Mosqueda selected for plant science scholarships

(July 27, 2015) – Fresno State vegetation management graduate student Elizabeth Mosqueda received a pair of noteworthy scholarships from area agriculture agencies.

The Soledad native was selected for the Bill and Jane Fischer Vegetation Management Scholarship from the University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources and a California Weed Science Society scholarship.

This summer she is working in the Parlier USDA office in its water management research division as a research assistant examining alternative crops capable of growing in saline soils like those in west Fresno County.

She is also employed with the Monterey County UC Cooperative Extension and is working on her thesis project on automated vs. hand-thinned Salinas Valley lettuce harvesting and weed control. This technology was introduced in the area two years ago, and her research will help area growers become more efficient at harvesting to make up for labor shortages.

Her research on the project helped her earn third place in the oral presentation competition at the California Weed Science Society Conference in January.

In November 2013, she placed second in the President’s Trophy Speech contest at the Tri-Societies conference.

She works with Fresno State weed scientist professor Dr. Anil Shrestha and received her undergraduate plant science degree in the spring of 2014.