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From the Dean
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August is an exciting time to be on campus, with new students beginning to move in, new faculty members joining their departments, and construction cones and fences beginning to come down. However, in the College of Agriculture, our focus is both on campus and around the state. Purdue Extension has a major presence at the Indiana State Fair, where there are some 15,000 4-H exhibits and 4-H livestock. There are as many types of 4-H projects as you can imagine—from livestock and crops to biotechnology, robotics, photography, bread-making, and many more. This year, our 4-H students got to meet US Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue and had a chance to introduce him to 3-D printing. We also have a large space at the fair where we display museum-quality exhibits developed by the talented people in Agricultural Communication working with our Extension specialists and faculty. You can read about this year’s exhibits in this issue of InFocus.
Our College of Agriculture New Faculty Tour also happens during the run of the State Fair. Earlier this week, about 19 of our new faculty members took a two-day bus tour to the northeast region of Indiana to learn about that area's agriculture and agribusiness. We visit a different area of the state every year to give our newer faculty members a chance to become more familiar with our food, agriculture and natural resource systems, as well as to connect with some of our alumni and stakeholders—and each other. You will meet our new faculty members in the special new faculty welcome edition of InFocus later this month. They represent many different disciplines and come from all over the world to Purdue, bringing a vibrancy and a worldview that they will share with other faculty, staff and students. Some of this year’s New Faculty Tour stops included a mint farm (Indiana is #2 in the country for mint produc-tion); a duck farm (Indiana is #1 in duck production); a robotic dairy (the largest robotic dairy under one roof in the world); a laying hen operation (Indiana is #5 in egg production); a lumber mill (cash receipts from the hardwood lumber industry are as large as the corn and soybean industries); and a winery (there are now 65 wineries in Indiana). We also visited the Department of Forestry and Natural Resources Palmer Research Center for Aquatic Resources at Bass Lake, the Northeast Purdue Ag Center, and the Kosciusko County Extension office. My thanks go to Cindy Ream and John Baugh for all their work in planning the New Faculty Tour and making sure every detail was taken care of at the highest level. This bus trip exemplified the importance of teaching (many of our hosts are Purdue graduates) and research, which is utilized by Extension to help Indiana communities and agribusinesses. We look forward to the impact that our new faculty members will make, not only around the state but around the world, as they begin their careers and think about how their ingenuity can positively impact our teaching, research and Extension missions.
All the best,
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Graduate Student Spotlight: 2017 Outstanding Teaching Assistants
Wanting to inspire their students as others have inspired them has earned PhD candidates Stefanie Griebel, Agronomy, and Nina Serratore, Biochemistry, the College of Agriculture’s 2017 Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistants awards.
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New leadership announced for Natural Resources and Environmental Science program
The College of Agriculture's Natural Resources and Environmental Science (NRES) Program has been led for more than 20 years by Dr. John Graveel, Agronomy. With Dr. Graveel’s retirement, the program is now co-directed by Drs. Laura Bowling, Agronomy, and Linda Prokopy, Forestry and Natural Resources. As co-directors, Drs. Bowling and Prokopy have responsibility for administering the interdepartmental academic program and its students, including advising the approximately 75 undergraduates in the NRES program and 15 in the Pre-Environmental Studies program; helping recruit students interested in the environmental-related disciplines; teaching NRES-related courses; convening NRES-affiliated faculty and alumni advisory committees; and interacting with other environmental programs at Purdue.
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Cameron Mann joins development team
Cameron Mann has joined the College of Agriculture Development Office as the Stewardship Coordinator. Cameron is a Purdue Agriculture alumna who graduated in May. As a student, Cameron held the positions of Purdue University Board of Trustees Student Trustee and Purdue Foundation Student Board Member. Before attending Purdue, she served as President of the Indiana FFA Association in 2012-2013, where she enjoyed building relationships and communicating the value of a gift to Indiana FFA. As Student Trustee, she interacted with many of the university’s donors and friends. Cameron is passionate about working with donors to insure they feel thanked and valued for their contributions to Purdue Agriculture.
