Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology (AGEC)
Curtis Jolly, Interim Head
334-844-4800
www.ag.auburn.edu/agec
Biosystems Engineering (BSEN)
Steve Taylor, Head
334-844-4180
www.eng.auburn.edu/programs/bsen
Horticulture (HORT)
Dave Williams, Chair
334-844-4862
www.ag.auburn.edu/hort
Agronomy and Soils (AGRN)
Joe Touchton, Head
334-844-4100
www.ag.auburn.edu/agrn
Entomology and Plant Pathology (ENTM)
Art Appel, Chair
334-844-5006
www.ag.auburn.edu/enpl
Poultry Science (POUL)
Don Conner, Head
334-844-4133
www.ag.auburn.edu/poul
Animal Sciences
Wayne Greene, Head
334-844-4160
www.ag.auburn.edu/ansc
Fisheries and Allied Aquaculture (FISH)
David Rouse, Interim Head
334-844-4786
www.ag.auburn.edu/dept/faa/
CoAg Faculty and Staff Accomplishments
Joe Hood, professor emeritus of agronomy and soils (AY), is the 2006 recipient of the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award.
Wes Wood, AY alumni professor, is participating in a U.S. Association for International Development project in Jamaica, serving as a reader for the South Carolina advanced placement high school student program in environmental science and served recently as a reviewer for the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service. Wood also will be interviewed on "Timber Talk," a weekly radio program educating landowners primarily in Arkansas, Texas and Louisiana, on May 30 to talk about the role of nitrogen in soil fertility.
David Weaver, AY professor, was appointed for a second term as a technical editor for Crop Science journal.
Joey Shaw, associate AY professor, is serving as an associate editor for Soil Science journal.
Jacob Dane, professor of AY, is on sabbatical in California.
AY Professor David Bransby has been awarded the 2006 Auburn University Award for Excellence in Faculty Outreach by the AU Office of Outreach.
Audrey Hollis and Regina Crapps, both office administrators in poultry science, recently received AU Spirit of Excellence awards.
Tim McDonald, associate professor of biosystems engineering (BSEN), was named the department’s 2006 Outstanding Faculty Member.
BSEN Assistant Professor Oladiran Fasina is serving as a co-investigator on a new grant from the National Science Foundation.
BSEN faculty members Jim Donald and Jess Campbell along with CoAg Agricultural Economics Professor Gene Simpson conducted a three-day Poultry Housing Construction Seminar in Auburn in March that drew more than 80 poultry company managers from across the United States.
BSEN Professor Ted Tyson recently attended the CSREES National Water Quality Conference in San Antonio, Tex. Tyson and co-author Charles Mitchell, CoAg professor of agronomy and soils, presented a poster about a Web-based Certified Animal Waste Vendor training and education verification program.
Kyung Yoo, BSEN professor, participated in an external evaluation panel for the Global Livestock project in Kenya.
John Fulton, BSEN assistant professor, and Paul Mask, assistant director for the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, recently visited universities in Greece and Germany to help establish international interchange programs for students interested in learning more about applications for GPS, GIS and remote sensing in agriculture and natural resources. Auburn students who participate in the program will study how precision agriculture and geospatial technologies are being used in agriculture in Germany and Greece.
Tim McDonald, BSEN associate professor, Steve Taylor, BSEN professor and head, and Christian Brodbeck, BSEN engineer, recently attended the International Precision Forestry Symposium in Stellenbosch, South Africa.
Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology (AEC) Interim Chair Curtis Jolly recently was presented the Minority Achievement Award for 2006 by the Auburn University Alumni Association.
Upton Hatch, director of the AU Environmental Institute and professor of AEC, and Jim Novak, also an AEC professor, are lead investigators for a South East Climate Consortium (SECC) project focusing on climate prediction. This cutting-edge project is making climate forecasts more available for agriculture, forestry and water resource managers. The scientists are working with farmers in Alabama’s Wiregrass region to make monthly forecasts six months in advance.
Patricia Duffy, AEC professor, was named for another five-year term as an alumni professor.
