2025 Symposium Agenda
The 2025 PSS Student Research Symposium will be held on Friday, April 25th in the Texas Tech University Library, TLDPC 151. In the agenda below, click into each oral and poster session for a detailed breakdown of the time slots and topics being presented.
(Students, use our Presenter Guidelines to brush up on the logistics of your presentation before the big day.)
8:00 AM | Registration and Coffee Social
8:30 AM | Introduction and Opening Talk
9:00 – 10:25 AM | Oral Session 1
| TIME SLOT | SPEAKER | RESEARCH AREA | PRESENTATION TITLE |
| 9:00–9:13 | Houra Farkondehnia | Fiber & Biopolymer Science | Preparation of Highly Absorbent Porous Beads by dissolving MCC in NMMO |
| 9:14–9:27 | Muskan Tiwari | Plant Genetics, Breeding, and Biotechnology | Transcriptomic Analysis of Arachis Hypogaea to Identify Genes Conferring Resistance To Meloidogyne Arenaria |
| 9:28–9:41 | Matthew 'Cole' Woolard | Crop Protection | Evaluating different herbicide programs in AxantTM Flex Cotton |
| 9:42–9:55 | Faisal Rahman | Fiber & Biopolymer Science | Repurposing Cottonseed Protein Isolate for the Development of Enhanced Guar Gum-Based Cryogels |
| 9:56–10:09 | Amir Shahin Shamsabadi | Fiber & Biopolymer Science | Effect of High-Pressure CO2 Combined with Chemical Pretreatment on the Dissolution of Cotton Linter Cellulose |
| 10:10–10:23 | Emily Weiber | Crop Science | Using UAV Remote Sensing to Assess Cotton Cultivars for Water Stress Resistance in West Texas |
10:25 - 10:35 AM | Break
10:35 – 12:15 AM | Oral Session 2
| TIME SLOT | SPEAKER | RESEARCH AREA | PRESENTATION TITLE |
| 10:36–10:49 | Gaganjot Singh Sodhi | Crop Science | Growth and Reproduction of Palmer Amaranth (Amaranthus palmeri) Under Different Water Stress Conditions |
| 10:50–11:03 | Mahjabin Ferdaous Mim | Soil Science | Greenhouse Gas Emission from A Cotton–Sorghum Rotation System |
| 11:04–11:17 | Alondra Cruz | Crop Science | A Comparison of Summer Annual Forages Grown Under Differing Irrigation and Nitrogen Treatments |
| 11:18–11:31 | Pallavi | Plant Genetics, Breeding, and Biotechnology | Genotype- and Explant-Independent Sorghum Transformation and Understanding the Regeneration Mechanism |
| 11:32–11:45 | Diego Arcelay Sánchez | Soil Science | Impacts of Agricultural Land Uses on Playa Lake Soil Properties |
| 11:46–11:59 | Megan M. Singletary | Crop Protection | A Multi-Tactic Approach to Controlling Dicamba-Resistant Palmer Amaranth in Texas |
| 12:00–12:13 | Avinash Shrestha | Plant Genetics, Breeding, and Biotechnology | FIGS for Cotton |
12:15 - 1:15 PM | Lunch Break
1:15 – 2:15 PM | Poster Session
| # | SPEAKER | RESEARCH AREA | POSTER TITLE |
| #1 | Khusboo Agrawal | Fiber & Biopolymer Science | Assessing the chemical compositional variability of sorghum varieties in semi-arid regions |
| #2 | Anjana C. Sabu | Fiber & Biopolymer Science | Extraction and characterization of xylooligosaccharides from sorghum stover for dairycalf feed application |
| #3 | Faith Alonge | Soil Science | Assessing the efficiency of wastewater-derived struvite in enhancing soil phosphorus dynamics compared to crystal green and monoammonium phosphate (MAP) using soil incubation assays |
| #4 | Derseh Yilie Limineh | Fiber & Biopolymer Science | Optimizationof (XOS) extraction from southhigh-plains agricultural feedstock through microwave-assisted pretreatment |
