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| Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences Weekly Vision 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. 8, 2009 |
1. Plant Pathology Centennial Seminar Series continues - Friday
2. Food safety lawyer to speak at School of Law - Friday
3. Entomology graduate students tour state locations
4. Bumpers College launches Twitter page
5. Save the Dates for faculty reception and scholarship luncheon
6. Save the Date for Division of Agriculture Awards Luncheon, Jan. 8
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1. Plant Pathology Centennial Seminar Series continues - Friday
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| Rose Gergerich |
The Plant Pathology Centennial Seminar Series will continue with Professor Emeritus Rose Gergerich as the speaker Friday, Sept. 11, at 1:30 p.m., in the Plant Science 09 lecture hall. Her topic will be "An Accidental Plant Pathologist: Choices and Lessons in a Scientific Career."
The department was established in 1909 and is the oldest standing department of plant pathology in a university in the United States, according to University Professor David TeBeest, who is coordinating the centennial activities with Department Head Rick Bennett and Assistant Professor Y. Tzanetakis.
Centennial seminars will be held throughout the fall featuring emeritus faculty and alumni who represent different research areas within the discipline of plant pathology over several decades. The speakers hold a diverse range of positions with responsibilities in research, extension and administration in academia and industry.
Gergerich's research focused on etiology, epidemiology and control of plant virus diseases with an emphasis on the virus-vector relationships of viruses transmitted by beetles and nematodes. During her career, Gergerich was instrumental in identifying and characterizing plant disease viruses and in developing management methods to reduce the incidence of viral diseases in crop production.
The series began Sept. 4 with a presentation by Professor Emeritus Sung Lim. Other speakers will include Jerry Moore, assistant professor, Oklahoma State University; Jeff Hoy, professor, Louisiana State University; William Dolezal, research fellow, Pioneer Hi-Bred International; Paula Argudelo, assistant professor, Clemson University; and Steven Slack, associate vice president for agriculture and director of the Ohio Agriculture Research and Development Center. Possible additional speakers and schedules will be announced.
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2. Food safety lawyer to speak at School of Law - Friday
William Marler, a lawyer who has secured more than $300 million in damages awarded in lawsuits involving food-borne illness, will make a presentation to the law school's Food Law & Policy class from 8 to 10 a.m. Friday, Sept. 11, in Room 342 of the School of Law. His presentation is free and open to the public.
Since 1993, Marler and his firm, Marler Clark, have represented plaintiffs in litigation involving food-borne illness. His first food-borne illness case resulted in a landmark $15.6 million settlement for a child in the Jack in the Box E. coli case.
In addition to his litigation, Marler founded OutBreak, a nonprofit consulting firm dedicated to advocating for food safety initiatives and training the food industry in how to prevent outbreaks. Marler routinely challenges the food industry to "put me out of business" through food safety initiatives. In addition to his nonprofit work, he lectures widely on food-borne illness and publishes frequently on the subject. Among his many honors is the 2008 Public Justice Award, given to him by the Washington State Trial Lawyers Association.
"We are honored to welcome Bill Marler to the University of Arkansas," said Susan Schneider, professor of law and director of the master's program in agricultural and food law. "He is among the nation's top food-borne illness litigators, and he is a strong voice for the safety of our food system, working with industry, community groups, schools and government."
Marler is the first of several distinguished speakers this year who will be presenting their perspectives to the Master of Laws program. The University of Arkansas School of Law offers the only advanced law degree in agricultural and food law, a program noted for its coverage of the wide range of legal and policy issues relating to food and agriculture.
In addition to giving his presentation at 8 a.m., Marler will meet with the staff and candidates of the Journal of Food Law & Policy, meet with the director and staff of the National AgLaw Center and have lunch with the Master of Laws candidates.
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3. Entomology graduate students tour state locations
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| ENTOMOLOGY TOUR -- Entomology graduate students, faculty and staff pictured at the Rohwer Research Station included faculty members Tim Kring and Ashley Dowling; staff member Shelby Goucher; intern Erin Walters; and graduate students Kelly Caruthers, Samuel Kim, Beven McWilliams, Ray Fisher, Danielle Keeler, Carey Minteer, Bryan Petty, Michael Skvaria and Justin Whitaker. |
New entomology graduate students spent three and a half days in August on a tour to meet off-campus faculty, learn about entomological and agricultural issues in the state and learn to be and act like a graduate student cohort, Department Head Rob Wiedenman said.
The trip was coordinated by Tim Kring and Ashley Dowling. Stops include the Jonesboro area for veterinary entomology, Stuttgart for rice insects, Rohwer for cotton and soybean insects and a visit with grower Steve Stevens, and near Mena for fire ant research. Students also will collect insects along the way to be used for some of the courses that require collections.
Hosts at the main stops were:
- Tanja McKay (Jonesboro), Arkansas Biosciences Institute, discussed forensic entomology with the visual aid of a pig cadaver, which are used to simulate human cadavers, and also her work on mosquitoes as related to dog heartworms.
- John Bernhardt (Stuttgart) gave a tour of the USDA-ARS rice facility and his research plots where the students waded into rice fields to collect insects associated with rice.
- Scott Akin (Rohwer) discussed cotton pest management research, and students collected insects in cotton fields. The students viewed farm equipment close-up and met grower Steve Stephens and a consultant in the area.
- Jon Zawislak, a recent Ph.D. graduate, joined the group at DeGray Lake and gave a presentation on apiculture and the role of extension in this industry.
- Kelly Loftin and John Hopkins joined the tour near Mena where a parasitic fly was released and is established to help control the red imported fire ant.
Tour participants included, faculty members Tim Kring and Ashley Dowling; staff member Shelby Goucher; intern Erin Walters; and graduate students Kelly Caruthers, Samuel Kim, Beven McWilliams, Ray Fisher, Danielle Keeler, Carey Minteer, Bryan Petty, Michael Skvaria and Justin Whitaker.
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4. Bumpers College launches Twitter page
Bumpers College is starting to tweet to the world. The college now has a Twitter page at http://twitter.com/bumperscollege. Twitter is a social media outlet known for limiting its posts to no more than 140 characters.
It's not necessary to have a Twitter account to see what the college posts there, but anyone who does have an account is encouraged to become a "follower" of Bumpers College to receive all the college's posts announcements on their own Twitter home page. Anyone with an account needs only to go to the college's Twitter page and hit the "follow" button.
The college will post links to its news releases, announcements of events and other information from personnel who want to get the word out quickly to the college's friends.
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5. Save the Dates for faculty reception and scholarship luncheon
The annual Fall Faculty reception is scheduled for September 24 and the Bumpers College Scholarship Luncheon will be October 9.
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6. Save the Date for Division of Agriculture Awards Luncheon, Jan. 8
Faculty and staff awards will be presented at the Division of Agriculture Awards Luncheon Jan. 8, 2010, in Little Rock.
AAES and Bumpers College Web sites:
http://aaes.uark.edu/
http://bumperscollege.uark.edu/