Kathy Moore of the ABE business office received the Eleanor Kaplan Award, which recognizes administrative and clerical staff who have demonstrated excellence and leadership in providing customer service.

Junior Paul Stone finished eighth among nearly 200 competitors in the invitation-only championship tractor pull at the National Farm Machinery Show in Louisville in February. The Greensburg, Ind., native won his pro stock tractor division with a 1968 John Deere 4020 tractor called Rollin’ Stone. The tractor generates approximately 2,600 horsepower.

Theresa Campbell has joined the department as a marketing specialist for Purdue Extension educational materials. She has worked for the past four years at Human Kinetics in Champaign, Ill., marketing their fitness materials. She earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing in 1996 from Minot State University in North Dakota.

Matthew Holt, BS ’81, MS ’83, has been appointed to the Wickersham Chair of Excellence in Agricultural Research, joining Purdue’s 118 other named or distinguished professors. Holt joined Purdue’s faculty in January, having held faculty positions at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of Arizona, and North Carolina State University. His research includes an economic history of the hog-corn cycle in the United States; implications of climate anomalies for forecasting primary commodity prices; and the role of transaction costs in price adjustments in North American wood and forest products markets.

Professor Steve Lovejoy, BA ’71, received the Special Service Award at the 63rd annual conference of the Indiana Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts. A faculty member since 1980, Lovejoy was honored for his role in support of the District Visits Program, a system that allows evaluation of local districts and provides feedback for improvement.

A team consisting of Joey Stevenson, Daniel Mudd, Nick Gressley and Chase Best placed first among more than 20 teams at the student challenge exam at the Sports Turf Managers Association meetings in Orlando, Fla. The three-hour competition included a written exam on sports turf topics, plus quizzes on insects, grasses and weeds, soil properties, plant physiology, plant growth and development, and athletic field design, construction and maintenance. Team adviser is assistant professor Cale Bigelow.

Shawn Donkin has been appointed associate professor, specializing in ruminant nutrition and physiology. Donkin earned his BS from McGill University in Montreal, his MS from Pennsylvania State University, and his PhD from the University of Wisconsin. He will teach dairy cattle management, and ruminant nutrition and physiology.

Xiaoqi Liu has joined the department as an assistant professor of biochemistry in conjunction with the Purdue Cancer Center. Liu received his PhD from Washington State University-Pullman in 1999. Since then, he has been a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University. The Walther Cancer Institute is funding his position for three years.

John Obermeyer received the 2005 Eric G. Sharvelle Distinguished Extension Specialist Award for his outreach programs and work with integrated pest management. Obermeyer’s workshops help producers and agribusiness employees avoid or reduce pesticide applications by adopting field scouting and implementing alternative control strategies. He joined Purdue Extension in 1987.

Joe Hegarty, a systems analyst in the Center for Environmental and Regulatory Information Systems, received the 2005 Outstanding Service Award at the annual Entomology Awards and Recognition Program. The award honors performance, contributions and outstanding service.

Arun Bhunia has been recognized as a University Faculty Scholar for his research on biosensors that rapidly detect foodborne pathogens. The award includes monetary support from the university for his research. Bhunia is the fourth food science professor to receive the Faculty Scholar recognition, joining Bruce Watkins, Bruce Hamaker, MS ’83, and Rich Linton.

Rich Linton will receive the 2006 Myron Solberg Award this summer at the Institute of Food Technologists annual meeting in Orlando, Fla. The award honors an IFT member for providing leadership in the establishment and successful development and continuation of cooperation between industry, government and academia.

The Purdue Food Science College Bowl Team is the champion in the Midwest Region and will participate in the national competition in Orlando, Fla., June 24–28. Team members are LeeCole Legette, Kyle Kamp, Laura Pillsbury, and Shriram Paranjpe, with alternates of Wynnie Margatan and Benedict Odum. The team went undefeated and beat squads from Ohio State, Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan State and Wisconsin (River Falls) to become region champions in March. The competition is a general knowledge food science-based quiz bowl.

Joe Fargione will join the faculty in August, and he will specialize in ecological impacts of climate change. His position is a joint appointment with the Department of Biological Sciences in the College of Science. Fargione, a plant community ecologist, received his PhD from the University of Minnesota.

FNR students won three of the four awards at the annual Indiana Chapter of the American Fisheries Society meeting in South Bend, Ind., in March. The winners are Rebecca Zeiber, best student paper; Kimberly Maravilla, best student poster; and Angela Benson, MS ’04, best professional poster.

Associate professor Angus Murphy will participate in a six-month research program at England’s Oxford University this summer. A $68,000 Underwood Fellowship award also funds Wendy Peer,a research scientist, and two graduate students to accompany Murphy. They will conduct collaborative research in plant membrane transport biology and the cellular trafficking of membrane proteins. Additional funding from the National Science Foundation will fund a summer research experience for an undergraduate researcher at Oxford for two months.

Penghui Dou has joined the faculty for one year as a visiting professor. Dou will study how rural education and youth development in the United States compares to rural education and development in China. Dou is a 1994 graduate of Northwest Agriculture University in China with a BA in agronomy. He received his MA in agricultural economic history and his PhD in agricultural economic management from Northwest A&F University, where he is an associate professor.