Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology (AGEC)
John Adrian, Chair
334-844-4800
www.ag.auburn.edu/agec
Call to Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology Alumni!
Want to know what's happening with fellow AEC alumni and faculty? Or, maybe you'd like to exchange information about job opportunities or network with others who have similar professional interests. The alumni advisory committee recommended the creation of a listserve to improve communication among alumni. This listserve is now up and going, and is available to all alumni with an email address.
To subscribe, send to majordomo@ag.auburn.edu the following one-line message: subscribe agec-rsoc-alumni (note that this must be in the body of the message, not the subject line.)
Department faculty and interested alumni are also making plans for activities around CoAg Roundup/Taste of Alabama weekend on Oct. 9. We would like your suggestions as to the type of activities you would enjoy. Give your suggestions to AEC Professor Patricia Duffy at 334-844-5629 or pduffy@acesag.auburn.edu.
Fields Off to Boot Camp (the academic kind, that is.)
Deacue Fields, assistant AEC professor, has been accepted as one of 20 participants from across the nation for the upcoming Entrepreneurship Boot Camp. Program participants work with other faculty members from institutions across the United States who have research interests in minority and women entrepreneurship.
The camp is sponsored by the Ewing M. Kauffman Foundation and the Frank Hawkins Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.
Howze Commended by Alabama Legislature
Glenn Howze, AEC professor emeritus, was commended earlier this year through a resolution from the Alabama Senate. The resolution, which was sponsored by Sen. Ted Little of Auburn, cited Howze for his contributions to rural development in Alabama and Africa and for his work at Auburn as a member and also as president of the AU Faculty Senate.
Howze, who retired in December 2003, received many prestigious awards during his career, including the American Association of University Professor Academic Freedom Award, the Auburn Black Caucus Faculty Leadership Award and a Fulbright scholarship.
Biosystems Engineering (BSEN)
Steve Taylor, Head
334-844-4180
www.eng.auburn.edu/programs/bsen
Poultry Engineering Assistance Offered
Need engineering help for poultry housing? For the last three years, the Biosystems Engineering Department has been operating a world-renowned Web site on engineering issues in poultry housing. The Web site, was developed by a team of engineers, poultry scientists and economists led by BIO Professor and Extension Engineer Jim Donald.
The Web site makes available in portable document format all pertinent publications on poultry housing and ventilation that have been produced and published by Auburn University faculty working to serve the poultry industry. In addition, the Web site offers an extensive library of annotated photographs focusing on common poultry house problems and solutions.
Innovative Waste Management Practice Field Day Held at Ching Dairy
Ted Tyson, BIO professor and Exten-sion engineer, recently participated in a Juniper Creek Clean Water Partnership Field Day held on the Ching Dairy in Mobile County. The field day highlighted an innovative method of separating dairy manure solids from milking parlor waste before the waste enters the waste treatment lagoon.
This installation may be the first of its kind in the United States. Geotextile bag work at the Ching Dairy is part of Tyson's larger applied research program dealing with geotextile bags and other methods of manure and wastewater handling to help address animal waste management challenges faced by Alabama's dairy, swine and poultry farmers.
Donald and CoAg Extension Economist Gene Simpson are workingon a project in North Alabama that could have a major impact on reducing the costs of heating poultry houses. Working with inventors, poultry growers and the Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries, Donald and Simpson have implemented a heating system for broiler houses that utilizes recycled motor oil rather than propane or natural gas.
Graduating Seniors Win Honors
Out of the 10 BIO students graduating this past spring, 40 percent graduated with honors. Jennifer McMullen of Woodstock, Ga., and Matt Wilson of Troy, Ala., received Cum Laude designations.
Trent Hughes of Rockville, Md., and Michelle Herrmann of Huntsville, Ala., received Magna Cum Laude designations.
International Student Experiences Planned for Summer
Two BIO students are traveling to Brazil this summer to work with CoAg Professor Kyung Yoo. They will be assisting Yoo in a project sponsored by Christian Children's Fund to develop ways to improve the quality and quantity of drinking water in rural villages in Brazil.
