ASHS 2025 Conference

Student/First Time Attendee Welcome: Conference Overview Session


Led by Essie Fallahi and Curt Rom. This session will provide the essential information for how to get the most out of your attendance at the ASHS Annual Conference. Specific events, sessions, and competitions will be explained. ASHS staff and volunteers will be on hand to make sure that you are aware of all that ASHS and specifically the ASHS Conference has to offer.

Dr. Rom will present an on overview of the possible career paths for horticulture and plant science professionals.

Moderator: Janel Ohletz

The right connections can help your career flourish. Learn networking tips and tricks.

Representatives from Academia, Government, and Industry will participate in a Panel Discussion with Q&A.

Meet with representatives from industry and academia.

Companies and universities register for a free table at https://ashs.org/page/ASHSCareerFair_RecruiterTalk

Strategies for negotiating and accepting an offer.

Learn how to make your CV, resume, and cover letter shine! The session will start with a presentation of important things to remember when crafting your CV, resume, and cover letter.
In-person reviews will be conducted after the presentation so bring your CV, resume, and cover letter.

All students and early career professionals are invited to a reception/mixer. This is a chance to meet and learn from each other

Please be at your poster at 9:00 AM.  Once the judges come to you to hear your presentation, please confirm with them that it is okay to leave.

Learn about careers at Syngenta Flowers.

Come to the Hort Theater to hear about exciting job opportunities with Driscoll’s, the global leader in fresh market berries! You’ll hear an overview of our business operations and locations as well as the types of roles we hire for and what we look for in prospective candidates. You may even hear a few tips and tricks to help get your application noticed that you can use with us – or other prospective employers. Please join for an informal presentation and short Q&A session.

Please be at your poster at 10:30 AM.  Once the judges come to you to hear your presentation, please confirm with them that it is okay to leave.

Global olive oil production tripled over the past six decades to 2.76 million tons in the 2022/23 year. California is the largest producer of olive oil in the United States, and its planting is increasing at an estimated rate of 3000 acres per year. Most of the new plantings for oil in California are in hedgerows under intensive management either in a super high (SHD) or medium (MD) density systems. Of these plantings, an estimated ~80% is ‘Arbequina’, ~15% ‘Arbosana’, and ~5% ‘Koroneiki’. As expected, the industry is continuously searching for novel cultivars that can improve field and oil productivity, EVOO quality, as well as increase economic returns for their operation. With industry support, a trial was planted at the Wolfskill Experimental Orchard in Winters, CA in 2019. Four acres were planted at a density of 620 trees per acre, at 5 feet between trees and 14 feet between rows. ‘Arbequina’, ‘Arbosana’, and ‘Koroneiki’ were planted alongside two new cultivars, ‘Lecciana’ and ‘Sikitita’, and one numbered selection, Agromillora ‘9805-01’. The orchard was planted with five complete replicates of the six cultivars, each cultivar row was randomized within each replicate, with the exception of ‘Lecciana’ which was planted one year later in 2020. Seasonal and cumulative yield were measured from the 2021 through the 2024 growing seasons; while fruit weight, oil content, basal shoot prevalence, and maturity index were measured over the 2023 and 2024 growing seasons. The entire orchard was managed following industry agronomic practices for all replicates. During the four years ‘Koroneiki’ had the greatest cumulative yield on average, followed by ‘Arbequina’ and ‘Arbosana’, ‘Lecciana’, ‘9805-01’, and ‘Sikitita’ (16.60, 13.38, 13.37, 10.61, 8.17 and 7.76 tons per acre respectively). Alternate bearing behavior was more prevalent for ‘9805-01’ and ‘Sikitita’ and ‘Sikitita’ took an additional year to come into production. The results, including seasonal yield, oil content, basal shoot prevalence, and fruit weight, show why ‘Arbequina’, ‘Arbosana’, and ‘Koroneiki’ are still the prevalent cultivars grown in California for SHD plantings. In our trial, ‘Arbosana’ and ‘Koroneiki’ performed as well or better than ‘Arbequina’, but growers in California have planted less of those two cultivars due to concerns with disease resistance and vigor management over time across the different climatic conditions of the state. Our research shows that further evaluation of novel cultivars is essential for a growing industry.

This presentation is hosted by the Collegiate Activities Committee and undergraduates are encouraged to attend!

Specialty teas made from the tender tips of Camellia sinensis have been enjoyed for centuries, and their cultivation in the U.S. is gaining growing interest. Join us at this Hort Theater presentation to discover the exciting world of U.S.-grown specialty tea. Experience a tasting of select green and black teas from Hawaii, Louisiana, and Mississippi. Bring your curiosity and your questions about the health benefits, production, processing, and preparation of tea – we’ll entertain these topics with fun facts and our latest research insights.

Audience will take part in the discussion by doing a tea tasting of 4 or 5 different U.S.-grown teas. There will be new 2025 tea products from a local grower and growers from Mississippi, Oregon, and Hawaii. We will be offering these teas as cold-brew and hot-water brewed sample.

Speaker:
Dr. Tan Chen, Louisiana State University

Luke Concollato will provide an introduction to new, intuitive platform for digital phenotyping and integration of environmental data. Luke Concollato will introduce the program and give instructions on how this platform can be used for specified organization of data and ultimately, breakthroughs in plant science.

This is a pre-recorded Zoom webinar that will be shown at the Hort Theater.

Don't miss this fun event!

Test your horticultural knowledge against other teams for a night of fun and camaraderie! 4 players per team allowed. You can join as a team, or sign up as an individual and we will team you up. https://forms.gle/3WptLLMCxm1ATtn78

Awards for the student and early career competitions will be presented between rounds of trivia.

Pi Alpha Xi Photo Contest Results