What is ball moss and how is killing other plants?

By Annabelle Lang

May 01, 2023

Kali Elftman is a natural resource and ecology management major. Her undergraduate research project is titled “Using Botanical Ingredients to Control Ball Moss on Ornamental Plants.” She is trying to figure out how to control the growth of ball moss on LSU’s campus. She is working under the direction of Zhijun Liu, a professor in the School of Renewable Natural Resources, and Heather Kirk-Ballard, a professor in the School of Plant, Environmental and Soil Sciences. 

Kali Elftman standing in front of a tree covered in ball moss.

Kali Elftman is a natural resource and ecology management major researching how to control the growth of ball moss on LSU’s campus.

Elftman was taking a summer class with Dr. Liu, who asked her if she was interested in joining a project he was working on. Elftman says that even though she is a wildlife ecology major, she is still researching plants because she thinks it is important to gain knowledge in every single field and that expertise is useful.