Category: Academic Departments
The new Center for Agricultural and Environmental Policy helps decision makers make sense of complex policies such as the Farm Bill, and assess the impacts such policies have on agricultural economies, rural economies, and the environment. JunJie Wu is thedirector of the center and editor of the American Journal of Agricultural Economics.
http://oregonprogress.oregonstate.edu/summer-2014/centering-policy
Bruce Mate is leading a new U.S. Navy-funded research project investigating the movements of whales and how marine life will be affected by current El Nino conditions.
http://mmi.oregonstate.edu/bruce-mate
http://oregonprogress.oregonstate.edu/summer-2014/marine-mammal-institute
Jay Noller, one of several AgSci scientists/artists, uses soils as a subject and a medium for his paintings, which are exhibited internationally, including a large permanent display at the Allison Inn in Newberg. He uses visual art as a way for students to see the world beneath their feet.
http://soilscapestudio.com/about.html
AgSci provides much of the R&D that has helped grow the industry from a handful of iconoclastic entrepreneurs to more than 400 wineries and an annual economic impact approaching $3 billion.
http://oregonprogress.oregonstate.edu/summer-2014/oregon-wine-research-institute
At last summer’s American Cheese Society competition, the mozzarella variety of Beaver Classic Cheese—made and marketed by AgSci students—won first place in its category, beating out commercial entries from all over the United States.
http://oregonprogress.oregonstate.edu/summer-2015/student-entrepreneurs
In 2014, the College completely revamped the OSU Dairy to reflect contemporary management and research relevant to Oregon’s 3rd largest agricultural industry. AgSci maintains campus-based living laboratories for research in horticulture, crops, botany and plant pathology, and animal sciences.
http://oregonprogress.oregonstate.edu/summer-2015/things-are-moooo-ving-osu-dairy
The OSU Extension Master Gardener Program, taught by AgSci faculty, offers 10-week courses on natural resources and horticulture in 28 counties and online. AgSci faculty continue to support 3,800 Master Gardeners statewide as they provide public instruction in sustainable landscapes.
AgSci faculty have developed curricula for Extension’s new Oregon Master Beekeeper Program. Nearly 500 people have enrolled since 2012, learning to harvest honey, treat for diseases, and help colonies survive the winter. The total value of colonies maintained by participants is estimated to reach $7 million in the next 5 years.
Lisbeth Goddik (Food Science and Technology) provides training for Oregon’s artisan cheese industry, which grew from just two operations in 1999 to twenty in 2013.
AgSci plant geneticist Pat Hayes is testing 44 different lines of fall-planted barley to offer wheat growers an option for crop rotation.
http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/casprovostreport2015/2015/07/29/pendleton-scouted-for-barley-growth/
