Biography
Weed management is essential to agricultural production, but the discipline of weed science and management is now reaching a critical junction. Overreliance on herbicides has led to the rise of herbicide-resistant weed populations while increasing public concern over environmental issues has resulted in regulatory policies that have either already limited or will soon limit herbicide use. These trends emphasize the need to shift the current weed management paradigm and adopt novel weed control approaches that enable weed control while reducing herbicide usage. My primary goals are to advance Precise Weed Management (PWM), develop and evaluate novel non-chemical weed control means, and incorporate these methods into current Integrated Weed Management (IWM) strategies.
Education
-
200-2003
B.Sc., in The Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology, at The Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Science, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot, Israel.
-
2004-2006
M.Sc., in The Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology, at The Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Science, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot, Israel. Title of thesis: Interaction between the fungi Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. orthoceras and F. solani, two Orobanche spp. bio-control agents. Supervision by: Dr. J. Hershenhorn and Prof. J. Katan
-
2007 – 2012
Ph.D., in The Department of Mapping and Geo-Information Engineering, at The Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel. Title of thesis: Three-dimensional driven spatial-temporal model for weed detection in row crops. Supervision by: Prof. S. Filin and Prof. H. Eizenberg.
-
2013 – 2015
Postdoctoral Position at The Plant Sciences Department, University of California, Davis, with Dr. S. Fennimore. Research subject: Developing smart integrated weed managements for leafy greens, using herbicide-resistant mutation germplasm and an intelligent cultivator.
Research Interests
My research is focused on developing and integrating advanced weed control methods to improve the sustainability of agricultural systems. My main areas of interest are the employment of advanced technologies for precise weed detection and integration of new non-chemical weed control tactics into current control systems. The overall objective of my research is to develop Precise Weed Management (PWM) and\or Integrated Weed Management (IWM) programs and to promote alternative weeding tactics. By doing so I hope to minimize the use of herbicides and reduce herbicide-dependence of current weed control systems.
Research Areas
- Non-chemical weed control
- Precise weed control
- Integrated weed management