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Summer Seminar Recap in Photos
Thursday, August 1, 2024
filed under: News
About 130 participants — sunflower growers, crop researchers, industry personnel and spouses — were in attendance for the 40th annual National Sunflower Association Summer Seminar, held in Duluth, Minn., on June 25-27.
Here we provide several photo highlights from the 2024 Summer Seminar.
The 2025 NSA Summer Seminar is scheduled for June 24-26 in Bismarck, N.D. More information will be posted on the NSA website — sunflowernsa.com — as it becomes available, as will coverage in future issues of The Sunflower.
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Retired USDA-ARS research botanist Gerald Seiler (center) was honored with the NSA Gold Award during this year’s Summer Seminar. He is pictured here with retired USDA plant pathologist Tom Gulya (left) and Laura Marek, curator of the sunflower collection for the USDA’s North Central Regional Plant Introduction Station. Seiler worked closely during his long career with Gulya and Marek, both of whom gave testimonials to his contributions to the sunflower scientific community and sunflower industry in general.
During his 44-year career with USDA, Seiler established the world’s largest wild sunflower species collection. He has been the recipient of numerous professional awards, including the prestigious Pustovoit Award bestowed by the International Sunflower Association. He also is a Fellow of the American Society of Agronomy and the Crop Science Society of America. |
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| NSA President Tom Kirkmeyer presents appreciation plaques to retiring board members Clark Coleman (left) and Bob Weigelt (right) for their 12 and 9 years, respectively, of service to the association. |
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Janet Bucknall of USDA-APHIS Wildlife Services spoke about the agency’s work to protect sunflower in the northern Great Plains and the collaborations and partnerships that make it happen. |
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| David Woodburn, CEO of Edison Agrosciences, discussed a potential new use for sunflower: as a natural source of rubber. Edison’s work, supported by the U.S. Department of Defense, has developed a computational breeding program to enhance sunflower’s native rubber production mechanisms. Sunflower plant leaves are the source of the rubber. |
Emily DeValk and Srushtideep Angidi were recognized during the NSA Summer Seminar as this year’s winners of the Curtis Stern Memorial Scholarship.
DeValk graduated from North Dakota State University in 2023 with a B.S. degree is biological sciences. She is presently pursuing a master’s degree in plant sciences at NDSU.
Angidi is a Ph.D student in plant pathology at NDSU, working with USDA plant pathologist William Underwood. He graduated from Banaras Hindu University, India, and earned an M.S. in phytopathology from NDSU.
The Curtis Stern Memorial Scholarship supports deserving university students who have a focus on sunflower. Nearly $6,900 was raised during this year’s scholarship raffle.
Curt Stern was a longtime sunflower industry promoter and prominent leader. He passed away in 2005. |
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