Student and Postdoc Awards

1st Place – Graduate Student Lightning Talk

Pooja Tripathi, PhD Student, won 1st place in the Graduate Student Lightning Talk for her presentation “Effects of artificial chilling on runnering and daughter plant production of ‘Albion’ and ‘Fronteras’ strawberry plants” at the North Central Extension & Research Activity–101 in Monterrey, Mexico, which took place April 5-9, 2025.

3rd Place – Oral Pitch Competition

Moein Moosavi, at the time a PhD Student, won 3rd place in the 2-Minute Oral Pitch Competition for his presentation ‘When Controlled-Environment Agriculture Helps U.S. Strawberry Industry’. It was awarded by Elo Life Systems in March of 2025.

Outstanding Presentation – International Strawberry Symposium

Michael Palmer, PhD student, won the Outstanding Presentation Award for his presentation “Impact of Chilling on Floral Development of Strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa) cvs. ‘Albion’,‘Chandler’, ‘Monterey’, ‘Sweet Sensation’ 250cc Tray Plants in a Controlled Environment” at the International Strawberry Symposium in Yancheng, China in March 2025.

Outstanding Presentation – International Strawberry Symposium

Pooja Tripathi, PhD Student, won the Outstanding Presentation Award for her presentation “Effects of artificial chilling on runnering and daughter plant production of ‘Albion’ and ‘Fronteras’ strawberry plants” at the International Strawberry Symposium in Yancheng, China, which took place from March 16-21, 2025.

ASHS Travel Grant Award

Michael Palmer, PhD student, was awarded a Travel Grant from the American Society of Horticulture Science in 2025 to present “Impact of Chilling on Floral Development of Strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa) cvs. ‘Albion’,‘Chandler’, ‘Monterey’, ‘Sweet Sensation’ 250cc Tray Plants in a Controlled Environment” at the International Strawberry Symposium in Yancheng, China, which took place from March 16-21, 2025.

Graduate Student Association Travel Award

Moein Moosavi, PhD Student, was awarded a Travel Award by the NC State Graduate Student Association to present ‘Enhancing Strawberry Propagation Systems Through Photoperiod, Spectrum, and Intracanopy Lighting’ at Greensys in Almería, Spain, in April 2025.

Travel Endowment – Pi Alpha Xi

Michael Palmer, PhD Student, was awarded a Travel Endowment Award from Pi Alpha Xi to present “Impact of Chilling on Floral Development of Strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa) cvs. ‘Albion’,‘Chandler’, ‘Monterey’, ‘Sweet Sensation’ 250cc Tray Plants in a Controlled Environment” at the International Strawberry Symposium in Yancheng, China, which took place from March 16-21, 2025.

Honorable Mention – Backwards Science Fair

Dr. Ibraheem Olasupo, Postdoc, won an honorable mention at the Backwards Science Fair that took place at the Marbles Kids Museum in Raleigh, NC on April 12th, 2025. His station allowed interested children to cut daughter plants and transplant them into substrate trays.

1st Place – Flash Talk

Dr. Ibraheem Olasupo, Postdoc, won 1st place for the Flash Talk Competition at the maiden North Carolina Post-Doc Research Symposium for his presentation on ‘Precision Indoor Propagation is a next generation strategy in the US Strawberry Supply Chain: A Pilot Study North Carolina’, at the NC Biotech Centre in Durham, NC on June 14th, 2024.

1st Place – Lightning Talk

Samson Humphrey, MS Student, won 1st place in the Lightning Talk for his presentation “Impact of elevated CO₂ and two daily light integrals on the production efficiency of strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa ‘Monterey’) daughter plants” at the Committee on Controlled Environment Technology and Use in Des Moines, IA, from March 23–26, 2024.

1st Place – Graduate Student Research Oral Competition

Samson Humphrey, MS Student, won 1st place in the Graduate Student Research Oral Competition for his presentation “Impact of elevated CO₂ and two daily light integrals on the production efficiency of strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa ‘Monterey’) daughter plants” at the American Society of Horticultural Sciences Conference in Honolulu, HI, from September 23-27, 2024.

