The 2016 School of Integrative Plant Science Symposium was held the afternoon of October 11 as part of a fall break science extravaganza that included the Department of Microbiology Symposium on October 10 and the BMCB & GGD Symposium on the morning of October 11.

Plenary speaker Jim Giovannoni (USDA-ARS, BTI, and Adjunct Professor in the SIPS Section of Plant Biology) kicked off the symposium with his seminar on “Genetic regulation of tomato fruit ripening:  genes to genome to epigenome”

Lightning Talks:
Giovannoni’s presentation was followed by ten lightning talks delivered by faculty and student representatives from each of the five SIPS sections.  The five minute talks covered diverse and exciting topics ranging from from investigations of how paw-paw flowers simulate the aroma of fermenting fruit, breeding tomatoes for biodeterrance, cold-induced suppression of powdery mildew, forage production, impact of land use on urban soil microbiomes, and more.

Poster Session:
Symposium attendees then gathered in 401 Warren Hall for poster viewing and refreshments. Dana Robinson’ s poster “Cell ploidy controls cell and organ size in the Arabidopsis sepal” was elected as the winner of the SIPS Research Symposium Best Poster Award. Dana works in the program of Adrienne Roeder and has been awarded a 50 dollar gift certificate to the Cornell Campus Store.

Congratulation to Dana and thanks to Dan Buckley and his team of organizers for arranging a fun and scientifically rewarding event!