Myron D. McClure, BS '98, is a graduate assistant in Purdue Agriculture's Office of Academic Programs.

He will focus on undergraduate recruiting and retention of students from underrepresented groups. Since 2003, McClure had been a research associate with a dual appointment in Diversity Enhancement Programs and the Alliance for Earth Science, Engineering, and Development in Africa Institute in the College of Earth and Mineral Science at Pennsylvania State University. McClure also is a PhD student in the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering.

Assistant professor Jenna Rickus is one of nine junior faculty to receive a 2005-06 Teaching for Tomorrow Award. The award matches senior faculty (those with 10 or more years of teaching experience and school or university teaching awards) as mentors for junior faculty members who have shown potential for excellence in teaching. The award is made possible by an endowment fund established by the Class of 1944 and the Class of 1945.

The ABE Quarter-Scale Tractor team placed fourth among 29 teams competing in the 2005 American Society of Agricultural Engineers Quarter-Scale Tractor Student Design Competition in East Moline, Ill., in June. Team members are Richard Applegate, James Bartlett, Maureen Beck, Matt Bischoff, Michael Bournias, Curt Elpers, Tim Golden, Keith Harmeyer, Michael Holland, Matt Keil, John Kruer, Greg Long, John Lumkes, John Mahrenholtz, Brandon Manier, Cody McKinley, Ian Radtke, Chris Stoffel, Bill vanDoorn, Ben Verkamp and Eric Wulf .

Marshall Porterfield has joined the faculty as an associate professor with a joint appointment in the Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture. His teaching and research will focus on biological sensing and sensing for research applications. Porterfield had been an assistant professor at the University of Missouri, Rolla. He earned his BS at the University of South Alabama and his PhD at Louisiana State University.

Undergraduate advisor LeeAnn Williams, BS '94, MS '96, received the 2004-05 Purdue Student Government Outstanding Advisor Award. Williams, who joined the department in 1996, was selected for the award by student nomination and vote.

A team of ag econ students won first place in the National Agri-Marketing Association marketing competition in April in Phoenix. The team's winning plan promotes a type of heating pad to keep piglets warm. The pad was invented by Dick Ward, BS '43, of Crawfordsville, Ind. Teams participating in the national competition select a new agricultural product and develop a plan to successfully bring the product or service to the marketplace. Teams submit a written plan and make a formal presentation to a judging panel of marketing and agribusiness professionals. Team members and their Indiana hometowns are Jennifer Govan , Fort Wayne; Jesse Beck , Anderson; Doug Bergman , Shelbyville; Tanya Hadley , Woodburn; Toby Hollinger , Richmond; Stacie Warner , South Whitley; and Courtney Warren , Crown Point. Professors Christine Wilson and Jay Akridge , MS '83, PhD '86, are team advisors.

Yiwei Jiang has joined the faculty as an assistant professor doing research and teaching in turfgrass physiology. Jiang grew up in northwest China and earned his PhD at Kansas State University. He most recently worked at the University of Georgia's Experiment Station in Griffin. Jiang's research will address how turfgrasses deal with environmental stresses and what physiological strategies grasses use to survive in unfavorable conditions.

Dev Niyogi is a new assistant professor and state climatologist with a joint appointment in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. Niyogi's research addresses two broad, inter-related questions: How do humans affect short- and long-term weather and climate patterns and how can the predictability of the short- and long-term weather patterns be used for making societal decisions?

Qianlai Zhuang is a new assistant professor in biogeochemical gas modeling with a joint appointment in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. Zhuang's research focuses on developing and using mathematical models to study large-scale terrestrial ecosystem and biogeochemical dynamics.

Graduate student Darek Bulinski , received the Purdue University Graduate School Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award. Bulinski is working on his PhD in environmental microbiology.

Ronald P. Cantrell , MS '69, PhD '70, of Bastrop, Texas, received an honorary doctorate from Purdue in May. Cantrell has distinguished himself in agronomy, particularly in the area of plant breeding and genetics, devoting most of his career to improving the lives of less advantaged people worldwide by making their food supplies more secure. He is the retired director general of the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines.

Professor Layi Adeola received the American Feed Industry Award at the 2005 Poultry Science Association annual meeting in Auburn, Ala. The annual award is given for distinctive work demonstrating sound research in poultry nutrition. Adeola has been a faculty member since 1991.

