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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. |
Sept. 22, 2008 |
1. Plant Pathology department head candidates to present seminars
2. AAREC hosts Leverett students for 'Apple Seed' field day
3. Animal Science honors Weldon Wynn
4. Trent Roberts receives IPNI Scholar Award
6. Plant Pathology Journal Club organized to discuss current issues
8. Forestry and Wildlife Field Day at Colt, Oct. 11
9. Food Science Seminar Series
10. Career Development / 'Going Green'
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1. Plant Pathology department head candidates to present seminars
Plant Pathology department head candidates will present seminars in Little Rock and Fayetteville, beginning Sept. 24.
Candidates include Clayton Hollier, professor of plant pathology at Louisiana State University; Rick Bennett, national program leader with USDA/ARS; and Schuyler Korban, professor of molecular genetics and biotechnology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
The seminars will focus on the candidate's previous and current body of work, comments on the overall state of agriculture in Arkansas, and their proposal on what should be done to improve Arkansas agriculture. Candidates will answer questions from the audience.
Seminars are open to the public and will be presented in Little Rock at the State Office in Room 306 and in Fayetteville in AGRI 115, as follows:
Hollier, Little Rock, Sept. 24 at 2:30 p.m. Fayetteville, Sept. 25 at 2 p.m.
Bennett, Little Rock, Sept. 29 at 10 a.m. Fayetteville, Sept. 30 at 1:30 p.m.
Korban, Little Rock, Oct. 13 at 10 a.m. Fayeteville, Oct. 14 at 2 p.m.
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2. AAREC hosts Leverett students for 'Apple Seed' field day
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| Mavie Hogue, a member of the Apple Seed board, helps students measure their tree. |
Students in grades K-5 from Leverett Elementary School in Fayetteville visited the Arkansas Agricultural Research and Extension Center September 18-19 as the kick-off to their participation in the Apples in the Classroom healthy eating program. Jason McAfee and Heather Friedrich, Horticulture, set up activities for the students to collect data in a Division of Agriculture research orchard of Golden Delicious apples.
Keith Richards, board chair of Apple Seeds, Inc., a new non-profit educational organization, said this year-long pilot program combines nutrition education with experiential learning about food and agriculture to help elementary school students make healthy food choices and form lifelong healthy eating habits.
By integrating fun activities into regular course work, the Apples in the Classroom program will improve students' knowledge about food and its impacts on their lives, while assisting teachers in meeting Arkansas state educational requirements, Richards said. For instance, at the Division of Agriculture's research and extension center, students learned about scientific methods of conducting research and measuring results through hands-on experiences. The students were also taught the nutritional benefits of apples as a healthy snack option, and they got to take several apples home compliments of the Horticulture Department's sustainable research program.
Leverett Principal Cheryl Putnam says, "We are excited to be a partner with Apple Seeds on this project. It's great to tie in science lessons with a fun activity that will help the students learn proper nutrition. It's been our goal to draw on others with expertise in our community to enrich our classroom experience, and Apple Seeds is helping make this happen."
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Heather Friedrich and Ryan Craig showed students how to sort apples for size and quality. |
After collecting data from their assigned tree, students collected data about themselves with the help of Apple Seed worker Harold Haller. |
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| Apple Seeds, Inc., workers (from left) Pam Brandt, Ryan Craig, Mavie Hogue, William Beaver, Helen Cole, Christine Haller and Harold Haller led groups of Leverett Elementary School students in grades K-5 in learning experiences at a research orchard at the Arkansas Agricultural Research and Extension Center. |
As the Apples in the Classroom program is further developed at Leverett Elementary, other activities will be integrated into the curriculum such as growing plants in containers, harvesting vegetables at a farm, shopping for fresh ingredients at the farmers market, and preparing healthy snacks and juices with the help of local chefs. Once the framework and tools for this program are developed at Leverett Elementary, Apples in the Classroom will be offered to other elementary schools in Northwest Arkansas.
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3. Animal Science honors Weldon Wynn
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| FRIEND OF THE DEPARTMENT -- Dr. Keith Lusby, head of the University of Arkansas Department of Animal Science, presents the Friend of the Department Award to Weldon Wynn during the Lincoln County Fair. |
Keith Lusby, animal science department head, presented a "Friend of the Department" award to Weldon Wynn of Star City Sept. 11 on Senior Citizens Day at the Lincoln County Fair.
Lusby said Wynn was being recognized for his service to his community, the beef cattle industry and the animal science programs of the University of Arkansas System's Division of Agriculture.
Wynn owns and operates Wynn Beefmaster Farms and Wynn Rice and Soybean Farm. He and his wife, Carolyn, owned and operated Wynn Insurance Agency in Star City for many years, which is now located in Pine Bluff. He was recently appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture to the Cattlemen's Beef Promotion & Research Board.
Wynn served on the board of directors of the Bank of Star City and is now on the board of directors at Pine Bluff National Bank. He has been emcee of the National Beef Cook-Off; National Beef Ambassador judge; past president and active member of the Arkansas Cattlemen's Association; member of the University of Arkansas Animal Science 2000 Advisory Council; and past president, treasurer, and fair manager of the Lincoln County Fair, among other activities.
