Five students from two universities were presented cash awards totaling $1,800 for their presentations at the Bryson L. James Student Competition held during the 62^nd SNA Research Conference. The awards were presented on Tuesday, January 9, 2018, at the Baltimore Convention Center, Baltimore, Md., during The SNA Conference.

The competition, sponsored by Bennett’s Creek Wholesale Nursery and Lancaster Farms, is named in honor of Dr. Bryson L. James, McMinnville, TN, a researcher and consultant who served as SNA Director of Research for more than 30 years. Any student of a university or college having researchers that participate in the Southern Nursery Association Research Conference and not more than a one academic year has passed since their graduation and whose research was completed prior to graduation can participate in the competition. Judging is based on paper preparation and oral presentation. The competition is divided into three categories of Ph.D., M.S., and B.S.

First place winners of $500 each included:

Geoffrey Weaver, University of Georgia (Ph.D.)
Title:  Modeling energy-efficient lighting strategies for petunia and impatiens using chlorophyll fluorescence and historical weather data

Connor Ryan, University of Georgia (M.S.)
Title:  Susceptability of Sarcococca Taxa to Boxwood Blight Caused by Calonextria pseudonaviculata

Second place winners of $300 each included:

Md Niamul Kibir, Tennessee State University (Ph.D.)
Title:  Effect of fungicides and biorational products on Phytophthora root rot of hydrangea cultivars

Matthew Brown, Tennessee State University (M.S.)
Title:  Evaluation of fungicides and biofungicides for control of Phytophthora cinnamomi on flood-stressed flowering dogwoods

Third place winners of $200 each included:

Kaitlin Barrios, University of Georgia (Ph.D.)
Title:  Mutagenesis of Illicium parviflorum for Novel Phenotypes

In addition to the cash awards for excellence in written and oral presentations for their respective research projects, each student was presented with a plaque.

The SNA Research Conference, which began in 1956, is the country's longest running woody ornamental research conference and provides a forum for horticultural researchers to communicate relevant and recent research findings to the industry. Its origin cannot be traced to any one individual, but the roots were planted by several SNA board members that recognized the need to consolidate duplicate research programs throughout the region. From an informal effort of compiling papers gathered from several horticultural research centers and assembled and printed, this two-day Horticultural Research Conference is held annually and has become world-renowned for quality research. Participants are the top horticultural research and educational leaders from across the country.

Research presented at the SNA Research Conference is published in the annual SNA Research Conference Proceedings. Proceedings from 1991 to present are available with 3,079  titles comprised of 12,074 pages.