Faculty and Staff Accomplishments

Gary Keever, professor of horticulture, recently received the Porter Henegar Memorial Award, one of the Southern Nursery Association’s highest honors. The award, created in 1968 to honor scientists who have made outstanding contributions to ornamental horticulture research, was presented to Keever in August during the 52nd annual SNA Research Conference.

Dennis DeVries, professor of fisheries and allied aquacultures, was awarded the American Fisheries Society Distinguished Service Award, one of AFS’s highest awards. The award was in recognition of his long-standing contribution to the efficient and fair execution of governance and commitment to the effective communications of fisheries research. He served as constitutional consultant for the society from 1993 to 1997, and has served as one of the editors for Transactions of the American Fisheries Society since 1998. He also was an invited speaker at the AFS Student Colloquium, presenting a talk entitled "The Peer Review Process."

Rodrigo Rodriguez-Kabana, distinguished university professor of entomology and plant pathology, was awarded the Technology and Economic Assessment Panel Champion Award by the United Nations Environment Programme for his work on replacements for the ozone depleting fumigant, methyl bromide. The Montreal Protocol, signed in 1987, established the TEAP to accumulate information on alternatives to ozone-depleting substances.

Art Appel, chair of the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, has won the 2007 Entomological Foundation’s Recognition Award in Urban Entomology. This distinguished award recognizes and encourages outstanding extension, research and teaching contributions in urban entomology. The award, sponsored by S.C. Johnson and Son is awarded annually to those individuals whose research and teaching contributes to the study of the biology and control of arthropods found in the home or surrounding landscape. The award will be presented at the annual meeting of the Entomological Society of America in San Diego, Calif., later this year.

The Department of Horticulture, the Alabama Nursery and Landscape Association and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Risk Management Agency co-sponsored the Auburn Landscape School in August to provide continuing education to landscape professionals and Master Gardeners who are focusing on sound landscape practices and pest management. Speakers included personnel from the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, the Department of Horticulture and landscape and allied industries. Also on hand for the meeting was the AU president and horticulture department alumnus Jay Gogue.

COMING HOME—New AU President Jay Gogue, left, an alumnus of the Department of Horticulture, visited his former department during a recent Auburn Landscape School held on the AU campus. He is pictured with horticulture professor Harry Ponder, center, and department head Dave Williams.

David Bransby, professor of agronomy and soils, was featured–along with President Bush–in a six-minute segment that Japan’s Fuji Television broadcast on its July 26 edition of a program called "Inside America." The segment, which gave an overview of U.S. advancements in bioenergy development, focused on switchgrass. Crews were at the E.V. Smith Research Center in May to film Bransby for the show, which aired to an estimated 100 million people. More recently, Bransby traveled to Minneapolis, Minn., in late August to present a session entitled "Sustainabilty of Biomass Production in Context" during the USDA Global Conference on Agricultural Biofuels. And in October he participated in the Cellulosic Ethanol Summit in Washington, D.C., where he led the pre-summit briefing and sat on a panel that discussed farmers’ progress in preparing to supply feedstock to the cellulosic ethanol industry.

John Liu, professor of fisheries and allied aquacultures, has been named the 2007 winner of the AU Vice President for Research Creative Research and Scholarship Award. Only one winner from the science category is selected from across campus each year. Previous recipients from the College of Agriculture include Claude Boyd, fisheries professor and Butler/Cunningham Eminent Scholar in Agriculture and the Environment, and David Roland, distinguished university professor in the Department of Poultry Science.

Conner Bailey, professor of agricultural economics and rural sociology, won the 2007 Rural Sociological Society’s Excellence in Research Award. The award is presented annually to the RSS member who has conducted outstanding rural-oriented research.

Biosystems engineering associate professor Oldiran Fasina traveled to Ludhiana, India, this summer as part of the 2006-2007 US-India Borlaug Fellowship Program. During the visit, Fasina was the guest of honor at a national seminar entitled "Application of Engineering Principles and Mathematical Modeling in Food Processing." Fasina also gave a talk on biomass and bioenergy to the Punjab Section of the Indian Society of Agricultural Engineers and visited various laboratories at Punjab Agricultural University

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Biosystems engineering faculty members participated in the 2007 Alabama Water Resources Symposium and Conference held at Orange Beach in September. Among them were assistant professor Mark Dougherty and professors Ted Tyson and Kyung Yoo. Yoo, along with fisheries and allied aquaculture emeritus professor Bryan Duncan, visited Brazil recently to investigate the possibilities of installing rainwater harvesting systems for rural villages. The two researchers were hosted by Rotary International and visited Capelinha, Brazil, where they worked on a roof catchment of rainwater system for the community. Yoo is conducting similar research in rural Alabama.

Several College of Agriculture faculty members will host a national short course dealing with Poultry House Construction and Remodeling in Auburn Nov. 13-15. Biosystems engineering professor James Donald and biosystems program adviser Jesse Campbell, agricultural economics and rural sociology professor Gene Simpson and poultry science assistant professor Ken Macklin are planning the event. It focuses on the challenges of building new and upgrading existing poultry houses in today’s climate of rising energy, construction and equipment costs. More than 100 poultry industry executives from across the nation are expected to attend. The short course is co-sponsored by the Alabama Cooperative Extension System and the Alabama Poultry and Egg Association.