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| Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences VISION eXtra is e-mailed weekly to faculty and staff of Bumpers College and the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, Division of Agriculture. This service is primarily for timely announcement of news and events for the AAES and Bumpers College. Submit items to hmedders@uark.edu. You may also wish to submit items to headline@uark.edu for posting on "UA Daily Headlines" for campus-wide distribution. |
June 12, 2009 |
1. ESWS major receives prestigious ASPB fellowship for Plant Pathology research
2. Entomology hosts interns for research projects
3. Graduate students offer diagnostic services at Farmers Market
4. Horticulture Field Day June 18 at SWREC
1. ESWS major receives prestigious ASPB fellowship for Plant Pathology research
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| Faye Holifield awarded ASPB fellowship |
Faye Holifield, a junior from Mountain Home majoring in Environmental, Soil and Water Science, received one of 15 fellowship awarded nationally for 2009 by the American Society of Plant Biologists.
The ASPB Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship provides a stipend for Holifield to work on a research project with faculty mentor Ken Korth, professor of plant pathology. Her project is "The role of glyoxalase I in abiotic stress tolerance of soybean, Glycine max."
SURF fellowships assist promising undergraduate students with meaningful research in plant biology early in their college careers. Ideally, students should conduct their SURF-funded research the summer following their second year. Exceptionally well-prepared first-year students and third-year students who provide evidence of a strong commitment to plant biology also are considered. SURF students must work with a mentor who is an ASPB member.
These 15 awardees will complete 10 consecutive weeks of SURF research and present their results at Plant Biology, July 31 to August 4, 2010, in Montreal, Canada.
Holifield said, "I am more than excited about being able to do this summer research project. This is an excellent opportunity for me to get my hands 'dirty' in plant biology lab work. I am also looking forward to seeing the research completed by my peers in Montreal next summer. I would like to give a big thanks to Dr. Korth, Dr. Wolf, and Dr. Miller for their encouragement and support.
2. Entomology hosts interns for research projects
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Erin Walters and Joel Smith are Entomology undergraduate interns |
The entomology department is hosting two undergraduate interns from Brigham Young University in Idaho this spring and summer.
Joel Smith, a junior majoring in biology, has been working since January with Professor Randy Luttrell on pecan insects. Joel's project has led to sampling pecan orchards throughout Arkansas and northern Texas to search for overwintering insects that affect pecans. Joel will make a presentation on his findings at the National Pecan Research and Extension Meeting in Ardmore, Oklahoma, May 27.
Erin Walters, a senior majoring in biology, just began working in mid-May with Professor Donn Johnson on management of fruit insects. The internship program is serving as a potential recruiting effort for new graduate students in Entomology, as well as satisfying an internship requirement for undergraduate students at BYU-Idaho.
Smith is from Colorado Springs, Colo. Erin is from Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
3. Graduate students offer diagnostic services at Farmers Market
Entomology and plant pathology graduate students are staffing diagnostic booths from 8:00 to 11:30 a.m. at the Fayetteville Farmers Market. The public can bring their problem plants or questions to the booth located on the west side of the city square.
The entomology booth will be open this Saturday and every two weeks thereafter. The plant pathology booth is staffed on the 1st and 3rd Saturdays of the month.
Graduate students will try to diagnose plant damage from samples, photos and descriptions and will submit samples for laboratory analysis if required to provide a diagnosis and recommendation. They also will provide information on current and upcoming plant management issues, such as how to prepare for the emergence of Japanese beetles.
Samples of common insect pests and disease symptoms are provided and can be viewed under a microscope.
The booths are projects of the Plant Pathology Graduate Student Association, Terry Spurlock, president; and the Isley-Baerg Entomology Club, Josh Hannam, president.
4. Horticulture Field Day June 18 at SWREC
The next Division of Agriculture field day will be a Horticulture field day June 18 at the Southwest Research and Extension Center at Hope. The event is for gardeners and fruit producers, whose numbers in southwest Arkansas are growing, Center Director Vic Ford said.
"A highlight of the field day will be a bus tour of the center's horticultural research into blueberries, blackberries and peaches," Ford said. "But we'll also discuss ornamentals, tomatoes and other vegetables."
Extension and research personnel will discuss several topics, including:
Common Arkansas weed identification and management,
landscape shrub pruning,
update on blackberry and peach breeding,
new-planted blueberry maintenance,
how to set an insect trap and identify insect damage,
how to build a compost pile, and
how to grow hardy kiwi and blackberries in high tunnel growing systems.
Gardeners and producers may find the pest clinic after the tour will be the most interesting part of the field day, Ford said. Gardeners are urged to bring specimens from their home gardens or lawns for diagnosis and suggestions for correcting the problem.
At 6:30 p.m., a barbecue dinner will be served for an $8 charge. Participants can pay the day of the event. Ford is asking people to RSVP by June 12. You can call (870) 777-9702 or e-mailing qchen@uaex.edu.
For directions to the station go to aaes.uark.edu/swrec.html.
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On June 24, faculty from the Arkansas Forest Resources Center based in Monticello will conduct a field day for agricultural science and vocational agriculture teachers at the Livestock and Forestry Research Station at Batesville. See the complete schedule online at http://aaes.uark.edu/fielddays_09.html.
AAES and Bumpers College Web sites:
http://aaes.uark.edu/
http://bumperscollege.uark.edu/