| #6 | Matthew 'Cole' Woolard | Crop Protection | Does AxantTM Flex cotton response differ when various adjuvants are tank-mixed with topramezone + L-glufosinate? |
| #7 | Jill Forrest | Crop Protection | Outreach to promote entomology learning experiences in Texas’ high schools |
| #8 | Andrea Caprini Sagirato | Crop Protection | Evaluation of topramezone with various PSII inhibitors |
| #9 | Micayla Lamb | Plant Genetics, Breeding, and Biotechnology | A genome-wide association study to identify QTLs for root system architecture traits in upland Cotton. |
| #10 | Taylor Smith | Soil Science | How does urban residential landscape diversity impact soil microbial functional diversity? |
| #12 | Katerina M. Vargas | Horticulture & Turfgrass Science | Vitamin C biofortification in lettuce for improved nutrition |
| #13 | Kaitlyn Stubbs | Horticulture & Turfgrass Science | Growth and nutrient dynamics in Salanova lettuce: Evaluating biofortification potential in field and deep-water systems |
| #14 | Nicholas Wilson | Soil Science | Native legume symbiosis in semi-arid ecosystems |
| #15 | Megan M. Singletary | Crop Protection | Sustainable weed control combinations in a reduced tillage organic cotton system |
| #16 | Monjurul Huda | Plant Genetics, Breeding, and Biotechnology | Seed coat-mediated dormancy in upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) |
| #17 | Guanyun Cheng | Plant Genetics, Breeding, and Biotechnology | Network analysis of sorghum grain development to clarify the biosynthesis of starch, protein and oil |
| #18 | Mohit Jain | Plant Genetics, Breeding, and Biotechnology | A morpho-physiological evaluation of a RIL population of upland cotton at seedling stag |
| #19 | Lee Fischel | Soil Science | Short term impacts of no-tillage, cover crops, and sorghum cotton rotation on soil-water dynamics |
| #20 | Avinash Shrestha | Plant Genetics, Breeding, and Biotechnology | FIGS: Climate-driven selection for drought resilience in upland cotton |
| #21 | Koby Nichols | Fiber & Biopolymer Science | Carbon capture in your backyard: Turfgrass biochar |
| #22 | Anagha Sunil | Fiber & Biopolymer Science | From waste to worth: The untapped power of spent mushroom substrate |
2:15 – 3:40 PM | Oral Session 3
| TIME SLOT | SPEAKER | RESEARCH AREA | PRESENTATION TITLE |
| 2:16–2:29 | Mayank Bangari | Crop Science | Deciphering the Principles Regulating Stem Mechanical Design to Explore the Genetic Control of Lodging Tolerance in Sorghum |
| 2:30–2:43 | Raavi Arora | Soil Science | Soil Microbial Community Alteration and Reduced Nitrous Oxide Emissions with Legume Inclusion in Semi-Arid Pastures |
| 2:44–2:57 | Yusa Ichinose | Crop Science | Genomic Regions and Haplotypes Controlling Pre-Harvest Sprouting in Grain Sorghum |
| 2:58–3:11 | Teja Saddapalli | Crop Science | Assessing the Impact of Treated Produced Water on Soil Health and Forage Quality on Field Grown Alfalfa |
| 3:12–3:25 | Zhiyuan Liu | Crop Science | Characterization of hs1 as a Key Regulator of Heat Tolerance in Sorghum |
| 3:26–3:39 | Reshma Panackal Shibu | Fiber & Biopolymer Science | Next-Gen Nylon: Powered by Chitin |
3:40 PM | Break
| 4:00 PM | Awards Ceremony |
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Department of Plant and Soil Science
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Address
Texas Tech University, Department of Plant and Soil Science, Box 42122, Lubbock, TX 79409 -
Phone
806.742.2838 -
Email
psstechsupport@ttu.edu