About me
I have always been very interested in agriculture and environment, so I got my undergraduate degree in plant science from USU! Then, I started my masters working with invasive aquatic plant species last year. I love that my masters research has introduced me to the regional conversation of managing water resources in the West.
Wrestling the Bear Lake Monster: Navigating the Challenges of Herbicide Use for Aquatic Weeds
Aquatic invasive plant species like Myriophylum spicatum (Eurasian watermilfoil) and Potamogeton crispus (curly-leaf pondweed) can impede aquatic recreation and compete with native species in Bear Lake (UT-ID). Efforts to control such plants in Bear Lake have been met with unique challenges like reduced herbicide efficacy due to water exchange rates. In the greenhouse, we studied the effect of penoxulam, fluridone, triclopyr, and florpyrauxifen-benzyl on several plant species in response to reduced exposure times. Penoxulam generally reduced new growth in all treatments in comparison to the control. Triclopyr reduced overall plant biomass in M. spicatum and M. sibiricum (native milfoil) in only the second trial. Fluridone provided the largest reduction of overall plant biomass. We also studied the dissolution of fluridone and triclopyr (granular herbicides) in Bear Lake water. Both herbicides required several days to reach target concentration in static water.
