'You take what you learn in the classroom and apply it to knowledge in the field,' says team member Rob Nurse, a Cornell graduate student from Oshawa, Ont. Contestants also must resolve problems faced by real-life farmers that can spell the difference between getting a crop to market or a disastrous harvest.

Students must know the identity of at least 80 species of weeds, as well as know the plants' common and Latin names, from Ambrosia artemisiifolia (common ragweed) to Xanthum strumarium (common cocklebur).Students also must be familiar with injuries to crops and weeds alike caused by at least 30 herbicides and be able quickly to calibrate a pesticide sprayer by assessing spraying speed, nozzle selection and pressure and how much product to apply. The competition is a grueling one-day, eight-hour event with each school allowed to field both undergraduate and graduate competitors. 'Certainly, if the students do well at the contest, this may open up more doors for their careers,' he says. The competition is important for the students, he says, because it gives them an opportunity to interact with other weed science students and test their knowledge and skills. 'It's almost like the Olympics, except this is for weeds,' says Antonio DiTommaso, Cornell assistant professor of weed science in the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, and the graduate team's faculty adviser. In the academic equivalent of a major bowl game, teams from Cornell University and eight other schools will compete in the Northeastern Weed Science Society's 18th annual Collegiate Weed Contest on July 31 at the University of Connecticut in Storrs.

Butterfly Weeds by Laura Miller