Administration

Nicole Gale is the school-level coordinator of multicultural programs. She has more than 11 years of experience recruiting and retaining underrepresented high school and college students. Gale comes to Purdue from Iowa State University.
Sam Cordes on Feb. 1 will assume his new role as program leader of Purdue Extension's community development efforts. Part of Cordes' role will be to showcase Extension as a model for engagement and to integrate engagement activities into Extension programs. Cordes comes to Purdue from the University of Nebraska, where he was professor of agricultural economics, fellow in the Center for Applied Rural Innovation, director of the Nebraska Cooperative Development Center and senior associate in the International Programs Division.

Agricultural Communication

Kay Hostetler, BS '00, has joined the News and Public Affairs group as a news writer. She previously was associate editor of The Farmer's Exchange.

Abigail David is the communication specialist for the Extension Disaster Education Network (EDEN) project, which is based at Purdue. She works with Extension specialists around the country to expand and maintain a database of educational materials designed to help communities before, during and after a disaster.

Agricultural Economics

Larry DeBoer, one of Indiana's foremost experts on state tax and budget issues, has been named winner of the 2002 Eric G. Sharvelle Distinguished Extension Specialist award. DeBoer, a faculty member since 1984, works with the Indiana Legislative Services Agency in researching and drafting bills for the Indiana General Assembly. To share his tax expertise with the public, DeBoer created a local government Web site at www.agecon.purdue.edu/ crd/localgov/.

Professor George Patrick,
MS '66, PhD '70, received the Purdue University Cooperative Extension Specialist Association (PUCESA) Senior Award during the association's annual conference at Purdue. Patrick has educated thousands of tax professionals, farmers and rural residents in agricultural income tax, crop insurance and risk management during his 30-year career at Purdue.

Frank Dooley has been inducted into the Purdue Teaching Academy, which honors and supports excellence in teaching and works to strengthen teaching quality throughout the university. An assistant professor since 1998, Dooley is one of 143 members inducted since the academy was founded in 1997.

Agricultural Education

Mark Balschweid and Allen Talbert have received a grant from FFA to conduct a national study on the engagement of FFA members in their high schools and communities. The study will collect survey data from high school students via a Web-based questionnaire. Rose Wise Scherer, BS '00, is the graduate research assistant for the project.

Agronomy

Ben Southard, BS '61, and Mark Evans, BS '90, MS '95, were honored at the Purdue University Cooperative Extension Specialist Association (PUCESA) conference on campus. Southard, an Extension specialist since 1963 who retired in 2002, earned the PUCESA Career Award. He chaired the Agronomy Field Day for 20 years and was chairman of the department's transportation, exhibit and Farm Progress Show committees. Evans received the PUCESA Junior Award for initiating, coordinating and evaluating conservation programs and activities.

The Purdue Soil Judging Team placed first at the Region III contest, beating out teams from seven universities. Team members are Kristi Kahlenbeck, Andrew Pitstick, Frank Helt and Ryan McAninch. In addition, Chet Cooprider finished second in the individual competition, ahead of Kahlenbeck (third place), Pitstick and Helt (fourth-place tie), Derek Blair (sixth), McAninch (12th), Chris Witte (13th), Eric Ott (14th) and Genny Mosher (20th).
Animal Sciences

Roger Hunsley, who taught at Purdue from 1967 to 1983, has been inducted into the Indiana Livestock Breeders Association Hall of Fame. Hunsley coached the Purdue livestock judging team for 16 years, leading it to national championships in 1971, 1973 and 1978. He has been the executive secretary of the American Shorthorn Association for 19 years.

Biochemistry

Doctoral candidate Matt Hemm won top prize in the poster competition at the 2002 meeting of the Phytochemical Society of North America in Merida, Mexico.
Professor Clint Chapple has been elected to the rank of Fellow by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Chapple was honored for isolating genes of plant phenylopropanoid metabolism.

Botany and Plant Pathology

The department has four new faculty members: Guri Johal, Tesfaye Mengiste, William Johnson and Zhixiang Chen. An assistant professor, Johal's research will be in the area of maize molecular pathology and functional genomics. He is also teaching a graduate course in host-parasite interactions. Mengiste is an assistant professor of plant pathology whose research will examine the functional genomics of plant defense responses to necrotrophic fungi as well as the molecular components of host defense signaling in response to necrotrophic pathogens. Johnson, an assistant professor of weed science and an Extension specialist, will focus on the efficient and environmentally sound management of weeds of agricultural importance to Indiana. Chen is assistant professor of plant pathology. His research group will continue studies on both transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation of plant disease resistance mechanisms.

Entomology

Professor Cliff Sadof received the Purdue University Cooperative Extension Specialist Association (PUCESA) Senior Award for being a state and national leader in the development of pest management systems for the ornamental plant industry.

Professor Virginia Ferris has been elected Fellow of the European Society of Nematologists. A faculty member since 1965, Ferris was elected at the organization's fourth international conference in Tenerife, Canary Islands.

Food Science

Department head Philip Nelson is one of 11 new members of the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Research, Extension, Education and Economics Advisory Board. The 30-member board advises the secretary of agriculture, land grant colleges and congressional agriculture committees and subcommittees on agriculture-related policies and programs.

Forestry and Natural Resources

Harvey Holt received the Utility Arborculture Association Education Award. The award honors an individual who has added to the knowledge and practices of the utility arborist. A faculty member since 1975, Holt has been involved in utility arborculture education and research for over 20 years.

Tim Longwell received a 2002 graduate student teaching award from the Committee for the Education of Teaching Assistants, the Teaching Academy and the office of the provost.

4-H Youth Development

Roger Tormoehlen, BS '80, MS '82, PhD '85, received the Distinguished Service to Safety Award from the National Safety Council. The award, the highest given to an individual by the council, was presented at its annual conference in San Diego. Tormoehlen provides leadership to the engineering-related projects in the Indiana 4-H program, including aerospace, bicycle, computers, electricity and electronics, lawn and garden tractors and equipment, agricultural tractors and equipment, and woodworking.

Pam Morris, PhD '97, received the diversity award at the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges annual meeting in Chicago. The award was based on Morris' work with multicultural education, international programs and community service learning.

Horticulture and Landscape Architecture

Visitors to the Indiana State Museum in Indianapolis can learn about how Purdue researchers are using plants to help clean up the environment, a process that is called phytoremediation. The work of David Salt, associate professor of plant molecular physiology, and Kathy Banks, professor of civil engineering, will be featured through April in an interactive exhibit in the Tomorrow's Indiana Gallery. The museum is at 650 W. Washington St. in White River State Park.