Three graduate students will present papers at the International meeting of the American Society of Agricultural Engineers in Ottawa, Canada. Jon Davis will present "Assessment of Soil Ammendments for Erosion Control on Off-Road Vehicle Trails". Christian Brodbeck will present "Background Water Quality Analysis for the Kentuck Off-Road Vehicle Trails;" and Layne Owen will present "An Optical Method for Measuring Yield on a Tree-Length Harvesting System."
War Eagle Pullers Compete in International Contest
The American Society of Agricultural Engineers (ASAE) Student Branch quarter-scale tractor pulling team, dubbed the "War Eagle Pullers," is working hard to complete their entry in the 2004 International Quarter-Scale Tractor Design Competition. The War Eagle Pullers team is sticking with a two-wheel drive design this year with an improved drive train and structural frame.
In June, students presented the engineering, safety, manufacturability and cost features of their design in John Deere's world headquarters. Sponsors of this year's team include Auburn University's Concessions Board, College of Agriculture, College of Engineering and BIO department, Bush Hog Corporation, Knox Kershaw, Tiger Tire and Dyas Nissan. To help sponsor this team in the future, contact ASAE Student Branch Advisor Tim McDonald at mcdontrp@ eng.auburn.edu.
Advisory Committee Meets
BIO's Advisory Council met in May to review the biosystems engineering curriculum and results of recent program assessment activities. This review by the Advisory Council is an important part of ongoing activities to maintain engineering accreditation for the biosystems engineering degree.
Members of the Advisory Council include Perry Oakes, state engineer for USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service; Glenn Stephens, vice president of Poly Engineering; Frank Corley, president of Woodlands Specialists, Inc.; Tony Ellard, director of engineering for Hired-Hand, Inc.; Shannon Vinyard, president of Vinyard Technologies; Ron Blaschke, director of quality assurance for Tom's Foods; Marc Ivey, product engineer for Bush Hog; and Buddy Cox, state geotechnical engineer for the Alabama Department of Transportation.
Also participating in the meeting were CoAg Interim Dean John Jensen and School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences Dean Richard Brinker. Faculty from BIO and the School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences also participated.
Alumni Invited to Fall Tailgating Event
If you are a graduate from agricultural engineering, forest engineering or biosystems engineering, please mark your calendars for Oct. 23, 2004, to join us a tailgating event at Ag Heritage Park. Last year's event was attended by a great group of alumni, faculty and students. Highlights included attendance by an alumnus from Auburn's first agricultural engineering graduating class and alumni from as far away as Wisconsin. Send your contact information to BIO Department Head Steve Taylor at staylor@ eng.auburn.edu.
Horticulture (HORT)
Charles Gilliam, Chair
334-844-4862
www.ag.auburn.edu/hort
Second Annual Henry P. Orr Memorial Golf Classic Planned
Join us Oct. 22, at the state-of-the-art FarmLinks Golf Course on Pursell Farms in Fayetteville, Ala., to participate in the Second Annual Henry P. Orr Memorial Golf Classic.
FarmLinks is Pursell Technologies' championship 18-hole research and demonstration golf course. By partnering with industry leaders such as Toro, Syngenta and Club Car, this golf course is a place where golf superintendents, horticulture professionals and the public can gain firsthand knowledge of product performance.
The registration fee is $250 per golfer, which covers a round of golf, golf cart, boxed lunch, tee prizes, beverages throughout the day, driving range utilization and dinner. Golf tournament sponsorships are available at designations of Platinum ($1,000), gold ($500) and silver ($250).
Cost to attend only the dinner and silent auction is $50. Items to be sold at the auction include a David Pursell print, plant material, weekend hunting excursions and tickets to the Auburn-Alabama football game. To donate items to the silent auction, contact Jeff Sibley at 334-844-3132.