The Department of Animal Sciences is the winner of the 2005 Arthur G. Hansen Recognition Award for its relationship with retirees. "Long after active employment with Purdue ends, the retirees continue to contribute in very meaningful ways to the university," said Christiane Keck, president of the Purdue University Retirees Association. Retired professors Truman Martin, Jack Long, Bertanelle Long, Bill Baumgardt and John Forrest said in their nomination letter: "The Department of Animal Sciences tries very hard to include retirees, retiree spouses and surviving spouses of retirees in all activities and to make them feel that they continue to be members of the animal science family." Previous winners of the Hansen Award are the Cooperative Extension Service and the Department of Agronomy.

Danita Rodibaugh , a member of the Animal Science Advisory Board, has been elected president of the National Pork Board. She was elected to a one-year term July 21 at the organization's annual meeting in Dallas. Rodibaugh operates Rodibaugh & Sons, a 1,800-acre farming operation near Rensselaer, Ind., with her husband, David, BS '73, and sons, Jeffrey, BS '99 and Bryan, BS '04.

Joe S. Hatfield, BS '47, of Baldwin, Ga., received an honorary doctorate from Purdue in May. Hatfield has distinguished himself in animal science and food science as the chairman and chief executive officer of Fieldale Farms Corp., one of the world's largest integrated poultry producers.

Frederick Gimble is a new associate professor. He previously was with Texas A&M University's Department of Medical Biochemistry and Genetics in the College of Medicine. His research area is protein-DNA interactions and protein engineering of homing endonucleases. Gimble received his BS degree from Tufts University in 1980 and his PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Michael L. McManus , BS '59, MS '62, PhD '66, will receive the 2005 John V. Osmun Alumni Professional Achievement Award in Entomology on Oct. 14. McManus is the project leader for insect pathology and microbial control at the Northeastern Center for Forest Health Research in Hamden, Conn. He has served his entire career with the USDA Forest Service, where, as a researcher, research leader, and project leader, he has had an enormous impact on forest pest research, particularly as an expert on the gypsy moth.

Kevin Keener has joined the department as an associate professor, and Yuan Yao is a new assistant professor. Yao previously worked for Roquette America in Keokuk, Iowa. His research will focus on carbohydrate chemistry. Keener was a tenured faculty member at North Carolina State University. He will work with entrepreneurs and food processors in Indiana.

Christian Butzke , the former director of winemaking at Sakonnet Vineyards and Winery in Little Compton, R.I., is the new enologist. Prior to managing the 50,000-case-a-year winery, Butzke was as an enologist at the University of California, Davis.

Associate professor Guofan Shao was selected by NASA to participate in the 2006 NASA Summer Faculty Research Program at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The research will focus on automated image data processing for land use and land cover mapping.

Assistant professor Doug Jacobs and Extension forester Ron Rathfon are serving on the new Appalachian Regional Reforestation Initiative (ARRI) academic team. The consortium is a collection of university, state and federal scientists acting to provide the scientific basis for reforestation procedures for surface mines and serving as the research resource for ARRI and its stakeholders.

The Snakes of the Midwest CD won a 2005 bronze award from the Association of Natural Resource Extension Professionals as an outstanding Extension natural resources educational material. Authors are Brian MacGowan , wildlife specialist in forestry and natural resources; Bruce Kingsbury , professor of biology, IUPU Fort Wayne; and Natalie Carroll , associate professor of youth development and agricultural engineering. The CD was edited, designed, and produced by Jane Brown, Chip Morrison, Steve Doyle and Sharon Katz in the Department of Agricultural Communication.

L. David Mech, PhD '62, of St. Paul, Minn., received an honorary doctorate from Purdue in May. Mech has distinguished himself as the world's foremost authority on the ecology of wolves. He is a senior research scientist with the Biological Resources Division of the U.S. Geological Survey with the Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center, headquartered at the Raptor Center on the campus of the University of Minnesota. He is an adjunct professor in the Department of Ecology and Behavioral Biology and the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife at UM.

Urban planner Kent Schuette received the Marquis de Lafayette award from Lafayette Mayor Tony Roswarski for Schuette's efforts to preserve Lafayette's historic character.

Bernie Dahl , MS '74, associate professor and chair of the Landscape Architecture Program, has been named a Fellow by the American Society of Landscape Architects.

Mike Mickelbart , PhD '00, has returned to Purdue to conduct an Extension, research and teaching program in landscape horticulture and nursery management. Mickelbart had been a lecturer in plant physiology at Lincoln University in New Zealand.

Natalie Federer , BS '02, has joined the department as an academic advisor. Federer also has a partial appointment in agricultural communication. She previously was an enrollment counselor at Ancilla College in Donaldson, Ind.