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Opening Day at the Indiana State Fair
Over the 17-day run of the 2017 Indiana State Fair, some 300,000 visitors will interact with exhibits in the Purdue Extension Agriculture/Horticulture Building. These exhibits take research and activities of the College of Agriculture and the College of Health and Human Sciences and translate them into fun, educational and inspiring exhibits for fairgoers. A team of exhibit designers, writers, editors, fabricators, and Extension Specialists work for months, sometimes over a year, to create these interactive displays.
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New Agriculture faculty go on the road in Indiana
Nineteen new Agriculture faculty and staff joined Interim Dean Karen Plaut and Associate Deans Marcos Fernandez, Jason Henderson and Shawn Donkin for the 2017 New Faculty Tour. Each year we take our newer faculty members to a region of Indiana to become more familiar with its food, agriculture and natural resource systems. They get an opportunity to connect with some of our alumni and stakeholders around the state and learn about the breadth of Indiana agriculture and agribusiness, as well as to connect with each other. This year's tour covered Northern Indiana, including stops at Creighton Brothers, Bio Town, the Palmer Research Center for Aquatic Resources, Maple Leaf Farms,
the Kosciusko County Extension office, and the Northeast Purdue Agricultural Center, among others.
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Nominations open for Distinguished Ag Alumni Awards
Nominations are being accepted for the College of Agriculture's Distinguished Agriculture Alumni Award recognizing mid-career alumni of the College of Agriculture who have a record of outstanding accomplishments, have made significant contributions to their profession or society in general and exhibit high potential for professional growth. Nomination deadline is September 11.
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A reminder about tracking civil rights and diversity training
The College of Agriculture is committed to making ongoing improvements to policies and practices to assure that race, ethnicity and gender are not barriers to success. During our USDA Federal Civil Rights Compliance Audit in 2012, it was brought to our attention that we did not have a formal tracking system in place to verify that all faculty, staff and graduate students received appropriate training. In order to comply with this, individuals are required to receive training in civil rights (the regulations), diversity awareness or sexual harassment each year. Therefore, we created a system utilizing the Qualtrics survey tool to have individuals self-report completion of their training. Rather than mandate a specific training, we are asking you to comply by recording training you have been to already or attend any training that fits your needs and interests and enhances your knowledge/understanding of diversity, civil rights or sexual harassment.
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Training modules available for faculty and staff
Risk Management, in collaboration with the Office of the Vice President for Ethics and Compliance and the Office of the Vice President for Human Resources, announces the availability of the Risk Management Employment Claims Initiative education program. The program helps employees and supervisors understand employment-related issues such as discrimination, harassment, disability awareness and accommodations, the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), overtime rates, and other university leave policies. Participants will complete four training modules and corresponding certification quizzes: 1) Equal Opportunity; 2) Americans with Disabilities Act; 3) Wage and Hour Issues for Employees and Supervisors; and 4) Family and Medical Leave Act and University Leave Policies.
The training modules and instructions for accessing the certification quizzes are located on the Purdue Employee Portal. Each training module is approximately 20 to 25 minutes long. Training on the Americans with Disabilities Act and Equal Opportunity will also fulfill College of Agriculture requirements for civil rights training as required by the USDA. All faculty and staff are strongly encouraged to complete these training modules. Faculty and staff participation in these training modules impacts the College's share of insurance costs.
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Kee-Hong Kim, Food Science, has been named a Showalter University Faculty Scholar. Certain University Faculty Scholars are selected to hold the title of Showalter Faculty Scholar in recognition of their expertise and excellence in life sciences.
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The Purdue Board of Trustees approved the appointment of Jayson Lusk as Distinguished Professor of Agricultural Economics. Dr. Lusk joined the Agricultural Economics department as head in July.
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David Downey, Agricultural Economics, has been selected to receive the Friend of GROWMARK award. The award is given annually to an individual or organization who demonstrates continuing support for the GROWMARK System.
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Jacob Tuell, a junior in Animal Sci- ences, was recognized with the Top 10 Best Poster Presenters Award (out of 103 posters) at the Summer Under-graduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Research Symposium. His poster presentation was “Rumen protected arginine and lysine supplementation for improving meat quality and oxidative stability of aged beef loins”. This is a collaboration project with Dr. Jon Schoonmaker. Jacob Tuell is pictured with Dr. Brad Kim.
