July 11, 2007 |
1. Yanbin Li named Tyson Chair in Biosensing Engineering
2. New Animal Science Student is Bodenhamer Fellow
3. Turf Field Day August 1 - Pre-register by July 25
4. Terry Siebenmorgen Receives Food Engineering Award
5. Vishal Jain Honored by Oil Chemists Society
6. Food Science Conducts Sensory Evaluation Workshop
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1. Yanbin Li named Tyson Chair in Biosensing Engineering
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| Yanbin Li with a prototype of a portable biosensor system for field use to rapidly detect the H5N1 bird flu virus in poultry. |
Dean Greg Weidemann announced Wednesday that Professor Yanbin Li has been named the Tyson Endowed Chair in Biosensing Engineering.
Li is one of the world's leading scientists in the development of biosensing technology for food safety and quality applications, Weidemann said in an announcement in the atrium of the Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences Building. He has developed a prototype portable biosensor system that can detect the H5N1 avian influenza virus in poultry samples in less than one hour at an estimated cost of less than $10 per sample. H5N1 is the "bird flu" virus that has been transmitted from poultry to humans in more than 300 cases in Asia, Africa and Europe.
A $1.5 million endowment for the new chair was provided by the Tyson Foods Foundation from a gift announced in May 2005 and the UA Matching Gift Program previously endowed by the Walton Family Charitable Trust, Weidemann said. Investment earnings from the endowment will help support Li's research in the department of biological and agricultural engineering and the Center of Excellence for Poultry Science, which is a unit of the University of Arkansas System's Division of Agriculture.
Li is principal investigator on a recent grant of $375,000 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Research Initiative to refine and test the H5N1 biosensor system. Co-investigators are Billy Hargis, Steve Tung and Ronghui Wang at University of Arkansas and Luc Burghman at Texas A&M University.
Mark Cochran, associate vice president for research in the Division of Agriculture, said the patent-pending H5N1 biosensor system would be much faster, more reliable, easier and cheaper than currently available tests, which are either poor in specificity, low in sensitivity, time consuming, expensive, or require a laboratory and a highly trained technician.
In other research, Li has been the lead scientist in developing systems using nanoparticles and biosensors for rapid detection of pathogenic bacteria in food products. He also has developed risk-assessment models for pathogens in food processing and methods of killing bacteria during poultry processing.
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2. New Animal Science Student is Bodenhamer Fellow
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Kathleen Williams |
Kathleen Williams of Jonesboro, one of six new Bodenhamer Fellows enrolled for this fall at the University of Arkansas, has registered as an animal science major in the pre-veterinary medicine program.
Williams graduated from Jonesboro High School, where her academic interests included veterinary medicine and environmental soil and water studies. She has participated in Llama Drama with Heifer Project International and is active in many recycling projects.
Bodenhamer Fellowships are worth up to $50,000 for four years of study or up to $62,500 for five years if the student is pursuing an accredited five-year degree program. The fellowship covers tuition and fees, room and board, the purchase of books and supplies, and additional benefits of the student's choice, such as study abroad, attendance at professional and educational conferences, research and special equipment.
Students must have a minimum score of 32 on the ACT and at least a 3.8 grade point average to qualify for the fellowship, but beyond that the competition is not about grades and scores. Students are required to prepare essays about their academic and community interests, along with letters of recommendation. The Bodenhamer selection committee reads these carefully, and interviews the candidates to find students who are intellectually curious, have a passion about a particular subject or social concern and have demonstrated leadership abilities.
The Bodenhamer Foundation, acting through its trustee, Lee Bodenhamer (B.S.B.A. 1957, M.B.A. 1961), established the Bodenhamer Fellowships at the University of Arkansas for incoming freshmen. More recently, Bodenhamer endowed the scholarships with a match from the Walton Family Charitable Trust. The university has now awarded a total of 73 Bodenhamer fellowships since it was established in 1998. The Bodenhamer endowment will enable the university to award six Bodenhamer fellowships each year.
As part of the fellowship each summer, Bodenhamer treats the incoming Bodenhamer Fellows to a five-day trip to Washington, D.C. The students tour the Capitol, Smithsonian Institution, Library of Congress, Holocaust Museum and other significant landmarks. This year's new fellows will be accompanied by Karon Reese, a doctoral candidate in creative writing, and her husband, Steve Striffler, a professor of anthropology.
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3. Turf Field Day August 1 - Pre-register by July 25
A turf field day is set for Aug. 1 at the Arkansas Agricultural Research and Extension Center off North Garland Ave., in Fayetteville.
Registration will begin at 8 a.m., with opening remarks at 8:45 a.m. at the Horticulture Department's turf research plots. Lunch at 11:30 a.m. and the afternoon program from 12:45 to 3 p.m. will be in the Pauline Whitaker Animal Science Center.
The field day will feature new products and research studies as well as networking opportunities for turf industry professionals, students and researchers. Turfgrass research tours are available for those in lawn care/landscaping as well as those in golf/sports turf. A pesticide recertification training program will be offered in the afternoon.
A $30 pre-registration fee will cover lunch, a hat and information packet. Lunch is guaranteed only for those who pre-register by July 25. On-site registration is $35, not including lunch. Contact Jo Salazar in the Horticulture Department, 575-2604, or pre-register online at http://turf.uark.edu.
Field day topics are as follows.
Heat tolerant bluegrasses: What's the latest?
Winter overseeding: New potential species and herbicide options for optimal transition.
What is a sulfonylurea, and how do you use it?
Foliar fertilization: How does it work?
The effect of cultivation practices on putting green performance and rooting.
How wetting agents can be used to manage putting greens.
Establishing seeded zoysiagrass.
Seeding blanket technology effects on establishment.
New plants for the home landscape.
Principles of pesticide handling and safety.
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4. Terry Siebenmorgen Receives Food Engineering Award
Terry Siebenmorgen has received the 2007 Food Processing Suppliers Association Foundation-Food Process Engineering Institute's Food Engineering Award, recognizing him as a Distinguished Food Engineer. He is being honored for outstanding leadership as an educator, researcher and administrator recognized internationally for improved rice and grain drying, milling, storage, and handling technology.
Siebenmorgen, University Professor in the food science department and director of the Rice Processing Program of the U of A System's Division of Agriculture, led the creation and development of the Rice Processing Program as an industry-interactive, multidisciplinary program recognized internationally as a focal point for information and research on rice processing.
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5. Vishal Jain Honored by Oil Chemists Society
Food Science Ph.D. student Vishal Jain received two international graduate student awards at the American Oil Chemists Society Annual Meeting in May 2007 at Montreal Canada. Vishal Jain was awarded a 2007 Honored Student Award and the 2007 Peter & Claire Kalustian Scholarship of The American Oil Chemists' Society, as the outstanding Honor Student. Vishal was also invited to present a paper on his research, 'Pilot plant production of CLA-rich soy oil by photoirradiation', which is supervised by his advisor Dr. Andy Proctor.
These awards are open to international competition between graduate students doing research in fats and oils throughout the world. Selection is based on classroom performance and research quality.
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6. Food Science Conducts Sensory Evaluation Workshop
Representatives of industry and academia attended the second Sensory Evaluation Workshop at the Food Science Department June 26-27. It was taught by Associate Professor Jean François Meullenet and Food Science Sensory Lab Supervisor Tonya Tokar. Other speakers were Karen Flake of Flake-Wilkerson Market Insights in Little Rock and Michele Bond of CJRW, Springdale.
AAES and Bumpers College Web sites:
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