HRT 894: Horticulture Seminar

Course Code: HRT 894

Experience in review, organization, oral presentation and analysis of research.

Seminar topics/leaders 2016-2023

2023 Plant Homones (Beaudry, Hollender)

This five-week course provided an overview of the roles of the nine widely accepted plant hormones, their signaling pathways, and the uses of these hormones and their inhibitors in plant and crop production. Examples of basic and applied plant hormone research performed by Michigan State University scientists were also presented by guest lecturers.

2022 Weed Management in a Changing Climate for Agriculture (Saha)

This course provided graduate students with a forum for exploring, discussing, and presenting information related to weed management in changing climate for agriculture in current situation. Students gained experience in developing scientific communication skill via presentation and group discussions.

2021 Perspectives on Extension in Horticulture: Theory and Practice (Behe, Runkle, Cregg)

Students gained an understanding of Extension in the Land Grant System with an emphasis on the role of Horticulture Extension Educators and Specialists. Among the topics, students learned how to communicate scientific information to industry professionals. They gained experience in developing a professional trade publication relevant to their research area, in developing and presenting an extension presentation for a professional audience relevant to their research area, and in the use of social media and electronic platforms in Extension

2020 Innovations in Horticultural Production Systems (Lopez, Brainard)

This course provided graduate students with a forum for exploring, discussing, and presenting information related to technological innovations in applied horticultural production systems and their implications. Topics included lighting and climate-control systems for greenhouse production; sensor technologies for detection and targeting of production constraints; robotics for automation and improved precision of horticultural tasks; and potential social, environmental and economic implications of these technological innovations.

2019 Targeting pathways for Crop Improvement (Edger)

Topics covered included functional characterization of genes, pathway construction, genomic selection, genome editing using CRISPR/Cas9 and engineering artificial chromosomes - all aimed at improving target traits in various crop species.

2018 Water Quality, Usage, Law and Policy for Agriculture (Fernandez, Cregg, Rowe)

Topics covered were water resource availability (quality and quantity), current and historical water extraction and use by sector, agrichemical contamination of water resources, mitigation and remediation of agrichemical contamination, overview of agriculture water laws and regulations globally, in the U.S., and U.S. regions of major concern/regulation (Great Lakes - St. Lawrence River Basin Water Sustainable Resources Agreement: IL, IN, MI, MN, NY, OH, Ontario, PA, Quebec, WI; Colorado River Compact and the Upper Colorado Rive Compact: AZ, CA, CO, NV, NM, UT, WY; Chesapeake Bay Program: DE, MD, NY, PA, VA, D.C., WV; Apalachicola-Chatahoochee-Flint River Basin: AL, FL, GA). Students were required to give presentations based on the literature pertaining to solutions to agrichemical contaminants in an area related to their thesis/dissertation topic using a traditional poster presentation format and a 3-5 minute video YouTube-like format.

2017 The biology of quality: Linking production to the desirability of fruits and vegetables (Beaudry)

2016 Future Concerns: Community/Urban Horticulture (Cregg, Brainard)

This course explored various aspects of community agriculture as they related to horticultural production. The format included both classroom instruction and field trips.