All proceeds from the tournament, dinner and silent auction support the Henry P. Orr Endowed Fund for Horticultural Excellence. The registration deadline for the golf tournament is Friday, Oct. 8. Contact Mark Wilton (344-844-1198) or Katie Hardy (334-844-1475) for more information.
ALCA Students Compete in Ohio
Twenty-eight members of the AU student chapter took part in the 28th Associated Landscape Contractors (ALCA) of America Student Career Days event in Columbus, Ohio, in March. CoAg's Landscape Tigers took on 52 other schools from around the U.S. in 24 events. Auburn University placed 21st overall and less than 1 percentage point from landing in the top 20. That finish was good enough to place second only to Mississippi State University among the five Southeastern Conference schools that participated.
Students who participated in the 28th Associated Landscape Contractors of America Student Career Days included Justin Young and Robert Clifton, inset, and Jeremy Robinson driving the skid steer.
Kathy Crowley finished in third place in Interior & Exterior Maintenance Cost Estimating, which represented Auburn's best performance in an individual event. Eight other students finished in the top 20 in their respective events. They include:
Jeremy Robinson, sixth place in Skid Steer Operation; Ellis Bullock, 10th place in Irrigation Design; Tom Warren, 11th place in Irrigation Trouble-shooting; Robert Clifton, 12th place, and Ben Berry, 20th place in Safety Management; Josh Clark, 17th place in Compact Utility Loader Operation; Justin Young, 18th place in Sales Presentation; and Justin Koen, 20th place in Woody Ornamental Plant Identification.
In March 2005, the team is headed to College Park, Md., for the 29th ALCA Student Career Days.
Thanks to the following who contributed to the students' travel to the event this year:
| Advanced Mowers | Landscape Creations, Inc. |
| Alabama Nurserymen's Association | Lott Nurseries |
| Blackjack Gardens | McCorkle Nurseries |
| Brickman Group, Ltd. | Minus Vinus Nursery |
| Davey Tree Company | Moore and Davis Nursery |
| Dixie Green, Inc. | Pike Family Nursery |
| Dodd and Dodd Nursery | Plant World Nursery |
| Flowerwood Nursery, Inc. | Shore Acres Plant Farm |
| Greene Hill Nursery, Inc. | TruGreen |
| Green Thumb Nursery | Valley Crest landscape Development |
| Greenway Plants | Pursell Technologies, Inc. |
| High Grove Partners | Wright's Nursery and Greenhouse |
| Hunter Industries | |
| Kinney Nursery |
Undergraduate Students Receive Recognition
Congratulations to Rebecca Bond and Melissa Steinhauer who were both recently inducted into Gamma Sigma Delta, the honor society of agriculture. Nominations for membership are granted to graduating seniors who scholastically rank in the upper 15 percent of their class and show promise of leadership.
Christopher Bagents, Kyle Creamer, Ginger Norman and Joshua Smitherman were also recognized at the ceremony when they were each awarded the Freshman Scholarship Award of Merit.
Alumni and Friends Reception Planned
If you are planning to attend the Southern Nursery Association meeting in Atlanta, Ga., please join us at our HF Alumni and Friends Reception on Friday, Aug. 13, 2004, 4-5:30 p.m. in room C302 of the Georgia World Congress Center, Building C.
Master Gardener News
The Alabama Cooperative Extension System has established a hotline for your gardening questions. Trained volunteers-Master Gardeners-answer these lines and offer advice from research-based information.
The hotline will operate throughout the state at the following locations and times:
- Etowah County Extension Office (serving Blount, Calhoun, Cherokee, DeKalb, Etowah, Jackson, Marshall, and St. Clair counties); Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.; 888-574-2451.
- Madison County Extension Office (serving Madison County); Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.; 256-532-1578.
- Lauderdale County Extension Office (serving Lauderdale, Colbert and Franklin counties); Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.; 256-766-4846.
- Baldwin and Mobile County Extension Offices (serving Mobile and Baldwin counties); Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; 866-855-1909.
Fall Landscape School Date Set
Plans are currently being made for the Second Annual Fall Landscape School. This year the event will be held Nov. 4-5.
