduate student dormitories at the Jay Research Facility in 2024/25. We held the groundbreaking ceremony in April, and I’ve been told that construction will begin this fall. The dormitories will allow us to further attract graduate students, increasing the productivity of the WFREC. I’m proud of the accomplishments of our productive faculty, staff, and students, and continue to believe the WFREC’s future is bright.
I thank you for taking the time to read about our accomplishments, and I invite you to attend and participate in any of our upcoming events that are mentioned later in this newsletter. Until then, GO GATORS!
News and Events
Congratulations to our 2024 Spring Graduates
The University of Florida, WFREC and Pensacola State College Milton Campus had a great day with the 150 3rd graders from W.H. Rhodes Elementary School. The students learned about the importance of bees from the Santa Rosa Bee Association and learned a lot about bugs and insects from our UF graduate students. Our UF Turfgrass Biologists had a great time explaining to the students the many types of grasses and where they grow here in the Panhandle. The Pensacola State College Welding Department demonstrated to the students how to weld metal together and allowed them to use the welding simulators. As you can see the students loved the Pensacola State College outdoor crafts and relay games.
The soybean looper threatens various crops, including peanuts. Therefore, it is crucial to identify peanut lineages that possess natural defense mechanisms against this pest, known as the antibiotic effect. Dr. Silvana Paula Moraes and her team are working on the experiment that involves introducing soybean looper individuals on experimental plants and evaluating the survival, performance of the larvae, and the levels of injury inflicted.
Congratulations Dr. Hardeep Singh for being awarded the 2024 Archer Early Career Scientist Seed Grant!
The UF/IFAS Archer Early Career Seed Grant program helps facilitate the development of new faculty research programs and provides a platform for their future success. The program honors Dr. Douglas Archer, who was UF/IFAS Associate Dean for Research and a staunch champion of faculty development.
Olumide Samuel Daramola won 1st Place in the PhD student oral presentation competition at the WSSA/SWSS Annual Meeting in San Antonio, TX, Jan 20-25, 2024.
Sam was also selected as the Gerald O. Mott Award recipient. This award recognizes outstanding graduate students in Crop Science related fields. His name and photo will be published in CSA News. Congratulations Sam!!
Olumide Samuel Daramola (WFREC Weed Science PhD student) received the 2024 outstanding graduate student award from the Florida Weed Science Society (FWSS) at the FWSS annual conference at Haines City on May 7th.
The award recognizes graduate student with outstanding performance in research and potential for making significant contributions to Weed Science.
Way to go Sam!
2024 Refereed Publications
Dr. Paula-Moraes “Continental-scale migration patterns and origin of Helicoverpa zea based on biogeochemical marker”, indicates the significance of the southeastern United States as a source region for H. zea migration and underscores the importance of understanding migratory patterns for improving Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and Insect Resistance Management (IRM) strategies.
Lamichhane, B., Dunn, B. L., Singh, H., Kumar, A., & Norwood, B. (2024). Determining Eastern Red Cedar Biochar Soilless Media Supplementation Rates for Potted Ornamental Kale and Chrysanthemum Production. HortScience, 59(6), 777-786. https://doi.org/10.21273/HORTSCI17704-24
Lamichhane, B., Dunn, B. L., Singh, H., Kumar, A., & Norwood, F. B. (2024). Determining Eastern Red Cedar Biochar Soilless-Media Supplementation Rates for Potted Geranium and Petunia Production. Horticulturae, 10(5), 467. https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae10050467
Singh, H., Northup, B. K., Gowda, P. H., Omara, P., Baath, G. S., & Prasad, P. V. (2024). Moth bean and tepary bean as green nitrogen sources in intensive winter wheat cropping systems. Journal of Agriculture and Food Research, 15, 100938. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jafr.2023.100938
Daramola, O. S., MacDonald, G. E., Kanissery, R. G., Tillman, B. L., Singh, H., & Devkota, P. (2024). Influence of carrier water pH and hardness on imazapic efficacy for sicklepod (Senna obtusifolia L.) control in peanut. Weed Technology, 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1017/wet.2023.96
Singh, R., Kaur, S., Bhullar, S. S., Singh, H., & Sharma, L. K. (2024). Bacterial biostimulants for climate smart agriculture practices: Mode of action, effect on plant growth and roadmap for commercial products. Journal of Sustainable Agriculture and Environment, 3(1), e12085. https://doi.org/10.1002/sae2.12085
Daramola, O. S., Iboyi, J. E., MacDonald, G. E., Kanissery, R. G., Tillman, B. L., Singh, H., & Devkota, P. (2023). A systematic review of chemical weed management in peanut (Arachis hypogea) in the United States: challenges and opportunities. Weed Science, 1-74. https://doi.org/10.1017/wsc.2023.71
Singh, K., Singh, H., Omara, P., Nwosu, N. J., Bearden, J., Singh, R., & Sharma, L. K. (2024). Potassium Deficiency in Cotton: Causes, Symptoms, and Considerations: SS-AGR-479/AG475, 1/2024. EDIS, 2024(1).
Sharma, L., Khanna, R., & Singh, H. (2024). Developing a Web-based Agro-Application: SL513/SS726, 4/2024. EDIS, 2024(2).
Nwosu, N., Singh H., Brym Z., Sharma L., Carter E., Revynthi A., Osborne L. (2024) Fire Ants Management in Industrial Hemp (In Press)
Amanambu, A. C., Mossa, J., Chen, Y. H., Deitch, M., & Alruzuq, A. (2024). Damming consequences: Quantifying the effects on channel geometry and floodplain inundation. Catena, 235, 107634. DOI: 10.1016/j.catena.2023.107634
Bridgemohan, R., Deitch, M.J., Harmon, E., Whiles, M.R., Wilson, P.C., Bean, E., Bridgemohan, P., Bisesi, J.H., Nicholas, J., Redhead, A., & Bachoon, D.S. (2024). Spatiotemporal assessment of pathogenic Leptospira in subtropical coastal watersheds. J Water Health, jwh2024038. DOI: 10.2166/wh.2024.038
Fang, S., Deitch, M. J., Gebremicael, T. G., Angelini, C., & Ortals, C. J. (2024). Identifying Critical Source Areas of Non-point Source Pollution to Enhance Water Quality: Integrated SWAT Modeling and Multi-variable Statistical Analysis to Reveal Key Variables and Thresholds. Water Research, 253(1), 121286. DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2024.121286
Tracy, J. E., Sharma, A., Deitch, M., Colee, J., Thetford, M., & Johnson, D. (2024). Flood dynamics and tree resilience: First-year seedlings of five floodplain forest species responding to diverse inundation scenarios. Forest Ecology and Management, 556, 121724. DOI: 10.1016/j.foreco.2024.121724
2024 Grant Funding
Dr. Hardeep Singh: $20,000.00 National Peanut Board Calcium fertilization for Florida Peanut Production * $300,000.00 USDA-NIFA Evaluating Potential of Living Mulch within Corn Production Systems of Southern United States * $27,500.00 UF- IFAS Research Deans Office
Multispectral Drone Technology * $49,593.00 UF- IFAS Research Deans Office
Transforming Agricultural Carbon Management through Waste-Derived Biochar * $571,423.00 FDACS
Development of Florida agricultural stakeholder engagement program (step) in cotton production system to enhance best management practices.