This month, some of the peach breeding lab traveled south and attended the annual Southeastern Professional Fruit Workers Conference at the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Citrus Research and Education Center. Not only did this serve as a lovely escape from the winter weather, but provided an excellent space for investigators, graduate students, and extension agents to gather, discuss, and present current and ongoing research for fruit crops. The conference also served as a exercise for graduate students to develop public speaking and presentation skills, through the form of a graduate student competition, where their talks were not judged solely on the quality of the scientific research, but also the clearness of delivery, aesthetic and visual perception, and timeliness.
This year, a wide range of fruit crops were highlighted including citrus, grapes, apples, blackberries, blueberries, strawberry, and of course, peaches! The talks varied on the focus of research, between novel IMP strategies to disease resistance and pest management and even technology developments for cultural decisions. Tours from a citrus packing house, as well as a local agribusiness farm were also eye opening, and provided a well rounded trip.
We are extremely proud of our graduate student, Ufuk Caglar, as he skillfully accomplished his first presentation.
Congratulations, and here’s to many more successful presentations!