He has a B.S. degree in education from the University of Arkansas, where he also did his graduate work. He has received many local and regional awards, including Arkansas Fair Managers Hall of Fame (2000); Lincoln County Farm Family of the Year (1991); Star City Man of the Year (1991); Life Insurance Million Dollar Round Table (five years); and the National Quality Award from the Life Insurance Institute.
Lusby said, "Mr. Wynn provided leadership that led to the rebuilding of the U of A Department of Animal Science, including construction of the Pauline Whitaker Animal Science Center, and continues to be a valued supporter and adviser to the department."
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4. Trent Roberts receives IPNI Scholar Award
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| Doctoral candidate Trent Roberts holds the IPNI Scholar Award certificate presented by Steve Phillips, left, IPNI director for the southeast region. Also pictured are Roberts' major professor, Rick Norman, and CSES interim department head Robert Bacon. |
The International Plant Nutrition Institute's Scholar Award was presented to doctoral candidate Trent Roberts Sept. 17 by Steve Phillips, IPNI director for the southeast region. The award was on of only 14 presented world-wide this year to recognize outstanding graduate student research related to plant nutrition. The award includes a $2,000 stipend.
Roberts is working under the direction of Professor Rick Norman, CSES, on a regional project to develop a new method to accurately estimate soil nitrogen available to rice plants as a basis for soil test recommendations.
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5. CSES Fall Picnic
Good times at the Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences fall picnic at Agri Park Sept 16. included barbecue, cake and the ever-popular group photo.
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| Professor Rick Norman cuts the cakes. | Barbecue for all. |
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| CSES family photo. |
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6. Plant Pathology Journal Club organized to discuss current issues
Associate Professor Ken Korth organized the Plant Pathology Journal Club as a means of keeping current with research literature relevant to plant pathology. "The meeting format is loose, with no formal presentations," says Korth, "just a roundtable discussion of a current research paper."
"These meetings are about critical thinking and, probably more importantly, about exposure to subjects/techniques with which we are unfamiliar," said Michael Ditmore, a club member and graduate student working on his Ph.D.
The Club meets every other Friday afternoon at 5 p.m and is open to faculty, staff and students. The next meeting is set for Oct. 3.
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| INFESTIVALATION -- A poster designed by Entomology graduate student Jon Zawislak provides all the details on the 2008 Insect Festival. |
The annual Insect Festival, which never fails to draw hundreds of visitors of all ages, is set for Thursday, Oct. 9, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Pauline Whitaker Arena on Garland Avenue. The Department of Entomology sponsors the festival, which is free and open to everyone.
Festival coordinator Don Steinkraus said the event will feature a live insect and arthropod zoo, the beautiful and exotic specimens of the University of Arkansas Arthropod Museum, live cockroach races, children's crafts, a cotton patch with working cotton gin, honey bee exhibits, insects in the arts and aquatic insects, among other exhibits and activities.
Entomology faculty and graduate students will be on hand to visit about insects and answer questions about any insect issues people might have.
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8. Forestry and Wildlife Field Day at Colt, Oct. 11
A Forestry and wildlife field day is scheduled for Oct. 1118 at the Pine Tree Research Station, Colt.
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9. Food Science Seminar Series
Monday Seminar, 3:40 - 4:30pm, Room D2, Food Science Building
Sept. 22. Multidrug resistance in the Enterbactericae: Pathogens and commensals of the world unite. Dr. Lawrence Goodridge, Department of Animal Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
Sept. 29. The microbial communities involved in fatty acid metabolism at a hydrocarbon-contaminated aquifer. Chris Struchtemeyer, Dept. of Botany & Microbiology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK
Oct. 6. Landscape ecology of antibiotic resistance. Dr. Randall S. Singer, Dept. of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN
Oct. 13. Salmonella Control Strategies in Commercial Poultry Production (research from litter treatments to modeling). Dr. Joshua Payne, Oklahoma State University, Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service, Muskogee, OK 74401
Oct. 20. Physiochemical Properties of Bitter Melon Seed Protein. Ronny Horax
Oct. 27. Molecular studies on the transmission of the foodborne pathogen Listeria monocytogenes: from environmental persistence to human outbreaks. Dr. Martin Weidmann, Director of Graduate Studies, Field of Food Science and Technology, Dept. of Food Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
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10. Career Development / 'Going Green'
Events scheduled in September by the UA Career Development Center are listed below. Visit the Web site at http://career.uark.edu/events.asp to view the full-semester events calendar
Sept. 23 - 11:00a.m.-3:00 p.m. (Willard J Walker Hall). Business Career Fair. All majors are encouraged to attend.
Sept. 23 - 4:00-6:00 p.m. (Arkansas Union 4th Floor Theater). Going Green 9-5.
Charlotte King, of Snowden & King Marketing Communications, which specializes in environmental marketing, will present a "Going Green 9-5" seminar. She will discuss employment trends, growth industries and corporate policies related to the environment.
Sept. 25 - 3:00-5:00 p.m. (ARKU 503). Information Session: Sea World.
Sept. 25 - 10:00a.m.-2:00 p.m. (Arkansas Union Connections Lounge). Graduate School Fair. All majors are encouraged to attend.
Sept. 25 - 10:00 a.m-2:00 p.m. (Arkansas Union Ballroom). Job Fair for All Majors.
Sept. 29 - 6:00-8:00 p.m. (ARKU 305). Information Session: Southwestern Energy.
AAES and Bumpers College Web sites:
http://aaes.uark.edu/
http://bumperscollege.uark.edu/