Academic Report of College of Agricultural Sciences

Hatfield Student Organization works to expand educational experiences and increase professional development through fundraising and research activities. They raised over $3,600 for the Samaritan Foundation Patient Support Fund.

Provost Hiring Initiative funding provided the College with 5 new faculty positions in addition to 7 new positions funded by AgSci to strengthen programs across the state. Among the new hires are:

• Leigh Torres, studying geospatial ecology of marine megafauna, directed toward improving conservation management of protected species. (COMES)
• Sergio Arispe, studying rangeland plant communities, directed toward how grazing affects revegetation following wildfire. (Malheur)
• Valtcho Jeliazkov, the new Director of the Columbia Basin Agricultural Research Center, focusing on improving the sustainability of winter wheat production in the region.

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

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

Lauren Gwin, a food systems specialist with Extension’s Small Farms Program, helps ranchers assess economic viability and navigate regulations for small-scale meat production. Gwin co-founded the Niche Meat Processor Assistance Network, which now connects more than 1,000 members. Gwin served as a technical liason to lawmakers and the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) concerning a poultry production bill, and wrote a guide on best practices for open-air poultry slaughtering. She also helped the ODA’s food safety division adopt federal regulations that make it easier for small-scale farmers to process poultry in licensed facilities.

http://oregonprogress.oregonstate.edu/summer-2015/getting-meat

Christina DeWitt, director of the Seafood Lab at OSU’s Coastal Oregon Marine Experiment Station (COMES), mediated a dispute between federal regulators and fishermen over handling procedures of freshly caught tuna. DeWitt traveled to Washington, D.C. and met with the FDA’s Office of Seafood Safety, ultimately drafting a set of handling guidelines that satisfied safety concerns, without being economically burdensome on fishermen.

http://oregonprogress.oregonstate.edu/summer-2015/ensuring-safety-fast-paced-fishery

Paul Jepson, in the Dept. of Environmental and Molecular Toxicology, is the Director of the IPPC (Integrated Plant Protection Center). The IPPC built free online tools that link nearly 16,000 weather stations across the country to the biological schedule of over 100 pests and plant diseases. Farmers can use the software to schedule precise times to spray, making pesticide usage more efficient and less taxing on the environment. Furthermore, Dr. Jepson is active in IPM (Integrated Pest Management) education and outreach and has provided instruction and workshops in the UK, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Turkey, Kenya, Malaysia, and Peru.

http://oregonprogress.oregonstate.edu/summer-2014/pest-counterpunch

http://www.ipmnet.org/Staff-Paul.htm

http://ipmnet.org/

Chris Langdon, a shellfish biologist at the Coastal Oregon Marine Experiment Station, continues his research to help protect Oregon’s $70 million oyster industry by genetically improving oysters, making them larger, tastier, and more resistant to increasingly acidic oceans. Since 1996, his work has led to growths in commercial yields of up to 35%, injecting an estimated additional $4.5 million per year into the Northwest’s seafood economy.

http://oregonprogress.oregonstate.edu/summer-2015/build-better-oyster

AgSci researchers have developed a commercially viable strain of dulse, a fast-growing seaweed, that contains twice the nutritional value of kale and, perhaps more importantly, tastes like bacon. The very concept of a superfood alternative to bacon has landed this story on the webpages of CNN, TIME, and ABC News, shining the national spotlight on OSU’s Food Innovation Center (FIC) in Portland. Jason Ball, a food researcher at the FIC, is experimenting with dulse-based products ranging from trail mix and rice crackers to smoked dulse popcorn peanut brittle. Chris Langdon, the OSU professor and aquaculture researcher who patented the new strain of dulse, originally developed the seaweed to feed abalone, an edible sea-snail. The effort to commercialize the plant has been a collaboration led by Chuck Toombs, a professor in the College of Business, who is currently working with students on marketing strategies, with hopes of retailing dulse food products this fall. In January, Langdon’s new strain of dulse was recognized as a “specialty crop” by the Oregon Department of Agriculture, which has led to new grants to fund further research. Culinary seaweed has enormous potential for growth as an industry in Oregon.

Food Science, economic development, industry, interdisciplinary, research, experiment stations    

http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/17/tech/dulse-bacon-flavored-seaweed/

http://time.com/3960421/seaweed-bacon-dulse-kale-super-food/

OAP, Summer 2015