Photo by Tom Campbell Plans are under way to replace the Purdue University aquaculture center that was destroyed by fire Nov. 14. Most research projects housed at the facility north of the West Lafayette campus have been relocated. The aquaculture facility was completed in 1992 at a cost of nearly $1 million. The cause of the fire is still under investigation. The reconstruction committee, chaired by Paul Brown, hopes to complete the bid process by late spring or early summer.

Agricultural and Biological Engineering
Water quality specialist Brent Ladd, BS ’90, MS ’93, and associate professor Jane Frankenberger received two blue ribbon Educational Aid Awards at the Society for Engineering in Agricultural, Food, and Biological Systems (ASAE) annual meeting in Ottawa, Canada. They were honored for their Extension publications, Management of Ponds, Wetlands and Other Water Reservoirs to Minimize Mosquitoes and On-Farm Soil Monitoring for Water Resources Protection, which also is available as a training video. The ASAE awards are presented to those who contribute to the understanding of agricultural engineering subjects.

Professor Bill Field and Breaking New Ground Resource Center staff members Paul Jones and Jon Smith also earned an ASAE blue ribbon award for The Toolbox CD, a software program that lists resources and agricultural tools, equipment, machinery and buildings for farmers and ranchers with physical disabilities. The Breaking New Ground Outreach Program team also received the Purdue University Cooperative Extension Specialists Association Team Award for its development of To Everything There Is a Season, a resource kit for rural caregivers of people with disabilities. The team also was honored for conducting numerous workshops on the topic, both for caregivers and for professionals and volunteers who work with rural caregivers. The team consists of Field and Jones, Steve Swain, BS ’73, of Chalmers, Ind., and Bill Vollmer, of Lafayette, Ind.

Agricultural Communication
Susan Steeves, Jenny Cutraro and Tom Campbell won writing awards at the CASE V (Council for Advancement and Support of Education) regional meeting in Chicago on Dec. 12. Steeves earned a gold award in the research writing category for her story, “Obesity and Diabetes: Research and Reality.” Cutraro earned a silver award in the same category for her story, “Squirrel Invasion Sows Seeds of Change for Future Forests.” Campbell earned a gold award for feature writing for his Connections story (Spring 2004 issue), “One by Air, One by Sea, One by Land.” In addition, Agricultures magazine earned a silver award in the specialized or unit-level magazine category. Team members are: Olivia Maddox, Campbell, Laura Hoelscher, Russell Merzdorf, Mike Atwell, Michelle Betz, BS ’03, Molly Brock, BS ’03, Cutraro, Beth Forbes, Kay Hagen, BS ’00, Steve Leer, Christine Roper and Steeves.

Agricultural Economics
Professor Bob Taylor, MS ’59, PhD ’63, is the recipient of the 2004 Purdue University Cooperative Extension Specialists Association Career Award, which recognizes an Extension specialist with more than 20 years of service. Since 1962, Taylor has taught more than 30,000 students and received several outstanding teacher awards from Purdue Agriculture and the Purdue student body. In 1999, he was added to Purdue’s Book of Great Teachers. Taylor also has received the Frederick L. Hovde Award of Excellence in Educational Service to the Rural People of Indiana.

Agronomy
The Purdue Soils Judging Team finished in first place at the Region 3 Collegiate Soils Contest at the West Lafayette campus in October. Participating team members and their individual awards are Chris Witte (2nd place), C.J. Fleenor (3rd place), Dustin K. Johnson (6th place), Genny Mosher (7th place), Kevin Shide (9th place) Allison Bechman (10th place), Marc Roberts, Jeanna Pitstick, Justin Bender, and Rex Decker. Professor Gary Steinhardt, PhD ’76, coaches the team.

Department Head Craig Beyrouty, MS ’81, PhD ’84, has been appointed to the board of the Indiana State Soil Conservation Board. Beyrouty replaces Purdue professor Ellsworth Christmas, BS ’58, MS ’61, PhD ’64, who had served on the board for 27 years.

Shawn Conley has joined the faculty as an assistant professor and soybean Extension specialist. Conley received his BS, MS and PhD degrees from the University of Wisconsin and most recently was an assistant professor at the University of Missouri. His responsibilities will include implementation of a statewide Extension/outreach curriculum in sustainable soil fertility and crop nutrient management systems.

Professor Keith Johnson, MS ’79, PhD ’81, received the Visionary Leadership Award from the Epsilon Sigma Phi honorary. Johnson was honored for his work in developing the Forage Management Extension Team, which resulted in the Purdue Extension Forage Field Guide and numerous other Extension publications and Web-based resources. Professor Eileen Kladivko, BS ’75, MS ’77, a faculty member since 1982, was inducted into the honorary during the organization’s annual banquet.

Animal Sciences
T. Wayne Perry, MS ’48, PhD ’50, was inducted into the American Feed Industry Association’s Liquid Feed Hall of Fame at the association’s annual meeting in San Antonio on Sept. 9. A professor emeritus since his retirement in 1989, Perry was cited for significant contributions to the science and growth of the liquid feed industry.