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Shannon Newerth, a senior majoring in plant science from Beech Grove, has been selected to join two other Indiana stu-dents on a two-week RV trip across the state to take part in career exploration and work-based learning oppor-tunities. The road trip is organized in part by the Indiana Commission for Higher Education and several private partners. Shannon is pictured with Gov. Eric Holcomb and the other selected students.
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Purdue Agriculture in the News
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Researchers develop insecticide that controls mosquitoes without killing them
Entomology researcher Catherine Hill and a team of scientists working on a new insecticide argue that mosquitoes should not be made extinct due to their role in various ecosystems. They are developing an insecticide that will suppress mosquitoes’ ability to transmit diseases without killing the insect or interfering with other life forms.
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NSF announces funding for Purdue food, energy program
A Purdue-led program training students on producing sustainable food and electricity for populations through solar energy received a $2.5 million National Science Foundation Research Traineeship Award. Dr. Rakesh Agrawal, Chemical Engineering, is the program’s principal inves-tigator. Mitch Tuinstra, Agronomy, is co-director of the program.
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Improved air quality research software to help reduce emissions, pollution
Purdue Agricultural and Biological Engineering researchers Jiqin Ni and Albert Heber are developing an on-site computer and software system that could provide a more flexible, high-quality and user-friendly way to conduct agriculture-based air quality research to better understand and limit emission and pollution impact. The computer system developed at Purdue consists of commercial data acquisition hardware, a personal computer, and custom-developed agriculture-based air quality research software, AirDAC.
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Research team looks at needs of endangered bats
A team led by Patrick Zollner in the Department of Forestry and Natural Resources conducts research to develop insights into the resource needs of Northern long eared bats in fragmented landscapes of Northern Indiana. This research involves using a variety of techniques including, acoustic monitoring, mist netting, radio tracking and emergence counts to gather data. During the July 4th weekend, four students set up nets and observation stations in and around the Martell Forest near the Purdue campus, and Agricultural Communication photographer Tom Campbell was there to capture the scenes.
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Purdue Extension state fair exhibits focus on choices for healthier bodies, stronger communities
Purdue Extension
's exhibits at this year's Indiana State Fair are focused on helping people make easy, everyday choices to develop healthier bodies and stronger communities. “These engaging, entertaining, and highly informative exhibits can help all fairgoers better understand some of our most pressing issues and how our choices today affect our wellbeing and the communities our next generation will inherit,” said Jason Henderson, associate dean and director of Purdue Extension.
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Purdue Food Science offers first Validation Workshop
Purdue Agriculture’s Department of Food Science
will offer the first four-day workshop designed for commercial food processors involved in validation processes, aseptic shelf-stable products or installing new commercial lines for future production needs.
The workshop is scheduled for Sept. 11-14 and will be held at the Four Points by Sheraton in West Lafayette.
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Harvest time at new Purdue Student Farm
The Purdue Student Farm was relocated earlier this year to three acres of land at the northwest corner of Purdue's campus. Agricultural Communication photographer Tom Campbell visited the farm earlier this summer as the students harvested the first crops at the new and improved location.
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Undergrads develop bacteria to fight carcinogens for international competition
While some students have been away from campus, the Purdue iGEM team has been creating a bacteria to help reduce the damaging effects of carcinogens for the International Genetically Engineered Machine competition. The bacteria is designed to find and focus on Benzene in the lungs and break it down into compounds that are naturally found in the body. Those compounds then feed into the body's metabolism.
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Study tests the complexity of important plant hormones
A study conducted in the lab of Brian Dilkes, Biochemistry, confirms complex associations among plant hormones and their signaling pathways that are key to controlling plant architecture. That’s important for scientists who want to understand how plants modify their architecture to compete for resources or create higher-yielding crops, like corn.