Agronomy and Soils (AGRN)
Joe Touchton, Head
334-844-4100
www.ag.auburn.edu/agrn
AY Graduates and Faculty Moving Ahead!
Looking for a major that will lead to a job? Try agronomy and soils (AY). Every single one of AY's spring 2004 graduates landed a job in their chosen area! Chris Steigleman will be the first assistant superintendent at the Landings Golf Course in South Carolina, and Brad Beard will be a second assistant superintendent at a golf course in New Jersey. Darrel Scott has a position in South Carolina with NatureChem, a company specializing in custom pesticide application.
Wilson Faircloth, a doctoral candidate in AY, passed his final oral exam for the Ph.D. and has reported to work as a research agronomist with the USDA National Peanut Lab in Dawson, Ga.
AY Alumni Professor Wes Wood served this summer as a reader for the Educational Testing Service (ETS) college board's 2004 advanced placement Environmental Science Reading. As a reader, Wood reviewed and judged the essays of high school students seeking advanced placement in environmental science programs across the nation.
Wood helps teach a course for the interdisciplinary environmental science major, which is based in the AU Samuel Ginn College of Engineering in collaboration with the College of Agriculture and the College of Sciences and Mathematics. Wood developed the course he teaches, fundamentals of environmental science, which drew some 90 students during the spring 2004 semester. This collaborative effort with engineering has brought many nontraditional students to Ag Hill, many of whom have gone on to develop a keen interest in soil science.
The Southern Conservation Tillage Conference Service Award was presented to AY Deparment Head and Professor Joe T. Touchton and AY affiliate professor D. Wayne Reeves in Raleigh, N.C., at the 26th meeting of the Southern Conservation Tillage Conference for Sustainable Agriculture (SCTCSA). Touchton has been a leader in conservation tillage systems in the southeastern U.S. He organized the first meeting of the SCTCSA in 1978, in Griffin, Ga., and has contributed to the movement as teacher, researcher and administrator. Reeves, who is currently research leader at the USDA-ARS J. Phil Campbell Sr. Natural Resource Conservation Center in Watkinsville, Ga., was research agronomist at the USDA-ARS National Soil Dynamics Lab in Auburn until last year.
Entomology and Plant Pathology (ENTM)
Mike Williams, Chair
334-844-5006
www.ag.auburn.edu/enpl
ENTM Student in the News
Whitney Qualls
Entomology master's candidate Whitney Qualls recently was interviewed by Channel 3 News of Columbus, Ga., for a news special highlighting her research involving a statewide survey of mosquito species inhabiting used tire dumps.The survey, which includes all 67 counties in Alabama, is only the second survey of its type in the nation. The survey hopes to determine the range of mosquito vectors for such diseases as West Nile Virus in tire dumps across Alabama.
Faculty and Students Receive Recognition
Several ENTPLP faculty and graduate students are participating in the XII International Congress of Entomology in Brisbane, Australia, in August. Faculty who are participating are Henry Fadamiro, Kathy Flanders, Fudd Graham, Ping Hu, Bill Moar, Gary Mullen and Michael Williams. Graduate students who are attending include Vicky Bertagnolli, Elly Maxwell, Joel Tindle and John Styrsky. Partial support for travel to the congress will be provided by travel grants from the Calvin and Helen Jones and F. S. and Margaret Arant Endowments.
ENTPLP Professor Bill Moar served on the USDA-Cooperative State Research, Extension and Education Service Competitive Programs peer review panel for proposals in "Integrative Biology of Arthropods and Nematodes."
Mike Williams
Michael Williams, ENTPLP chair, was selected for inclusion in the Eighth edition of Who's Who Among American Teachers 2004 . This honor is especially prestigious because only high school and college students who have been cited for excellence in Who's Who Among American High School Students and The National Dean's List are invited to nominate one teacher from their entire academic experience.
