Runshie Xie. Photo by James DeCamp
Congratulations to Ph.D. student Runshi Xie as he received the 2021-2022 Spring Meadow – Proven Winners Endowed Scholarship.
Currently advised by Mengmeng Gu, Ph.D, associate professor and Extension Horticulture, Xie was one of three students that were chosen from a competitive national applicant pool for their academic achievements, outstanding leadership abilities and commitment to pursuing horticulture careers.
Xie has a great interest in plant breeding and the study of plant-insect interaction. His works involve developing insect-resistant crape myrtle cultivars and insect biology-based IPM strategies such as mating behavior for CMBS, which will lead to more innovative and sustainable pest control and management menthods for the horticulture industry. He is working on a multi-state, multi-disciplinary project to help combat crape myrtle bark scale, an invasive insect that attacks crape myrtle and other woody plant species in the United States.
Xie also has received several awards during his career, including the Texas A&M Ed Rachal Foundation Aggie Leader Scholarship, second place in the poster competition at the Plant Breeding Symposia in 2020 and 2021.
The goal of the Spring Meadow – Proven Winners Endowed Scholarship is to award qualified students that are interested in woody plant production, propagation, breeding, and horticultural sales and marketing.