Graduate student named University Medalist at Fresno State

Marcelo Moretti, a UC Davis Horticulture and Agronomy Ph.D. student working with Weed Specialist Brad Hanson, was named as the 2012 University Graduate Medalist at Fresno State for his effort during his M.S. program at Fresno State’s Jordan College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology.
 
Moretti’s master’s thesis project determined the first-ever globally known case of dual herbicide resistance (glyphosate and paraquat) in hairy fleabane (Conyza bonariensis), a problematic weed species in California agriculture. The research earned national and international recognition as the first documentation and confirmation of a weed species resistant to these two different herbicides.
 
Here in the UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences, Moretti is studying the mechanisms that confer resistance to the herbicides Glyphosate and paraquat in hairy fleabane and looking for possible weakness that can help manage the problem.