Nadia wears a hajib and stand in front of a dark wooden wall under a sign that reads "North American Strawberry Growers Association."
Nadia Bostan (Pakistan, 2022-23) attended the North American Strawberry Symposium and North American Strawberry Growers Association 2023 Conference where she presented "Strawberry Production in Pakistan." The event in central California was well-timed with her Humphrey Fellowship at UC Davis. (Photo courtesy of Nadia Bostan)

The Humphrey Fellowship's Sweet Timing for Nadia Bostan

  • by Nadia Bostan, Humphrey Fellow (2022-23)

In March, I attended the 10th North American Strawberry Symposium (NASS) and North American Strawberry Growers Association (NASGA) 2023 Conference in San Luis Obispo, Calif. The Symposium included workshops, receptions, research presentations, marketing presentations and poster sessions on global and North American overviews, breeding, genetics, molecular biology, disease and pest management, propagation and nursery management, cultural practices, indoor production, precision agriculture, robotics, automation, plant nutrition and water management, plant physiology, the economics of production practices, post-harvest quality management and food safety.

I presented two talks on the research work I did in Pakistan under the theme of production and fruit quality. Along with this, I also presented a poster on strawberry production in Pakistan. During the four-day symposium, I gained a lot of knowledge about strawberry production in North America as well as Canada and had great networking opportunities with researchers, academics and strawberry growers.

Nadia stands to the left speaking and gesturing to her large poster, which hangs on the wall in the middle. The poster includes blocks of text describing production systems and other information about strawberry production in Pakistan as well as two maps of Pakistan's areas of production and smaller photos of the product in market. Dr. Samtani stands on the right actively listening..
Nadia Bostan (Pakistan, 2022-23) discusses her poster about strawberry production in Pakistan with Dr. Jayesh Samtani (Virginia Tech) at the North American Strawberry Growers Association Conference. (Photo courtesy of Nadia Bostan)

As per the conference rules, the speakers are advised to submit their articles to peer-reviewed journals provided by NASGA for full manuscript publication. I am hoping to get all of my talks and posters published as a full manuscript. These publications will mark my Humphrey year’s top success in addition to a group of small successes throughout the year. These articles will boost my research profile. At the same time, I got a membership with NASGA and will continue this membership beyond my Humphrey fellowship in order to stay in touch with all of the strawberry experts from farm to industry and benefit from their knowledge.

This was a great opportunity that coincided with my time at UC Davis and the conference was precisely related to what I am working on back home. I feel if I had been still in Pakistan, attending this conference would have been just a dream, but due to my fellowship, I was able to attend.

My poster presentation with the title Strawberry Production in Pakistan was not only interesting for participants of the conference but also with the subtitle, Challenges to strawberry production in Pakistan, I got great ideas on how to transform challenges into solutions. These discussions helped pave my journey beyond the Humphrey Fellowship.

Nadia and Dr. Lewers stand in a lobby. Dr. Lewers wears a black facemask and both women are dressed in gray blazers with their conference badges hanging from lanyards around their necks.
Nadia Bostan (right) with Dr. Kimberly S. Lewers at the North American Strawberry Growers Association Conference in March. (Photo courtesy of Nadia Bostan)

I am not only looking forward to working on these ideas, but at the same time, I have opportunities to start collaborative research work with experts from the United States and Canada. Even prior to returning home, I have started to pursue future collaboration, and I am hopeful that I will succeed in this.

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Fellowship & Professional Programs

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Humphrey