Professor Patricia (Scotti) Hester received the Helene Cecil Leadership Award from the Poultry Science Association at its annual meeting this summer in St. Louis, Mo. The award recognizes women for their significant or sustained scientific contributions in the field of poultry science while providing significant leadership for women.

Joseph Garner has joined the department as an assistant professor in the areas of animal behavior and animal welfare. Garner received his BA, MA and PhD degrees in biological sciences — zoology from the University of Oxford, United Kingdom. He most recently was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, Davis.

Biochemistry
W. Andy Tao has joined the department as an assistant professor. Tao received his PhD in chemistry from Purdue in 2001. He has been doing postdoctoral work at the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, Wash. Tao’s research area is quantitative proteomics. Proteomics is the effort to establish the identities, quantities, structures and biochemical and cellular functions of all proteins in an organism, and to determine how these properties may vary.
Botany and Plant Pathology
Vince Davis (MS) and Lei Li (PhD) are the recipients of the department’s 2004 outstanding Master’s and Doctoral Awards, presented at the Annual Graduate Student/Post-Doc Poster Session Socials on Nov. 5.
A team of graduate students — Earl Creech, Vince Davis, Mary Gumz and Eric Ott — earned multiple honors at the North Central Weed Science Society Weed Contest at the University of Minnesota’s Southern Research and Outreach Center in Waseca, Minn. Eleven teams and more than 50 individuals from land grant schools in the North Central Region competed. The Purdue team was the first-place overall graduate team and first-place team in the field sprayer calibration category. In the graduate level, individual competition, Creech took first place, Gumz second place, Davis fourth place, and Ott ninth place. Gumz also took first-place honors in the individual weed identification category. The team coaches are assistant professor Bill Johnson and PhD student Dave Hillger.

Entomology
Eldon Ortman, professor emeritus, was honored during the 12th annual Entomological Foundation Benefit Dinner and Dance on Nov. 17 in Salt Lake City. Ortman was honored for his contributions, support and commitment to entomology throughout his career. Ortman has served as department head and associate director and acting director of Agricultural Research Programs.

Ortman and former Dean of Agriculture Vic Lechtenberg, PhD ’71, have been inducted into the Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service (CSREES) Hall of Fame. Ortman was selected for his efforts in integrated pest management and his work as a USDA center director. Lechtenberg, who now is Purdue vice provost for engagement, was honored for his work with the Initiative for Future Agriculture and Food Systems program and his efforts to integrate research and Extension missions.

Fred Whitford has been awarded the Mid-American Croplife Association Educator of the Year Award. Whitford is head of all commercial and private pesticide applicator training in Indiana.

Professor Richard Edwards recently served as a Senior Fulbright Specialist for the Council for the International Exchange of Scholars. During a six-week period starting Oct. 1, Edwards was a guest lecturer at the University of Zagreb in Croatia.

John Obermeyer received the Purdue University Cooperative Extension Specialists Association Senior Award, which recognizes an Extension specialist with 11 to 20 years of service. Obermeyer, integrated pest management supervisor, organizes and coordinates the Crop Management Workshops, which provide training seminars to more than 700 crop consultants and industry and agricultural producers in Indiana and surrounding states.

Lynn Choi, a PhD student, placed first in the dairy division poster competition at the Institute of Food Technologists annual national meeting in Las Vegas in July.

Professor Richard Linton received the Purdue University Cooperative Extension Specialists Association Junior Award. The award recognizes outstanding contributions to Purdue Extension by specialists with up to 10 years of service. Linton’s Extension work focuses on reducing the risks of foodborne illnesses, and he has developed hands-on training modules targeting audiences in food processing, Extension educators, state and local health agencies, 4-H youth, high school teachers, and consumers.

Forestry and Natural Resources
Graduate student Joe Duchamp won the first-place award (and $200) in the poster competition at the Fifth Winemiller Symposium on “Statistical Analysis in Wildlife, Fisheries, and Ecological Research.” Duchamp won for the poster “Estimating the probability of detection for bat echolocation recordings: An application of the double observer method,” with co-authors Mark Yates, Rose-Marie Muzika, and Rob Swihart, BS ’79.

Horticulture and Landscape Architecture
Burkhard Schulz has joined the faculty as an assistant professor. He is studying the biochemistry and genetics of plants in order to enhance their nutritional or medicinal attributes. Schultz had been a group leader in the ZMBP (Center for Plant Molecular Biology) at the Eberhard Karls Universitat Tubingen in Germany.

Youth Development and Agricultural Education
Aadron Rausch and other members of the Beginners Guide to Grant Writing team won the Purdue University Cooperative Extension Specialists Association Team Award. This team produced the Beginner’s Guide to Grant Writing manual and developed a two-day videoconference workshop dedicated to helping others develop fundable proposals. Proposals developed during the course have resulted in more than $1 million in funding for community and economic development. Other team members are Extension specialists and co-authors Don Jones and Fred Whitford, and communication specialists Frank Koontz, Dan Annarino, Beth Forbes and Joan Crow.