Raising the Bar:

Improving the standard and utility of weed/invasive plant research

25-29 June 2012

B Bar Ranch, Emigrant, Montana, USA

Weedy and invasive plants represent the ecological and evolutionary response of the native and introduced flora of a region to the opportunities and challenges presented by agriculture and other human disturbance, as well as to the possibilities afforded by human-mediated dispersal. This meeting seeks to evaluate through discussion, debate and exchange of ideas how much genuine ecological and evolutionary insight is being applied to the management of weedy and invasive plants. What benefits could be derived from a greater integration of these principles into the mainstream of research? What are the current barriers to this integration? How, in future, can research into weedy and invasive plants contribute more to a basic understanding of plant ecology and how can basic understanding be applied to more sustainable and preventative management of weeds? What are the priorities for future research?

The organisers (the Andina group of concerned scientists) offer you the opportunity for something that is rarely, if ever, encountered at our traditional international or national conferences and symposia: real debate, development of ideas and thorough examination of research question formulation, experimental design and statistical inference. There will be no formal papers presented and no posters. You will be challenged to be frank and open, to look beyond your own immediate research to progress in the whole field of weed/invasive plant research, to develop global research objectives and linkages, and to contribute a small part of your time to enabling our most promising young researchers to achieve their full potential to contribute to the discipline. Other outcomes will be the opportunity to participate in up to three multi-authored journal manuscripts (to be developed following the workshop), ongoing membership of a network of like-minded scientists, and the opportunity to lead future workshops in a similar format.

Each session will address a particular theme and will have a leader who will plan and run it; there will be webcasts and reading material circulated ahead of time. You will not be able to give a talk on the results of your latest piece of research! However, you are encouraged to bring PowerPoint slides from that work, to use as material illustrative of a novel approach, a particular way of asking questions, and major conceptual advances, as they become appropriate. The three main themes for this first workshop will be

  • What are the critical weed biology, ecology and management issues associated with variable and changing climates?
  • What are the knowledge gaps associated with understanding/predicting the evolution, spread and response to management of herbicide resistant weeds?
  • What research is needed to better understand the processes underlying plant invasions and the most effective and efficient ways to manage actively invading weeds?

Experts in each area will be invited to provide a recorded presentation linked to this website (for workshop participants only) that can be viewed prior to the meeting.

As we explore these themes in the workshop, we will consider: what are the important questions to be asking; what research would really make a difference to our level of understanding; what research would be useful to managers; what is a waste of effort; where are we failing; what can we do as a group of scientists to advance this research?

Each day there will also be "soap-box" sessions where you can be scheduled to tell the participants of:

  • someone else's research (NOT your own!) that epitomises excellence in the research field - Why should we aspire to do such work? How can we get these standards achieved more widely?
  • your ideas for research questions with scope for global collaboration
  • mistakes you made when you were young(er) - i.e. things you would now do differently

The event is restricted to just 30 invited participants, comprising a mixture of leading International and emerging researchers.

Participants will be expected to attend for the full duration and attend all sessions (NO exceptions; if you are unable to commit to this, please allow us to allocate your spot to someone who can).

Location. The event will be held in Montana, USA at the wonderful B Bar Ranch (barely a stone's throw from Yellowstone National Park), courtesy of Maryanne Mott. The program will offer the opportunity for intense group debate and small-group/individual reflection, with time scheduled for exploration of the ranch and its immediate environment. If you like, we can arrange research or sightseeing side-trips to Yellowstone before or after the event - more details later.

Cost. The cost will be just US$400 per person ( to cover food and accommodation for 4 nights ); there are no conference fees. The organisers are trying to obtain sponsorship to help cover the costs of some student participants, but all will have to fund their travel to the event (details of travel arrangements from Bozeman, the nearest airport, will be announced later).

Facilities. The aim is to establish an environment for debate and close cooperation: there will be a single meeting room; accommodation in shared (same sex) 2 per room and 4 per cabin units [unfortunately no space for partners].

The core organising committee for this event are Roger Cousens (University of Melbourne, Australia), Bruce Maxwell (Montana State University, USA), Marie Jasieniuk (University of California-Davis, USA) and Paul Neve(Warwick University, UK)

Confirmed attendees include Claudio Ghersa (University of Buenos Aires, Argentina), Clarence Swanton (University of Guelph, Canada), Matt Liebman (Iowa State University, USA), Frank Forcella (USDA, Morris, Minnesota, USA), Dave Mortensen (Penn State University, USA), Rob Freckleton (University of Sheffield, UK), Aníbal Pauchard (Universidad de Concepcion, Chile), Eric Gallandt (University of Maine, USA), Hugh Beckie (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Saskatoon), Jeffrey Dukes (Purdue University, USA), Mohsen Mesgaran (University of Melbourne), Amy Lawton-Rauh (Clemson University, USA); Joe DiTomaso (UC-Davis).

Andina is a loose affiliation of International scientists, focussing on weeds and invasive species, which aims to

  • facilitate effective debate amongst researchers
  • promote collaborative research at a global scale on fundamental scientific issues critical to the subject area
  • empower emerging scientists to achieve their full potential, by assisting them to be active in the International scientific community from an early stage
  • increase the standards of research, thus improving both scientific and practical outcomes
  • broaden the discipline base, in order to achieve better outcomes for society
  • identify ways to effectively incorporate science into management in the face of increasingly prescriptive approaches

By implication, we feel that these are currently lacking to a significant extent in traditional disciplinary meetings.

ANDinA does not intend to replace or compete with existing societies or events, but to add to them through alternative mechanisms. In time, perhaps existing societies may pick up our approaches and objectives and we will be obsolete!