AOSA honored Dr. Miller McDonald

The Association of Official Seed Analysts (AOSA) honored Dr. Miller B. McDonald, seed biology professor, for his outstanding contributions to society and the advancement of seed science. Dr. McDonald received the 2006 Merit Award during the recently concluded joint meeting of AOSA and Society of Seed Commercial Technologists (SSCT) in Indianapolis. For more details on the news visit the HCS News.

OSU Seed Biology presence in AOSA-SSCT meeting

The AOSA/SCST meetings recently convened in Indianapolis, IN on June 2-6, 2006. The HCS Seed Biology Program was well represented. Mark Bennett participated in the Vigor Seed Symposium on June 2 and gave a presentation on “Vegetable Seed Vigor and Field/Greenhouse Performance.” The following day, Miller McDonald presented “Seed Moisture and the Equilibrium Moisture Relationship” at the Seed Moisture Workshop. Six graduate student posters were also on display at the meetings. These included:

R. R. Otoni and M. B. McDonald. Moisture content and temperature effects on three-day-old maize and soybean seedlings using SVIS.

R. R. Otoni, M. B. McDonald, and D. Tay. The use of x-rays for seed vigor assessment of cotton.

X. Hu, M. B. McDonald, and D. Tay. A new seed vigor testing system for ornamental species using computerized imaging technology.

R. Rabara, S. Contreras, D. Tay, M. A. Bennett, and M. B. McDonald. Development of germinability and desiccation tolerance in lettuce seeds.

L. He, M. B. McDonald, and D. Tay. Dormancy-breaking and germination requirements of evening primrose seeds of Oenothera species.

R. Rabara, M. B. McDonald, D. Tay, and Y. Vodovotz. Moisture sorption characteristics of seeds of five ornamental species

New Face

We welcome Liping He from Kunming, China. Liping is a university faculty member and will be conducting research on germination and dormancy mechanisms in ornamental species for one year. We also express fond farewells to Pedro Brancalion and Rafael Otoni who have returned to Piracicaba and Lavras, Brazil, respectively. Both conducted interesting research during their stay in the laboratory.

Institutional collaborations

We continue to work with our university partners in Brazil (ESALQ), Chile (PUC), and Alabama A&M on distance education opportunities. Miller McDonald and David Tay provided lectures from OSU to the Seed Production class in Chile in May. This technology is impressive! An International Seed Production class is being scheduled for Spring, 2007 with lectures coming from faculty at the four institutions. A DVD has been completed on Coffee Seed and Tropical Forage Grass Production in Brazil. The DVD is translated into three languages: English, Portuguese and Spanish.