Connor Purvis, PhD student with Erin Burns studies resistance in johnsongrass…you may find him in the greenhouse or in any patch of jgrass btw here & SC collecting seed :) I appreciate his willingness to help in CSS126 with grading & stepping into a turf section of lab, you’re a life saver! #gogreen

It’s grad student appreciation week and I’ve had some awesome TAs for my weed science lab. So…thanks to Jacob Felsman, a PhD student working on cover crops in dry beans…so we have that in common + we’re both Big10 marching band alums! I am grateful for all of his help this past fall!

More waterhemp dose response spraying, but today I’m sporting the Crop Top I won in the Women in Weed Science raffle at WSSA from @corteva because we’re all doing our jobs to keep the crops on top of weeds 🙃

Dose response testing for these unlucky waterhemp (Amaranthus tubercularus)….stay tuned for what’s new to MI :/

We had a great turn out for our North Central Plant Diagnostic Network meeting!! @msu_psm

Happy International Women’s Day to all of the amazing women in my life (a few pictured here) and those who serve as inspirations! #internationalwomensday

Emerging common cocklebur (Xanthium strumarium) is reminding me of sandworms from Beetlejuice this afternoon 🤔

Today’s the day…we’re having the North Central Plant Diagnostic Network annual meeting here @michiganstateu ! I’m on deck to lead an herbicide symptomology workshop after lunch. It’s just so beautiful!!! Stay tuned for more pics :)

Seed ID from dog fur this week in MSU Plant & Pest Diagnostics. This one was quite a challenge…I believe this is poverty grass (Bromus sterilis). Everyday is something new :)

Back in MI & not a day could wait for me to get back in the pesticide application lab. Working on a herbicide injury demo (8 SOA) for next week’s North Central Plant Diagnostic Network meeting that we are hosting!

Another Spartan at WSSA 💚

The ‘Erins of weed science‘ (or at least some of them) enjoyed our time together in Vancouver! Haramoto/Burns/Hill @wssaweeds

And we’ll round out our MSU Weedsters at WSSA with Dr. Sara Alvarez-Rodriguez showcasing her awesome mode of action work 😃

A packed day of learning here at @wssaweeds! Here are some more of our MSU Weedsters sharing their great work through poster presentations. Pictured here are @connor_purvis_ , @jacob.felz, Ian Waldecker, Hannah Johnson, Kyle Elizalde, and of course Dr. Christy Sprague 💚🌱 (I think I got everyone 🤞)

Another great MSU showing, Michael Ozolins presented at the NonTarget Site Resistance (NTSR) symposium 👏 #wssa2025

Rising MSU weed science 🌟s Kaddi Gewirtz and Hannah Johnson did a great job on their poster presentation & single slide talk, respectively! Go Green! #WSSA2025

1st day at WSSA in Vancouver…Women in Weeds Social…former TA & up & coming weed scientist Sarah Chu shared awesome weed themed bracelets (crafting + weeds ❤️) … Eric Patterson got the WSSA Outstanding Young Scientist award & we got the outstanding paper weed sci award in the Canadian Journal of PS! 🤩

More #weedsofFL … largeflower Mexican clover (Richardia grandiflora), arrow leaf sida (Sida rhombifolia), tasselflower (Emilia sonchifolia). I have fun guessing the families…Rubiaceae (didn’t get it), Malvaceae (✅), and Asteraceae (✅)..2/3 today 😇

Sensitive plant (Mimosa strigillosa) flowering! #weedsofFL 😎

Headed to WSSA in Vancouver…by way of Sarasota, FL!

So much fun @ MSU Weedy Lunch today as some chose to exchange Valentines 🌱 ❤️ These are my people…esp Dan Brainard’s heart-shaped theme w/ mini buckwheat bouquet & velvetleaf seeds. I decided 2 use a Beal seed exp theme…hopefully Dr. Beal had a sense of humor!

Common milkweed (Asclepius syriaca) grown from seed ❤️ Apaarently not dormant right off the plant 🤔

Some little dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) seedlings to brighten your Friday. I collected these seeds with my 7yo daughter this summer for use in my weed science class & extension demos…now every time I open this envelope to plant more I’ll think of fun times with her ❤️

Weed seeds are so cool. These seeds are from field pennycress (Thlaspi arvense) …I wonder if these grooves are as unique as human fingerprints?!? That is what they remind me of 🤔

Pretty early in the new year for a plant ID already, but this one comes from hay…longspine sandbar (Cenchrus longispinus) a native, annual grass species that can cause damage to livestock mouths and is therefore undesirable.

My Sunday…got all the Amaranthaceae herbicide resistance screens sprayed…1 weed scientist, 3 known susceptibles, 7 submitted samples, 10 herbicides (*2 rates), ~600 pots, >2,400 pot moves (each pot moved at least 4x)….great way to end 2024 with results available early in 2025. Happy New Year to all!

I’m new here, so just trying to figure this out, looking to talk & learn about agricultural weeds, teaching, and/or plant diagnostics…especially with those that have a sense of humor & can tolerate the smell of velvetleaf :)

Yesterday was “Treat yo’self day” when I saw this…what WeedScienceNerd could resist?