Lucas Roberts participated in the 2015 NCWSS Student Weed Contest

2015 Oct 6

Lucas Roberts, majoring in agronomy and genetics at Iowa State University, was a member of the 2015 Weed Science Contest team. The team participated in the North Central Weed Science Society (NCWSS) Student Weed Contest in Ohio.

The purpose of this national contest is to provide an educational experience from which university students around the country can broaden their applied skills in weed science. The contest provides an opportunity for participants to network with each other, gain exposure to industry researchers, and apply their knowledge and skills to increase the viability of the weed science industry.

At the contest, individuals and teams participate in four major events. The weed identification portion of the contest requires participants to correctly identify as many weed species by the correct scientific or common name. Part two of the contest, application technology, consists of a written test related to all aspects of sprayer calibration and a hands-on calibration scenario. Identification of unknown herbicides and problem solving/scenario recommendation are the third and fourth contest tasks.

The Weed Science Team at Iowa State last competed in the mid-2000's. Before that, the team saw popularity and great success in the 1980's and 1990's. Graduate students in agronomy Tom Lawler and Sam Groenenboom chose to resurrect the team in 2015 due to their desire to compete, paired with their ineligibility to compete in Iowa State crops and soil judging contests, where they previously worked as team coaches. Roberts was among those who jumped at the chance to be on the team, whose members' interests range from plant breeding to agronomy and soil science.