Proceedings of the Sixty-first Annual Meeting of the Northeastern ...

160
meeting attendance numbers have increased because of outreach initiatives and joint meetings
with other organizations (Figure 2). This was particularly evident last year where we had two
very successful symposiums that brought in over 100 non-members to our 2005 annual
meeting. The total number of presentations at our annual meetings has also increased since
1996 showing that we are still a very active organization. Posters and symposiums have
become increasingly important in our program. Papers in turfgrass and ornamental sections
have increased, whereas they have decreased in agronomy, fruits and vegetables, and
industrial sections. Also, the weed biology and ecology section has become a more important
part of our overall program, especially with students participating in the poster and paper
contest (Figure 3).
Figure 3. Number of poster and paper presentations broken out by section.
170
160
150
140
130
120
110
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Posters
Agronomy
Fruit & Veg.
Turfgrass
Ornamentals
Industrial
Weed Biology
Symposia
Student activities have been a major thrust of our society’s efforts. Student
participation in the poster and paper contests has remained relatively constant over the last 10
years (Figure 2). Student participation in Collegiate Weed Contests has dropped somewhat
since 1996, mainly because fewer schools are sending teams or individuals to the event (Figure
4). Dave Johnson hosted a very successful event this past summer at the Penn State Research
and Education Center in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Dave also led efforts by the Weed
Contest Committee to make changes in the contest rules to broaden the scope of the event for
our more diverse students.
142