AEC Professor Walt Prevatt was recognized as the College of Agriculture’s Outstanding Faculty Member at the AU Student Government Association’s 2006 Honors Banquet. The SGA holds the banquet every April to recognize an outstanding faculty member and student from each college and school on campus. The Ag Student Council selected Prevatt for the award based on his excellence in teaching, concern for students, rapport with peers and involvement at Auburn University.
The Alabama Beef Cattle Improvement Association’s (BCIA’s) top honor—the Richard Deese Award—was recently given to Diego Gimenez, a professor of animal sciences (AS) and an Alabama Cooperative Extension System animal scientist. The award is given to the person who best exemplifies endless determination and the utmost dedication to promoting beef in Alabama. Deese, who was BCIA’s first manager, exemplified those same qualities.
Dr. Soren Rodning will join the animal sciences faculty in July as an assistant professor and Extension veterinarian.
A recent study by animal sciences professor Tom McCaskey has shown that hydrated lime can serve as a germicidal bedding treatment in dairy cow free-stalls to control mastitis. Applying hydrated lime daily to the back third of free-stalls bedded with peanut hulls reduced the incidence of mastitis by 50 percent.
Department of Horticulture faculty, staff and alumni participated in the "Art In Bloom" show held in February at the Auburn University Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art. The show featured a judged exhibition partnering select pieces from the museum’s permanent collection with twenty floral designs. Fenny Dane, professor of horticulture, helped organize the show, which featured lectures by Kerry Smith, who coordinates the Alabama Cooperative Extension System Master Gardener program, Jason Powell, manager of Petals of the Past nursery in Jemison and an AU horticulture alumnus, and David Williams, department head of horticulture.
Several CoAg faculty members received promotions and/or gained tenure recently. Fenny Dane and Jeff Sibley, both in the horticulture department, and Darrell Rankins in animal sciences were promoted to full professors. David Han in agronomy and soils, was promoted to associate professor with tenure, and LaDon Swann in fisheries and allied aquacultures was promoted to associate research professor.
Student Accomplishments
Connie Johnson, a graduate student in horticulture (HF), won second place in the Norman F. Childers M. S. Graduate Student Paper Competition at the American Society for Horticultural Science southern region meeting held in Florida in February.
Five HF students were selected from a pool of horticulture students nationwide to compete in the Senior Challenge competition hosted by ValleyCrest, Inc. in Calabasas, Calif., in February. CoAg HF students Christina Jacoway, Charmel Jones, Richard Ogle, David Brown and Alex Kocher all participated. Jacoway finished in first place out of 19 students in the competition while Jones and Ogle and finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
Travis Hubbs, a December 2005 graduate of agricultural economics and rural sociology, received the Outstanding Student Award for the College of Agriculture during the SGA 2006 Honors Banquet. Hubbs was chosen by the CoAg dean’s office based on academic performance, extracurricular achievements and career potential.
Renee Ayala, an undergraduate in biosystems engineering (BSEN), received the 2006 BSEN Outstanding Student award.
BSEN student Rees Bridges was selected as the Outstanding Graduate of the Ginn College of Engineering for fall semester 2005. A native of Tifton, Ga., Bridges completed the forest engineering curriculum in BSEN.
Sarah Nell Jones, a junior in BSEN, has recently been honored as a recipient of the 2006 Birdsong Endowment to study abroad. Her award includes a summer semester study through the "Mediterranean Cultural History Tour" hosted by Eastern Michigan University.
The Auburn student branch of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) held its annual spring lawnmower clinic in March. BSEN students spent the day servicing more than 70 lawnmowers and raising funds to support ASABE activities, such as their upcoming trip to the Regional ASABE Rally in Lexington, Ken., and the War Eagle Pullers quarter-scale tractor team.
Alumni Awards
Brahm Verma, a professor of Biological and Agricultural Engineering at the University of Georgia who earned his PhD from Auburn’s Department of Biosystems Engineering (BSEN—formerly the Department of Agricultural En-gineering), was awarded the 2006 Outstanding Auburn BSEN Alumnus.