News and Highlights

2023 News Briefs

Publications
  Awards and
Honors Speaking
Invitations Book
Chapters

 

General News

1. Thierry Besançon Wins 2023 Weed Science Outstanding Educator Award
2. "Fields of Devotion" Wins Best Short Documentary at Garden State Film Festival
   
   • See the Fields of Devotion website.
3. Rutgers Doctoral Candidate Kirsten Allen Selected for Inaugural Quad Fellowship Program
4. Three SEBS Professors Ranked Among "Best Plant Science and Agronomy Scientists"
5. Ann Gould is New SEBS Dean of Academic Programs
6. Ming-Yi Chou is an Assistant Extension Specialist in Turfgrass Pathology
7. Strengthening Sustainability of Food Systems (YouTube video) video released, featuring Jim Simon's research
8. Rutgers Office for Research Celebrates Innovation and Research at 2023 Patent Celebration
9. In its 10th Anniversary Year, Personal Bioblitz Breaks Records!
10. 2023 Rutgers Turfgrass Research Field Days
11. Lena Struwe was interviewed for an article in Better Homes & Gardens "Can You Eat Dandelions? Everything You Need to Know"

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Publications

1. Heckman, J.R. 2023. Crops Science, Soil Science, and Agronomy, CSA News. Letter to editor: Cut the Plastic, Switch to Natural Sisal Twine Bale String. March. p. 2. doi: 10.1002/csan.20975
2. Joseph Heckman: Letter to Lancaster Farming. 2023. Organic Pursuit Takes Time (PDF)
3. Acosta, K., S. Sorrels, W. Chrisler, W. Huang, S. Gilbert, T. Brinkman, T.P. Michael, S.L. Lebeis, E. Lam. Optimization of Molecular Methods for Detecting Duckweed-Associated Bacteria. Plants, 2023 12, 872. doi: 10.3390/plants12040872
4. Cai Shi, D., C. Long, E. Vardeman, E.J. Kennelly, M.A. Lawton and R. Di. 2023. Potential anti-Alzheimer properties of mogrosides in vitamin B12 deficient Caenorhabditis elegans. Molecules 28:1826. doi: 10.3390/molecules28041826
5. Seidel, D.K., X. Morin, M. Staffen, R.D. Ludescher, J.E Simon and O. Schofield. 2023. Building a Collaborative, University Based Science-in-Action Video Storytelling Model that Translates Science for Public Engagement and Increases Scientists' Relatability. Frontiers in Communication-Science and Environmental Comm. 7:1049648. doi: 10.3389/fcomm.2022.1049648
6. Hu, S., J.E. Simon, M. Wang, Y. Wu, Y. Huang and Q.L. Wu. 2023. Kinkéliba (Combretum micranthum) leaf extract alleviates skin inflammation: In-vitro and in-vivo study. Molecules 28:1791. doi: 10.3390/molecules28041791
7. Date, M.B., W.C. Rivero, J. Tan, D. Specca, J.E. Simon, D.A. Salvi, and M.V. Karwe. 2023. Growth of Hydroponic Sweet Basil (O. basilicum L.) Using Plasma-Activated Nutrient Solution (PANS). Agriculture 13(2), 443. doi: 10.3390/agriculture13020443
8. Gomes, E.N., H. Patel., B. Yuan, W. Lyu, H.R. Juliani, Q.L. Wu and J.E. Simon. 2023. Successive harvests affect the aromatic and polyphenol profiles of novel catnip (Nepeta cataria L.) cultivars in a genotype-dependent manner. Frontiers Plant Science 14:1121582. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1121582

