By Audra Koscik
The Plant Sciences Graduate Student Council (PSGSC) 2024 officers are pictured at the 14th Annual Plant Sciences Symposium. Front row (left to right): Jill Abendroth, Arthur Franco, Colin Cooksey, Erica Kirchhof. Middle row: Mengmeng Luo, Anson Siu, Fletcher Robbins, Audrey Morrison. Back row: Sarah Caroline De Souza, Tony Schuh, John Searl, Joseph Walston. Photo by Mengmeng Luo
Audrey Morrison learned about the Plant Sciences Graduate Student Council (PSGSC) when she first arrived on campus. Morrison, a plant breeding & plant genetics (PBPG) student advised by Irwin Goldman, noticed many students in her program were attending PSGSC events or serving on the council.
“A previous post-doctoral researcher in my lab, Dr. Maddy Oravec, had served on the council when she was pursuing her PhD here at UW-Madison,” Morrison says. “Maddy really encouraged me, and other colleagues, to consider running for office and get involved further than just attending events.”
Morrison decided to run for office to be a council member. She ended up serving as the horticulture representative for the 2023 council and then president for the 2024 council.
PSGSC is composed of several council members, each representing a different field of study. The council began in 2000 and originally represented agronomy, horticulture, and PBPG.
Now, PSGSC has a council member to represent each of the following disciplines: agronomy, agroecology, botany (integrated biology), entomology, horticulture, PBPG, plant pathology, and soil science. “Other individuals who may be outside of these disciplines but are still interested in attending our events are on our email listserv and are invited to attend any events hosted by PSGSC. Reach out to PSGSC by email if you, or others you know, want to be involved!” Morrison says.
PSGSC hosted a pumpkin painting party this fall. Here, the PSGSC logo is painted on a pumpkin.
PSGSC organizes all kinds of events for graduate students. Many of these events are fun, community-building events such as ice skating, painting pumpkins, or kayaking. The council also organizes professional development opportunities such as workshops and recruitment events.
“The opportunities that PSGSC offers to its community allow students to meet others in the different disciplines of plant science. It’s a great way to network and cross paths with students that may not be in the same program or building,” Morrison says. “And having camaraderie and social events leads to professional connections later down the line.”
On November 15, 2024, PSGSC hosted a large symposium that both connected the plant sciences community and provided graduate students with professional development opportunities. It was PSGSC’s 14th Annual Plant Sciences Symposium. This annual symposium is part of Corteva Agriscience’s Symposia Series. This year’s symposium theme was “Growing into New Tech: Plant Sciences in Bloom.”
The symposium hosted a lightning talk competition and poster session for students to share their research. Additionally, the event had several speakers in a diversity of plant science professions.
Graduate student Rebecca Arias and Bucky Badger look at a research poster at PSGSC’s 14th Annual Plant Sciences Symposium. Arias is a PBPG student advised by Shelby Ellison. Photo by Audra Koscik
The speakers’ presentations all followed the “Growing into New Tech” theme. For instance, Dr. Alex Wiedenhoeft, a research botanist and team leader in the USDA Forest Products Laboratory’s Center for Wood Anatomy Research, spoke on how he designed and created technology that could more affordably and accessibly analyze wood anatomy.
Speakers traveled from across the nation to present. For example, Nate Kingsley, manager of the Seed Conservation Lab at Lyon Arboretum, ventured from Hawaii to present his work developing technology to capture and catalogue extremely high-resolution photos of seeds.
“We hoped to be able to pick speakers that would deliver presentations that left attendees with new knowledge or perspectives,” Morrison says. “We aimed to find speakers working on or with novel technologies supporting plant science.”
Organizing the annual symposium requires many hours of work. PSGSC began planning the November symposium the February before. The council had to obtain sponsors and grants, book the venue, plan catering, order merchandise, invite speakers, and much more. “There are a lot of moving pieces behind the scenes!” Morrison says. “We have a lot of departmental and UW support in planning the symposium, which we are very thankful for.”
Fernando de la Torre (left) and Morrison speak in front of a research poster. De la Torre presented his poster “Building and utilizing the Vaccinium hybridization roadmap: Vaccinium meridionale and the commercial Vaccinium crops.” He is a graduate student advised by Juan Zalapa. Photo by Audra Koscik
The symposium was highly attended with students, staff, faculty, industry professionals, and alumni. PSGSC’s work organizing the symposium provided a valuable space for the plant sciences community.
PSGSC supports other plant science related communities as well. For instance, PSGSC hosted a Plant Science Workshop for Young Growers. In this workshop, students ages 10-17 from all across Wisconsin came to learn about plant science through hands-on activities and demonstrations. Graduate students, undergraduate students, and D.C. Smith Greenhouse Manager Johanna Oosterwyk led these activities. PSGSC’s 2024 council members Jillian McGhee (PBPG), Anson Siu (PBPG), and Colin Cooksey (agroecology) helped organize and lead this initiative.
PSGSC also organizes volunteering events such helping garden, weed, and plant at the Madison Senior Center.
Altogether, the council provides many important spaces for plant sciences graduate students to connect, grow, and share with our communities.
“Grad school is a special ‘in between’ phase of schooling and careers, where we have desired research objectives to complete in a finite amount of time before leaving again for a more permanent job. It is easy to keep your head down, do your work, and get out. However, there is much more to be learned in grad school that cannot be taught in a classroom or textbook,” Morrison says. “I think it is important to carve time out of our graduate careers to connect over these shared experiences with fellow grad students, providing support, a sense of belonging, and simply a social connection that people need.”