Program

Program Overview

June 23–26, 2025 | Chicago, Illinois USA We’re excited to welcome researchers, professionals, and students from around the world to an engaging week of scientific exchange and networking. Below is an outline of the symposium schedule. 

Jump to the detailed agenda

Monday, June 23, 2025

    • Registration & Welcome
    • Full Day of Scientific Presentations
    • Day one will conclude with a Welcome Reception featuring a live performance by The Professors of Jazz from Michigan State University, one of the most elite performing and educating jazz faculty groups in the United States. These nationally and internationally acclaimed musicians bring a level of collaboration and innovation that promises an unforgettable evening of world-class jazz. Included as part of symposium registration.

Tuesday, June 24, 2025

    • Full Day of Scientific Presentations
    • Symposium Gala Dinner, an evening of celebration and networking. This special event offers a relaxed setting to connect with colleagues and reflect on the week’s discussions. Included as part of symposium registration.

Wednesday, June 25, 2025

    • Join fellow attendees (and guests) for a full day-long tour. The tour begins with a visit to Valent BioSciences, a global leader in the research, development, and commercialization of highly effective, low-risk, and environmentally compatible technologies and products for agriculture, public health, and forest health. We’ll then explore the Chicago Botanic Garden, offering 385 acres of nature, beauty, and respite to discover. The day concludes with the Chicago River Architecture Tour, an in-depth river boat tour that delves into one of the most remarkable American cities today. Chicago is known around the world for its architectural feats, both inside and outside of the buildings. From the 100-year-old Art Deco, Neo-Classical, and Gothic Towers, to some of the tallest modern-day skyscrapers, Chicago is where old meets futuristic architectural endeavors.  Transportation from the hotel to Valent BioSciences, to the Chicago Botanic Garden and to the Chicago River Architecture Tour; admission tickets for the Chicago Botanic Garden and Chicago River Architecture boat tour, and lunch are included as part of symposium registration. Transportation is not provided from the river boat tour back to the hotel. Participants will walk the 0.5 miles back to the hotel.
    • Registrants on or after June 5 who wish to join the full-day tour will be accommodated based on availability. Riverboat tour tickets will be confirmed upon registration, pending availability with the tour provider. Please note that space on the river boat tour is limited and not guaranteed on or after June 5. 

Thursday, June 26, 2025

    • Full Day of Scientific Presentations
    • Announcement of ISHS Young Minds Awards
    • ISHS Business Meeting & Vote for Next Symposium Host
    • Closing Ceremony

    • Unless otherwise stated above, meals are on your own.

This program has been designed to balance rigorous academic exchange with opportunities for networking and regional exploration. We look forward to your participation in what promises to be an enriching and memorable event.

The symposium will comprise seven non-concurrent sessions, each hosted by a member of the scientific committee with notable expertise in the session. A keynote ‘perspectives’ lecture will begin each session.

    • Fundamental/Molecular Biology
    • Application Technologies and environmental regulation of bioregulator penetration
    • Dormancy
    • Floral induction, formation, flowering, and fruit set
    • Vegetative and Reproductive Growth and Development
    • Fruit maturation and harvest
    • Postharvest biology/storability and quality retention/postharvest disorders

As details are finalized, additional information will be added. 

Visiting Michigan and Michigan State University

For those of you remaining in the Chicagoland/Midwest US area after the conference, we would welcome one-day visits to Michigan State University (located in East Lansing, Michigan), its research farms, and regional fruit industry sites in the week following the conference June 30 – July 3.  While we cannot arrange travel from Chicago or provide area lodging, we would be very happy to set up an informal tour once you make it to East Lansing. Lodging options in the East Lansing area.

If you have an interest in visiting, from Chicago you can take an afternoon train directly to East Lansing or, if you are driving, expect a drive of about four hours from downtown Chicago (link).  We’ll work with you to tailor your visit according to your interests. Please contact Randolph Beaudry (beaudry@msu.edu; +1-517-353-0303) by June 7, 2025. We can only accommodate a handful of participants, so plan early if you have a keen interest.

 

Preliminary Agenda 

This is a preliminary agenda for the symposium. Please note the exact titles and times are subject to change as plans are finalized.

