The first-ever student poster competition was a key attraction at the 2023 Canadian Greenhouse Conference held October 4-5 in Niagara Falls, Ontario. There were 19 entries with an additional 14 posters in the regular session, submitted by researchers.

The first place winner is Daniel Terlizzese, University of Guelph, for “Shining Light on Eggplant Production.”  His team looked at the effects of supplemental light photoperiod on greenhouse eggplant growth and yields.

The second place winner is Elyse Aubry, Brock University for “Identifying a new nematicide to control northern root-knot nematode infection in greenhouse strawberry production.”

The third place winner is Noémie Gonzalez, Université du Québec à Montréal for “What’s the best: banker plant or pupal release?  Her team looked at the effect on the control of Myzus Persicae and pollination of sweet pepper by the American hoverfly, Eupeodes Americanus.

Poster submissions were from Ontario, Québec and Alberta. The judging panel consisted of six judges: two researchers, two OMAFRA specialists and two greenhouse growers – one from greenhouse vegetables, one from floriculture.

“We were thrilled with our first in-person poster session at CGC!” says Denise Beaton, a co-chair along with Cara McCreary, OMAFRA specialists. “It was great to see the research being done in Canada to support the greenhouse sector. There was a lot of interest in the posters. Thank you to the students and researchers for presenting their posters and to the judges who helped with the student poster competition.”

Source:  Denise Beaton, OMAFRA, October 5, 2023