Williams presented an invited research paper entitled "Size variations in the genus Llaveia Signoret (Hemiptera : Margarodidae), and its value as a taxonomic character" during the 10th International Symposium on Scale Insect Studies held in Adana, Turkey, in April. Williams has also been invited to present the opening paper for the Symposium on Coccoidea: Taxonomy, Biology, and Management, held during the Florida Entomological Society Annual Meeting in July.
Nathan Burkett, an ENTPLP master's student, participated in a two-week workshop on Medical-Veterinary Acarology at The Ohio State University (OSU), Columbus, Ohio, in June and July. This is an advanced workshop in the identification and biology of mites affecting human and animal health being offered as part.
Kathy Lawrence, assistant professor, and Sean Usery, graduate research assistant, both of ENTPLP, will attend the Society of Nematology meeting in August in Estes Park, Colo. They have submitted four abstracts for oral and poster presentations.
Gary Mullen, ENTPLP professor and co-editor of Medical and Veterinary Entomology, was selected for recognition in the 2004 Faculty Author Reception jointly sponsored by the ??
Wayne Brewer, ENTPLP professor, was recognized by AU's Distance Learning and Outreach Technology for his contributions to the Independent Learning Program by developing and offering a Web-based insects course, Entomology 2043/2044.
Mary Cupp, ENTPLP research professor, was recognized for her participation in the Human Odyssey Program this past year.
ENTPLP Professor Robin Huettel served on a peer review panel to review research project plans for USDA-Agricultural Research Service research efforts in National Program 303, Plant Diseases.
Ed Sikora, ENTPLP professor, presented a paper, co-authored with ENTPLP Professor John Murphy, entitled "Identification and management of cucumber mosaic virus on tomato in Alabama" at the International Tomato Disease Conference to be held in Orlando, Fla., in June.
ENTPLP professors Kira Bowen, Austin Hagan and Jackie Mullen are attending the Annual American Phytopathological Society meetings to be held in Anaheim, Calif., in late July and early August.
Animal Sciences
Lowell Frobish, Chair
334-844-4160
www.ag.auburn.edu/ansc
Faculty, Staff, Students Garner Accolades
Werner Bergen, AS professor of biochemistry and nutrition, has been re-appointed to the editorial board of the Journal of Nutrition , the preeminent nutrition journal. Bergen also attended the Federation of Experimental Biology meetings in Washington, D.C., in April, and represented the department for the NCR 97 meeting. NCR 97 is the national project on fat metabolism in farm animals.
Bethany Crean, a master's student of AS Professor Frank Bartol, will present an invited paper at the 37th annual SSR meetings in Vancouver, British Columbia, in August entitled "Transient Estrogen Exposure from Birth Affects Adult Porcine Endometrial Proteome at Day 12 of Pregnancy."
Bartol recently gave an invited talk on "Animals and Society: Ethical Perspectives on Animal Use in Research and Education" at the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine Interdisciplinary Environmental Toxicology Program.
The Alabama Pork Conference will be held at Auburn on Oct. 15. Sessions at this year's conference will include demand enhancement, marketing opportunities for Alabama pork producers and comprehensive nutrient management planning. Details will be announced later this summer. Contact AS Professor Frank Owsley at 334-844-1505 for details.
Fisheries and Allied Aquaculture (FISH)
David Rouse, Interim Head
334-844-4786
www.ag.auburn.edu/dept/faa/
Bayne Named Water Conservationist of the Year
David Bayne, FAA professor, was selected as the Water Conservationist of the Year by the board of directors of the Alabama Wildlife Federation (AWF). He was recognized at the AWF's Governor's Conservation Achievement Awards Banquet in July. For more than 30 years, the awards have been presented to individuals and organizations that make great contributions to the conservation of our wildlife and related natural resources.
FAA Scholarship Program Established
A grant has been given by the Alabama Power Foundation to establish a scholarship for students to study aquatic resource management in FAA. The $15,000 per year scholarship will cover all tuition, books and should cover most living expenses. The scholarship is available for undergraduate or masters students. Preferences will be given to minority students. For more information visit www.ag.auburn.edu/fisheries/departmental_news/scholarship.tmpl.