Date/Time

Title 

Speaker
Sunday, June 22
7:30-8:30 p.m.  Attendee Registration
Sponsor Display Setup
Poster Setup		  
     
Monday, June 23
7:00 AM Attendee Registration   
8:00 AM Welcome   
8:45 AM Keynote: Martin John Bukovac: Career and Concepts    Petracek, P.
9:25 AM Studies on octylphenoxy surfactants: XII. Effect of surfactant concentration on foliar penetration of NAA into cowpea leaves Shafer, W.
9:45 AM BREAK  
10:05 AM Keynote: Perspectives on apple crop load management Kon, T.
10:35 AM Review of Crop load Management in Apples with PGR’s under American Northeast and Spain Conditions-Part 1, Flowering    Gonzalez Nieto, L.
10:55 AM Review of Crop Load Management in Apples with PGR’s under American Northeast and Spain Conditions-Part 2, Fruitlets   Gonzalez Nieto, L.
11:15 AM Ethylene evolution from plant bioregulators is differentially affected by ambient CO2    Larson, J.
11:35 AM The need to selective, individual apple tree adapted fruit thinning and return bloom spraying program    Stopar, M.
11:55 AM Break for Lunch (Lunch on your own)  
1:25 PM A Sustainable, Non-Chemical Thinning Method for US Midwestern Apple Producers: Novel Use of Anti-Hail, Insect-Exclusion Netting  Elsysy, M.
1:45 PM Developing agronomic strategies that reduce biennial bearing in apple  Campbell, T
2:05 PM Using ethephon, ACC, and NAA to improve return bloom of ‘Honeycrisp’ apples in Western New York  Lawrence, B.
2:25 PM Induction of a carbohydrate deficit to improve efficacy of a post-bloom thinner application Larson, J.
2:45 PM Monitoring abscission and thinning efficacy with a fruit set prediction model from distributions of apple fruitlet mass Hillmann, L
3:05 PM Linking carbohydrate status of apple fruitlets to their sink strength: Implications for fruit set prediction and thinning models Hillmann, L
3:25 PM BREAK  
3:45 PM Differences in Temperature-dependency of the Conversion of 1-Aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic Acid (ACC) or Ethephon to Ethylene in Peach and Apple Leaves  Sopcak, B.
4:05 PM Thinning efficacy of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) in sweet cherry  Beyá, V.
4:25 PM Reduction of labor in thinning ‘PS 10711’ peach using different chemical thinners  Fagundes, E.
4:45 PM Uptake of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) when used as a peach and apple chemical thinner  Racsko, J.
5:05 PM 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) is an effective late thinning agent in apple trees without compromising future plant development    Lopes Ferraz, A.
5:25 PM The Influence of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) on Thinning of Apples and Stone Fruits in the Intermountain West Region of the USA    Fallahi, E.
5:45 PM Day 1 Closing Comments  
     
6:30-9:00 PM Welcome Reception, featuring MSU Professors of Jazz  
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Tuesday, June 24
     
8:00 AM Day 2 Welcome  
8:05 AM Keynote: Balancing Growth and Defense Phytohormones for Optimal Productivity of Citrus Vashisth, T.
8:35 AM Rehabilitation of Huanglongbing-affected sweet oranges with use of methyl salicylate and gibberellic acid    Kaur, G.
8:505 AM Early gibberellic acid applications to improve canopy health and fruit production in HLB-Affected ‘Valencia’ sweet oranges   Postillos Flores, M.
9:15 AM Ethephon and Gibberellin-Based Growth Regulators as Alternatives to Manual Deblossoming in Blueberries Jayasinghege, C.
9:35 AM Suppression of Flower Bud Development in Newly Established Blueberry Plants  Qiang Yang, W.
9:55 AM Sequential applications of plant growth regulators, ring barking, and ring incision in the early development of apple trees in southern Brazil  Soldatelli Paim, L.
10:150 AM BREAK  
10:35 AM Keynote: Programmable Plants: Engineering Living Sensors and Inducible Traits Cutler, S.
11:05 AM Integrating Developmental Genetics into the PGR Pipeline Hollender, C.
11:25 AM Effect of salicylic acid applications in summer stress tolerance in Sweet Cherries Maldonado, F.
11:45 AM Using acibenzolar-s-methyl to reduce flood stress in apple trees  Muñoz, M.
12:05 PM BREAK FOR LUNCH (Lunch on your own)  
1:35 PM Keynote: Molecular mechanisms underlying the regulation of dormancy by phytohormones in fruit trees    Teng, Y.
1:55 PM Carbohydrate Dynamics and Dormancy Regulation in Peach: A Whole-Tree Perspective Jahed, K.
2:15 PM Biochemical changes and lethal temperature limits of apple floral buds throughout dormancy Sapkota, S.
2:45 PM Horticultural Oil and Dormex® affect bloom time and yield in pistachios by changing metabolite levels Brar, G.
3:05 PM Chemical induction of budbreak in apple trees with combinations of compound classes, timing, and application frequencies Soldatelli Paim, L.
3:25 PM Control of apple trees' vegetative growth in mild winter climate regions Fagundes, E.
3:45 PM BREAK  
4:05 PM