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Awards and Honors

1. The publication by Fardella et.al. in the Journal of Fungi was chosen as an Editor's Choice article:
   Fardella, P.A., Tian, Z., Clarke, B.B., and Belanger, F.C. The Epichloë festucae antifungal protein Efe-AfpA protects creeping bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera) from the plant pathogen Clarireedia jacksonii, the causal agent of dollar spot disease. 2022. Journal of Fungi 8: 1097 doi.org/10.3390/jof8101097
2. Principal Investigator Rong Di was awarded a three year grant for $310,000 from the BARD Organisation (US-Israel Binational Agricultural Research and Development Fund).
   Title: "Uncoupling postharvest browning and aroma chemotype in sweet basil using gene editing"
   The team of researchers on this project is as follows:
      PI in Israel: Dr. Itay Gonda, ARO, Min. Ag.
      PI in the U.S.: Dr. Rong Di, Department of Plant Biology
      Collaborator in Israel: Dr. Itay Maoz, ARO, Min. Ag.
      Collaborator in the U.S.: Dr. James E. Simon, Department of Plant Biology
      Collaborator in the U.S.: Dr. Michael A. Lawton, Department of Plant Biology
3. John McLaughlin was awarded a one-year grant from the USDA-ARS/US Wheat and Barley Scab Initiative (USWBSI) for $72,359 this month entitled: Barley Exosome Cataloging by Proteomics and RNAseq. This represents a continuation of USWBSI funding to Nilgun Tumer's laboratory to identify plant genes which enhance resistance to Fusarium graminearum and to study the interaction between the fungus and plant.
4. In December 2022, the New Jersey Department of Agriculture awarded Rutgers $300,000 for a one-year grant entitled: New Jersey Hemp for Fiber Production, Processing and Commercialization to the team of Brian Schilling, Stephen Komar, James E. Simon, John E. McLaughlin, William Bamka, Thomas Gianfagna, Nimmi Rajmohan, Qingli Wu, Raul I. Cabrera, and C. Andrew Wyenandt. This involves the Plant Biology Department, Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station (NJAES) Cooperative Extension, and the Rutgers Hemp Program. This will fund research this summer (2023) to evaluate industrial hemp varieties at three locations in New Jersey: the Rutgers University Clifford E. & Melda C. Snyder Research & Extension Farm (Pittstown, NJ); the Rutgers Agricultural Research and Extension Center (Bridgeton, NJ), and the Rutgers Specialty Crop Research and Extension Center (Cream Ridge, NJ).
5. Congratulations Kirsten!
   Kirsten Allen, doctoral candidate in the plant biology graduate program at Rutgers, was selected as a 2023 Quad Fellow.
6. 
   Kirsten Allen

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Speaking Invitations and Conferences

1. Joseph Heckman has been invited to speak at the NOFA NJ 33rd Annual Winter Conference Jan 28, 2023, the seminar was titled History, Philosophy, and Sociology of Organic Farming
2. Thierry Besançon received the 2023 Outstanding Educator Award from the Northeastern Weed Science Society (NWSS) and the 2023 Outstanding Weed Science Journal Reviewer Award from the Weed Science Society America (WSSA). In addition, he was elected vice president of the board of NWSS and joined the WSSA Public Relations Committee.
3. Joseph Heckman presented a webinar at the Raw Milk Institute. Thriving with Raw Milk, Health Benefits, Risk Management, and Flourishing Farms. Presenters: Mark McAfee, Sarah Smith, Joseph Heckman, Ester Ackfeld, Fred Hall, and Senator Jason Schultz. Iowa 100 registered participants.

 

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Books and Book Chapters

1. Heckman, J. R., Thompson, I. A., and Huber, D. M. 2023. Manganese and plant disease. Pages 241–264 in: Mineral Nutrition and Plant Disease, Second Edition. L. E. Datnoff, W. H. Elmer, and F. A. Rodrigues, editors. American Phytopathological Society, St. Paul, MN.
2. Tredway, L. P., M. Tomaso-Peterson, J. P. Kerns, and B. B. Clarke. 2022. Compendium of Turfgrass Diseases. 4^th ed. APS Press. 188 pp. St. Paul, MN. ISBN: 978-0-89054-687-1

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