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Your perfect lawn could be killing pollinators, researchers say
While flowering weeds may be unsightly to you, they’re food to bees and other pollinators. A group of researchers including Doug Richmond, Entomology, studied the impact urban lawn care practices have on pollinators and published an in-depth guide that outlines recommendations to protect them. The guide has been published in the Journal of Integrated Pest Management (JIPM).
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Ag Barometer indicates farmer sentiment is at highest level since January
Farmers’ sentiment about the agricultural economy climbed to 139 in July - the highest level recorded in 2017 since January, according to the Purdue University/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer.
The barometer, which is based on a survey of 400 U.S. agricultural producers, exceeded recent barometer readings by 8 to 9 points.
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Agronomy Field Day focuses on farm financial fitness
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Purdue researchers combining data and technology to make agriculture more sustainable
Due to the large usage of water in agriculture, many California communities no longer have running water, and collapsing aquifers have caused roads and buildings to sink several feet. Purdue electrical and computer engineering professor David Ebert leads a multidisciplinary team that is using data collected from agricultural sites to respond to these problems.
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Farmers markets and food safety are here to stay
Fresh produce growers and consumers have been hearing mixed messages about farm markets shutting down because of regulations established through the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), specifically the Produce Safety Rule
. But, says Food Science's Amanda Deering, consumers will always be able to buy direct from the farmer.
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Aug 21: Fall Semester begins
Sep 1: Graduate Student Welcoming & Networking Event, Marriott Hall
Sep 11: Distinguished Agriculture Alumni Award nominations due
Sep 23: Homecoming
Oct 3: College of Agriculture Fall Career Fair
Oct 23: Corinne Alexander Spirit of the Land-Grant Award Event
Dec 4: College of Agriculture Faculty Meeting
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State Street Project Update
The portion of State Street stretching from Salisbury Street to North University Street will reopen by Monday, Aug. 14, with a new, two-way traffic pattern throughout and some restrictions still in place. As the project moves into the final phase of 2017, construction, which will last from Aug. 14 through the end of November, some existing restrictions will remain in place.
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New resource available for GPU-accelerated research computing
A new computing resource is available for Purdue researchers running applications that can take advantage of graphics processing unit (GPU) accelerators.
The system, known as Halstead-GPU, is a newly GPU-equipped portion of Halstead, Purdue’s newest community cluster research supercomputer. Halstead-GPU nodes consist of two 10-core Intel Xeon E5 CPUs per node, 256 GB of RAM, EDR Infiniband interconnects and two NVIDIA Tesla P100 GPUs. The GPU nodes have the same high-speed scratch storage as the main Halstead cluster.
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Purdue’s investment in active learning goes beyond a new building
Purdue has entered a partnership that will take its content onto the global stage and will provide international learning opportunities for professors and students. FutureLearn, based in the United Kingdom, is Europe’s largest massive open online course (MOOC) provider. Through this partnership, Purdue instructors will be able to reach a global audience with online learning content that further strengthens Purdue’s action plan for digital education.
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New mechanism to destroy viruses could lead to future therapies
Researchers at Purdue have uncovered the way some antibodies neutralize infections caused by viruses. The research was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and authored by Yangchao Dong, Yue Liu, Wen Jiang, Thomas J. Smith, Zhikai Xu and Michael G. Rossmann. The study shows that certain antibodies have the ability to open up a virus and empty its genome. This would be the equivalent of killing it, if viruses were alive in the first place.
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Report Hate and Bias
Purdue University is a community where diversity is valued and incidents of hate and bias are not tolerated. Students, faculty, staff, and campus visitors who feel that they have been the victim of a bias related incident (or who have witnessed a bias related incident) are encouraged to report it online at www.purdue.edu/report-hate or to contact the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities at 765-494-1250. Your report can remain anonymous if you wish. Remember, if it is an emergency situation that requires immediate medical or emergency services attention, please call the Purdue University Police Department at 911 or 765-494-8221.
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Purdue Agriculture InFocus
Editor: Dinah L. McClure (dmcclure@purdue.edu)
Purdue University is an equal opportunity employer.
If you are having trouble accessing this page because of a disability, please contact the Webmaster at AgWeb@purdue.edu
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