Poster Session (Five-minute, lightning round poster presentations)

  • Calcium in fruit trees: Using X-ray fluorescence scanning as a rapid and quantitative analysis of leaf calcium
  • A sustainable strategy using limited N doses and a biostimulant that improve the valorization of purple cauliflower by-products 
  • The effects of exogenous melatonin on pepper plants submitted to heat shock and different irrigation strategies 
  • Evaluation of Metamitron as a Post-Bloom Thinner for Apple and Pear 
  • Fruit Thinning of Date Palms Using Plant Bioregulators Wright, G.
  • Beaudry, R.
  • Collado-González, G.
  • Otálora Alcón, G.
  • Elsysy, M.
  • Wright, G.
4:35 PM Closing Remarks  
     
6:00-8:30 PM GALA DINNER   
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Wednesday, June 25
7:15 AM Load Buses  
7:30 AM Depart   
9:00 AM Arrive to Valent Biosciences  
11:30 AM Board Buses / Eat Lunch on Bus  
12:30 PM Arrive to Chicago Botanic Garden   
2:30 PM Depart for River Tour  
3:30 PM Arrive to River Boat Tour   
4:00 PM Architecture River Tour   
5:30 PM Tour Concludes   
5:45 PM Participants return to Intercontinental Hotel 
Participants will walk approximately 0.5 miles from the boat back to the hotel.		  
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Thursday, June 26
8:00 AM Day 3 Welcome   
8:05 AM Keynote: Current status of jasmonates in fruit production, enhancing fruit quality and storage life: Preharvest and postharvest applications Singh, Z.
8:35 AM Role of endogenously produced ethylene in highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum) fruit ripening Ponce, C.
8:55 AM A meta-analysis and systematic review of plant growth regulator use in blueberry production  Vander Weide, J.
9:15 AM ISHS Business Meeting  
10:15 AM BREAK  
10:35 AM NAA and ABA consistently reduce bitter pit severity in 'Honeycrisp' apple fruit    Griffith, C.
10:55 AM Effects and interactions of aminoethoxyvinylglycine and acibenzolar-S-methyl on stem-end splitting and glomerella leaf spot on apple

Clavet, C.
11:15 AM Effect of different spray strategies of 1-Aminoethoxyvinylglycine on pre-harvest fruit drop and fruit quality of apples  Carra, B.
11:35 AM Optimizing fruit size, quality, and profitability of pears with preharvest application of AVG Beyá, V.
11:55 AM Preharvest plant growth regulator effects on flesh firmness of stored apple fruit    Watkins, C.
12:15 PM Break for Lunch (Lunch on your own)  
1:45 PM KEYNOTE: Enhancing Fruit Shelf Life and Quality: From Ripening Fundamentals to Postharvest Fruit Excellence El-Sharkawy, I.
2:15 PM ReTain and Harvista effects on maturity and interactions with postharvest 1-MCP on storage quality of ‘Honeycrisp’ apples Watkins, C.
2:35 PM Early application of ethephon, ACC, dichlorprop-P and trichlopyr acid to enhance the red coloration of ‘Brookfield Gala’ apples Torres Lezcano, E.
2:55 PM ACC for red colour improvement of bi-colour apples Truter, W.
3:15 PM The effect of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) on color development in apple fruit   Racsko, J.
3:35 PM BREAK  
3:55 PM Effect of near-infrared light irradiation on maintaining freshness of post-harvest fruits and vegetables after refrigeration and transportation Hada, A.
4:15 PM Preharvest and Postharvest Applications of Hexanal: A Promising Approach to Enhance Fruit Quality and Extend Shelf Life Oz, A.
4:35 PM 1-MCP dose-response in apples: Effective doses can be applied in minutes or at concentrations below the limits of detectability  Sugimoto, N.
4:55 PM Factors affecting the release and delivery of 1-MCP Beaudry, R.
5:15 PM Closing Remarks  
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