Hyungmin “Tony” Rho, a second-year doctoral student at the School of Environmental and Forest Sciences (SEFS), recently presented some of his research at the 2013 ASA, CSSA and SSSA International Annual Meetings in Tampa, Fla., November 3-6. A joint meeting of three different societies—the American Society of Agronomy, the Crop Science Society of America, and the Soil Science Society of America—this year’s conference focused on the theme, “Water, Food, Energy & Innovation for a Sustainable World.”
Rho, who works with Professor Soo-Hyung Kim in the Plant Ecophysiology Lab, presented his poster, “Bacterial Endophytes Living in Intercellular Spaces of Leaves Lower Leaf Water Potential of Rice (Oryza sativa) Plants,” during the “Crop Physiology and Metabolism” session. His research is funded by USDA-NIFA and is the collaborative work of three labs, including Professors Kim and Sharon Doty at SEFS, both of whom were coauthors for his oral presentation. Other SEFS grad students involved in this research include Evan Henrich and Shyam Kandel.
“I believe these beneficial bacteria could be one of the potential bio-fertilizers in the future that can mitigate the climate change impacts derived from the current agricultural practice of using extensive amounts of nitrogen fertilizers,” says Rho. “My presentation gave a good glimpse of our novel approach to mitigate climate change impacts, and I got positive feedback from the audience.”
In addition to giving a presentation, Rho attended other sessions about current research trends and got to meet with a wide range of scientists and grad students. “I think it was a perfect opportunity for me to make social and professional connections throughout the conference,” he says, “as well as to introduce myself and my research.”
To assist with the cost of travel and attending the meetings, Rho received financial support from Director’s Student Travel funds at SEFS, and also from the Graduate School Fund for Excellence and Innovation (GSFEI).
Photo of Tony Rho © Tony Rho.