2nd Place – Graduate Student Research Oral Competition

Michael Palmer, PhD Student, tied for 2nd in the Graduate Student Research Oral Competition for his presentation “Impact of Chill Hour Accumulation under Diurnal Temperature Variation on Floral Development of Strawberry” at the American Society of Horticultural Sciences Conference in Honolulu, HI from September 23-27, 2024

2nd Place – Controlled Environment Oral Competition

Lian Durón, MS Student, tied for 2nd place in the Controlled Environment Oral Competition for her presentation “Effect of Photosynthetic Photon Flux Density on Strawberry Runner Tips Propagated Indoors” at the American Society for Horticultural Science Conference in Honolulu, HI on September 27, 2024.

5th Place – Lightning Talk Student Competition

Lian Durón, MS Student, won 5th place in the Lightning Talk Student Competition for her presentation “Effect of Photosynthetic Photon Flux Density on Strawberry Runner Tips Propagated Indoors” at the North Central Extension & Research Activity–101 (NCERA-101) in Des Moines, IA on March 24, 2024.

Honorable Mention – Graduate Student Research Oral Competition

Moein Moosavi, PhD Student, was awarded an Honorable Mention in the Graduate Student Research Oral Competition for his presentation, “Unraveling strawberry stock plant architecture, morphology, and tips’ spatial distribution under three photoperiods to facilitate future propagation system design: A comparative study on Monterey as a long-day cultivar” at the American Society of Horticultural Sciences Conference in Honolulu, HI from September 23-27, 2024

Top Presenter – NCERA-101

Moein Moosavi, PhD Student, was awarded Top Presenter in the 3-Minute Flash Talk at the NCERA-101 Annual Meeting in March of 2024.

Southern Region Small Fruit Crop Endowment

Moein Moosavi, PhD Student, was awarded the Southern Region Small Fruit Crop Endowment by the Southern Region Small Fruit Consortium in July of 2024.

Travel Award

Moein Moosavi, PhD Student, was awarded a travel award to present ‘Strawberry Stock Plant Architecture, Morphology, and Tips’ Spatial Distribution under Three Photoperiods’ at the NCERA-101 Annual Meeting in March of 2024.

ASHS Travel Grant Award

Samantha Simard, MS Student, won an ASHS Travel Grant Award to present “Effect of Planting Date on Strawberry Yield” at the American Society for Horticultural Science Conference in Honolulu, HI, which took place from September 23-27, 2024.

ASHS Travel Grant Award

Moein Moosavi, PhD Student, was awarded a travel award to present “Architecture, Morphology, and Spatial Distribution of Strawberry Daughter Plants under Three Different Photoperiods” at the American Society for Horticultural Science Annual Conference in May of 2024.

Tammy L. Ellington Horticultural Plant Breeding Graduate Award

Moein Moosavi, PhD student, was awarded the Tammy L. Ellington Horticultural Plant Breeding Graduate Award by the Department of Horticulture Science at NC State in September of 2024.

Tammy L. Ellinger Graduate Award Endowment – Department of Horticulture Science

Michael Palmer, PhD student, was a recipient of the Tammy L. Ellinger Graduate Award Endowment from the Department of Horticulture Science at NC State in 2024.

3rd Place – Graduate Student Research Presentation

Samson Humphrey, MS Student, was awarded 3rd place in the Graduate Student Research Presentation for his presentation “Impact of elevated co2 and two daily light integrals on the production efficiency of strawberry (fragaria × ananassa ‘monterey’) daughter plants” at the Committee on Controlled Environment Technology and Use in Davis, CA on April 19, 2023.

The Arthur A. “Buck” Jones Scholarship – Sidney B. Meadows Scholarship Fund

Brandan Shur, MS student, was awarded the The Arthur A. “Buck” Jones Scholarship from the Sidney B. Meadows Scholarship Fund in 2023.

HortScholar’s Award – AmericanHort

1st Place – Graduate Student Research Oral Competition

Samson Humphrey, at the time an MS Student, won 1st place in the Graduate Student Research Oral Competition at the American Society of Horticultural Sciences, Controlled Environment Interest Group meeting in Chicago, IL on August 2, 2022, for his presentation ‘Rooting efficacy of different size strawberry tips in a controlled environment propagation system’.

Provost Fellowship Recipient

Michael Palmer, PhD student, was a recipient of the Provost Fellowship from North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina, in 2022.

Gardener’s of Wake County Scholarships

Brandan Shur, MS student, was awarded a scholarship from the Gardener’s of Wake County in 2022.

Gardener’s of Wake County Scholarships

Caleb Stephenson, MS student, was awarded a scholarship from the Gardener’s of Wake County in 2022.