ASHS 2015 Annual Conference

Objective(s):
Presiding: Brian Pearson and Andrew Koeser are hosting the annual competition called “Scholars Ignite” for graduate students to share their discoveries and creations to a non-specialist audience.

ASHS is looking forward to making this opportunity available to graduate students to communicate the impact of their research, projects and scholarly activities. Graduate students will make compelling presentations in three minutes using no more than one single PowerPoint slide or visual aid. The purpose of the presentation is to generate awareness, stimulate thought, and inspire attendees to appreciate the breadth and depth of horticulture research and scholarly activities. This is similar to the three- to five-minute thesis and research presentation events (e.g. Three Minute Thesis, Ignite, or Scholars' Studio) occurring around the globe, and done especially well in Australia, British Columbia, and the University of Washington.

Our hope is that this activity would stir the society’s membership up around graduate student learning, research, discovery, and creativity. ASHS would obtain “stories” to share via “YouTube” and for the web, and to brag about our graduate student membership and their accomplishments. Graduate students would meet other students, learn of research and other creative and scholarly activities across ASHS, and hopefully have fun! Winners will receive a cash award of $500, $250, and $100 for the top three places, respectively.

Students must sign up for the competition at the time of registering for the ASHS conference. Then, students must use the following link to submit ONE slide and one transition slide using the provided format for the transition slide.  The deadline for this submission is July 7th.  Questions can be sent to Negar Mahdavian at nmahdavian@ashs.org.