| 2024 Annual Meeting

The 2024 Annual Meeting of the Hardwood Tree Improvement and Regeneration Center (HTIRC) was held on March 6^th at the John S. Wright Forestry Center. This meeting provided a valuable opportunity for us to engage with stakeholders and our advisory board, update them on research progress, and exchange insights to advance the science and application of hardwood tree improvement, management, and protection. The agenda (attached below) featured a diverse range of topics, including presentations from on-going HTIRC funded research projects, a poster session, updates on our extension and outreach efforts, and tree breeding activities over the past year. The meeting culminated with a field tour at Lugar Farm focused on butternut resistance breeding, black walnut orchard management, and diversification of our white oak breeding program. The guidance and input we receive from our stakeholders at this meeting are critical to the continued progress of the HTIRC and the research it supports. Thanks to all that attended for making the Annual Meeting such a success!

2024 HTIRC ANNUAL MEETING AGENDA

Research Posters

First blight resistance screening of OxO American Chestnut in Indiana.

Emerging wilt of sassafras and spicebush in the central hardwood forest region.

Resistance against walnut twig beetle in eastern black walnut.

Changes in canopy spectral properties in response to spotted lanternfly infestation.

Mixed Nuts: evaluating field performance and improving regeneration of pure and hybrid butternut.

Conserving threatened butternut trees using a multi-omics approach.

Automated Tree Ring Detection of Common Indiana Hardwood Species Through Deep Learning: introducing a new dataset of annotated images.

Quantifying the active range of two repellents of the nonnative ambrosia beetle.

Annual Meeting Networking

Two students discussing a poster at the annual meeting.

Charlie Warner and Songlin Fei discussing Charlie's poster at the HTIRC Annual Meeting.

Vikram Chhatre and committee member talking to Caleb Kell during poster discussion at the annual meeting.

Group photo of members sitting at the tables listening to Matt Ginzel speak.

Speaker doing his presentation at the HTIRC Annual Meeting.

Two members involved in a discussion at the poster coffee break.

Aziz Ebrahimi with two members discussing a poster at the HTIRC Annual Meeting.

Jim Warren and Carolyn Pike listening to member speak during the poster coffee break.

Members sitting at the tables listening to John Couture speak at the HTIRC Annual Meeting.

Photo of members sitting down listening to the presentations.

Lugar Farm Tour

Members standing outside at Lugar Farm listening to the tour.

Elias Gaffney, Caleb Kell, and HTIRC Members stating outside Lugar farm discussing plantation.

Matt Ginzel and Mike Saunders discussing the weather.

Scott Gula and Mojitaba Zamani Faradonbeh listening to Caleb Kell's Lugar Farm tour.

Photo of a plantation growing inside a tree protector.

Outside view of the tree plantation growing inside a tree protector.

Members standing outside of Lugar Farm listening to Caleb Kell's tour.

Photo of smaller plantations grouped together at Lugar Farm.

Advisory Committee members and staff looking at the growth of the plantations at Lugar Farm.

HTIRC members, staff, and advisory committee members enjoying the Lugar Farm tour outside on a cold day.