FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Two students in the U of A's Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences recently won regional competition awards at the Southern Section of the American Society of Plant Biologists annual meeting while a third placed in a state competition.

Eliott Pruett claimed first place in the undergraduate poster division while Jade Newsome placed third in the graduate student oral presentation division at the ASPB meeting in Denton, Texas, April 1-2. The same weekend, Olivia Caillouet placed second in the biological sciences division (plants and fishes) of the Arkansas Academy of Sciences undergraduate research oral presentation competition in Fayetteville.

Pruett, who is in crop, soil and environmental sciences, works with professor of plant biotechnology Vibha Srivastava. Pruett earned funding support from the Bumpers College Undergraduate Creative Projects/Research Grants Program. His research is "Efficiency of ISCEI Nuclease in Excising DNA Fragments from the Arabidopsis Genome."

Newsome, a master's degree student in plant pathology, is working with professor Ken Korth. Her oral presentation was on salt stress in soybeans, which was funded by the Arkansas Soybean Promotion Board.

Newsome recently won the U of A's first Three Minute Thesis competition sponsored by the Graduate School and International Education. She won the college round to enter the finals as Bumpers College champion against winners of other colleges on campus.

The Southern Section of the ASPB encourages and promotes the growth and development of plant physiology as a pure and applied science of the life processes of plants, and promotes the welfare and good fellowship of plant biologists.

Caillouet, a horticulture major, spoke at the centennial celebration of the Arkansas Academy of Sciences. Working with University Professor Curt Rom on her research, Caillouet presented "The Effects of Shade on Greenhouse-Grown Primocane Fruiting Blackberries." She also received funding from the college's Undergraduate Creative Projects/Research Grants Program.

The Arkansas Academy of Science promotes science in the state and region.

Caillouet and Pruett are also in the U of A Honors College.

About the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences: Bumpers College provides life-changing opportunities to position and prepare graduates who will be leaders in the businesses associated with foods, family, the environment, agriculture, sustainability and human quality of life; and who will be first-choice candidates of employers looking for leaders, innovators, policy makers and entrepreneurs. The college is named for Dale Bumpers, former Arkansas governor and longtime U.S. senator who made the state prominent in national and international agriculture.

About the University of Arkansas: The University of Arkansas provides an internationally competitive education for undergraduate and graduate students in more than 200 academic programs. The university contributes new knowledge, economic development, basic and applied research, and creative activity while also providing service to academic and professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the University of Arkansas among only 2 percent of universities in America that have the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the University of Arkansas among its top American public research universities. Founded in 1871, the University of Arkansas comprises 10 colleges and schools and maintains a low student-to-faculty ratio that promotes personal attention and close mentoring.