Archives: August, 2015
AgSci helped lead the Statewide Public Service Programs’ successful bid for $14 million additional funds to support up to 40 new positions and stimulate new research and extension projects across the state. The new funding package increases the programs’ base budget to $118 million.
Research at the North Willamette Research and Extension Center and experimental plots near campus continue to provide important R&D for the rapidly growing organic blueberry industry, which increased from 2 percent of Oregon’s blueberry market to 20 percent in the past 8 years.
http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2015/02/exploding_blueberry_industry_p.html
Robin Rosetta (North Willamette Research and Extension Center) has been working with collaborators to develop laser-guided spray equipment that reduces the volume of pesticides used on nursery and orchard crops by up to 77%.
http://extension.oregonstate.edu/marion/new-intelligent-sprayer-lowers-pesticide-use-farms
John Selker will use NSF funding to collect thermal data using drones in atmospheric zones that have been hard to study until now.
http://www.soaroregon.com/osu-uses-unmanned-aircraft-to-take-temperatures-up-in-the-air/
CORVALLIS, Ore. – Oregon State University has received a five-year, $1.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation to improve the retention and graduation rates of underrepresented students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM fields.
The program will benefit underrepresented minorities, women, and economically disadvantaged individuals, and help address a growing national need for workers trained in STEM disciplines.
Targeted at students in the colleges of science, engineering, and agricultural sciences, the OSU program will use methods proven to increase STEM success, such as small, cohort-based orientation courses; mentoring by student peers; and workshops given by upper-class STEM students.
Faculty-directed undergraduate research in the freshman and early sophomore years, and the immediate post-transfer year for community college students, will also help provide students with enriching experiences that increase learning and provide economic support to help disadvantaged students remain in school.
The program is designed to benefit 276 student participants over its five-year span, and will be evaluated and communicated to other universities, for them to benefit by replicating its successes.
“This should also help build a structure, design and institutional culture of support for STEM students that will be retained long after the funding has ended,” said Kevin Ahern, principal investigator on the grant and a leader in university efforts to get more undergraduate students involved in experiential learning.
Ann Bernert, a BioResource Research and International Studies major, was recently appointed the National Director of the International Association of Students in Agricultural and Related Sciences (IAAS). Bernert is the president of the OSU’s IAAS Chapter and hopes to pursue a doctorate in either Plant Pathology or Entomology. Having a strong interest in international affairs, Ann has studied abroad in Thailand, Italy, Chile and Costa Rica. She also has strong research interests and is completing her undergraduate thesis concerning agriculturally significant insects and microbial interactions.
E-Campus enrollment in CAS courses has grown from 506 to 1,184 students in five years, primarily due to four of its departments creating 100% online degree programs (Fisheries & Wildlife, Agricultural Sciences, Horticulture, and Environmental Economics & Policy). Though some of the students are local and are not completing a full online degree program, the numbers nonetheless reflect a tremendous need for delivery of distance education programs.
http://oregonstate.edu/admin/aa/ir/enrollmentdemographic-reports#enroll-sum
Established through the OSU Foundation, the Global Experience Fund has provided $12,883 of support to a total of 13 students participating in international internships over the past two years. The fund is intended to broaden international perspectives related to agriculture, and has secured five years of funding from Hiram Larew, director of International Programs in the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Larew, who holds a masters degree in botany and plant pathology and a doctorate in entomology at Oregon State University, was recognized in 2010 with the College of Agricultural Sciences Legacy Award.
Up to five awards will be made annually on a competitive basis. Recipients of the award will contribute a report on how their program of study, outreach effort, or research project has been enhanced as a result of the global experience, to be published in CAS’s quarterly on-line newsletter, The Source. Award recipients also will discuss their experiences with students enrolled in the College’s World Agriculture course. The popular course is offered annually and includes an optional international travel experience. Recent recipients include:
Rachel Patterson: sea turtle research internship with the Archelon Sea Turtle Protection Society along the Gulf of Kyparissia, Greece.
Jocelyn Stokes: working at the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre, Borneo.
Rebekah Holman: wine business internship for Agricole Vallone in Puglia, Italy
Andrew Futerman: studying fisheries in the Phoenix Islands Protected Area.
http://agsci.oregonstate.edu/main/main/global-experiences-fund
Pat Hayes, the head of Oregon State University’s barley breeding program, grows and analyzes over 10,000 experimental barley varieties, proposing the grain as a way for farmers to diversify their crops and capitalize on the growing markets of microbrews and whole-grain diets. Hayes’ team also studies barley’s genetic coding in an effort to identify genes that allow it to withstand low temperatures, resist disease, and survive with little water and nitrogen. They’ve partnered on this research with countries that include Australia, Germany, Japan, Scotland, and Uruguay. Hayes and OSU researcher Alfonso Cuesta-Marcos are interested in whether genes influence the flavor of barley. Their work has caught the attention of California’s Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. and Wisconsin’s New Glarus Brewing Co., who plan to test-brew beer from 50 to 100 exotic varieties of barley from around the world grown in 2012 by OSU.
Andrew Ross, food chemist and cereal scientist at OSU, is using barley flour to develop ambitious recipes for breads and tortillas. Local farmer Tom Hunton, co-owner of Camas Country Mill, believes barley is the next superfood sensation, and is currently growing some of Hayes’ varieties.
http://oregonprogress.oregonstate.edu/winter-2013/bringing-barley-back
