Winter 2015

Volume VI - Issue 1

Dan's Observations
Recent News
OSU Update
Our Best
Global Experiences
Hazelnut Program
Students
New Fields
Research
Art About Agriculutre
Multimedia Connections
Alumni, donors and Friends
In Memoriam

Dan's Observations

Dan Arp

Winter 2015

It’s great to see the early signs of spring: rhododendrons, flowering cherries, and the opening of the Oregon Legislature. But as I look at the early blossoms out my window, it’s the legislature that’s on my mind.

The College of Agricultural Sciences is a key partner in meeting the needs of Oregonians in every corner of the state. And, the College is closely aligned with priorities outlined in the Oregon Business Plan: to connect higher education to high-value careers and to put our natural resources to work in a sustainable way. 

With 14 wide-ranging academic programs, the College provides students with hands-on, real-world learning experiences in the fields of food, natural resources, and life sciences. And with faculty stationed on campus and at research stations across Oregon, our college focuses on problems important to Oregon and the world. The state really is our campus. 

In addition, this spring, we welcomed several new leaders into the college. Their stories are included in this issue of The Source. The college is well-positioned to meet the state’s challenges with new ideas and initiatives.

In the coming weeks, the Oregon Legislature will review the state’s budget for the Agricultural Experiment Station, as one of three Oregon State University Statewide Public Service Programs. We have requested some new funds to address Oregon’s challenges. Here’s how we propose to invest those new funds to meet the needs of Oregonians in every corner of the state.

Sustainable Management of Working Landscapes

We will invest in education, research, and outreach to increase sustainability of rangelands, support sustainable livestock production, and increase understanding of cropping systems, weed ecology, and pest management.

Ensure Water Quality and Quantity

We will increase research and teaching to reduce water pollution, increase efficiency of irrigation, and address changes to coastal water quality.

Promote Public Health, Food Safety and Security

We will invest in education and research to increase food safety, build capacity for safe pesticide management, and increase health of pollinators

Business Development & Value-Added Manufacturing

We will increase research and teaching in fermentation sciences, vegetable breeding and plant genetics, and seafood safety, quality and marketing.

Educate the Workforce of Tomorrow

We will expand opportunities for site-based, hands-on experience to connect higher education to high-value careers.

Oregon’s Agricultural Experiment Station is the research arm of the College of Agricultural Sciences and the engine that develops opportunities for our students and solutions for our communities. We appreciate your support.

Sincerely,

Dan

Daniel J. Arp
Reub Long Professor and Dean
College of Agricultural Sciences
Director
Oregon Agricultural Experiment Station

Recent News

W. Daniel Edge

Edge named Associate Dean

W. Daniel Edge, who has served as head of Fisheries and Wildlife, will be the new Associate Dean, replacing Stella Coakley who retired December 31.  He will begin his duties on February 1..  Edge earned his master’s and doctoral degrees in wildlife biology and forestry from the University of Montana and joined the OSU faculty in 1989. He was an early adopter of online learning as a way to deliver high-quality education. In 2012, he won the national Excellence in Teaching Award from the University Professional & Continuing Education Association.

Edge is well known and respected throughout the professional community in Oregon and beyond. He has served as the chairman of the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission and recently served as the president of OSU’s Faculty Senate.

Sam Angima

Angima to be Assistant Dean for Outreach and Engagement

Sam Angima who has served as recional administrator for OSU Extension on the north coast will serve as the College's assistant dean for Outreach and Engagement.  He replaces Bill Braunworth and Mike Borman, who consecutively served as program leader for OSU’s Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources Extension Program. Angima will assume a new position of assistant dean for outreach and engagement that will bridge OSU’s College of Agricultural Sciences and the Division of Outreach and Engagement on March 1.

Originally from Kenya, Angima earned his doctoral degree in soil science from Purdue University and joined the OSU faculty in 2006.

Jerri BartholomewBartholomew appointed head of Microbiology

Jerri Bartholomew, Director of the J. L. Fryer Salmon Disease Laboratory at OSU, has accepted an offer from both Dean Pantula and Dean Arp to serve as the next department head of Microbiology, a joint unit of the College of Science and the College of Agricultural Sciences.  Bartholomew began her duties on January 1, 2015, replacing Theo Dreher who retired in 2014.

Her research interests are:  Salmon diseases, myxozoan parasites, host resistance mechanisms, and parasite evolution.

Read more in Oregon's Agricultural Progress: "Jerri Bartholomew fuses art and science"

Barry CroomCroom new department head of Ag Education and Agricultural Sciences

Barry Croom is a native of rural Eastern North Carolina. He was an active FFA member and state youth leader for FFA, earning his American FFA Degree from the National FFA Organization. His FFA experiences led him to pursue a career as an agriculture teacher.

Croom earned his undergraduate and graduate degrees from North Carolina State University, and taught high school agriculture for nine years. During his teaching tenure, students earned state and national awards, and the agricultural education program was recognized for excellence in teaching, youth development, and community service.  

His instructional program focuses on instructional methodology, educational program planning, leadership and youth development. Croom was a Park Faculty Scholar, a Fellow of North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture, a Fellow of the American Association for Agricultural Education and a member of the NC State University Academy of Outstanding Teachers. His research program includes developing new teaching methods, innovative educational programming for rural and disadvantaged youth, leadership, and historical studies in career and technical education. Croom serves as the editor of the Journal of Agricultural Education. 

Oregon's Agricultural Progress magazineOregon's Agricultural Progress Winter 2015 issue

In this issue of Oregon’s Agricultural Progress, we illustrate Oregon’s working landscapes. This is a key theme this year for the Oregon Agricultural Experiment Station and the other statewide programs. We explore AES research in rangelands, urban lands, wetlands, and wild lands. And we hear advice and counsel from long-time stewards of Oregon’s family-owned farms and ranches. 

(Read OAP...)

 

Oregon's Agricultural Progress magazine is responsively designed for viewing on mobile devices. Get the app.

OSU Update

President Ed RayState of the University

In his recent annual State of the University address in Portland, Oregon State University President Edward J. Ray challenged politicians, education and business leaders to help address the growing issue of Oregonians’ access to higher education.

He also said OSU is committed to helping the state meet Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber’s goal of bringing economic prosperity to more Oregonians, particularly in rural communities still suffering effects of the recession.

Ray told the more than 700 people in attendance that inequality in higher education is creating a society of haves and have-nots, which “tears at the fabric of our society and undermines our democracy.” Nationally, a student from an annual household income of $90,000 or more has a one-in-two chance of graduating from college, Ray pointed out. Conversely, a student from a family with a household income of $30,000 a year has only a 1-in-17 chance to earn a college degree.

(Read more...)

OSU Memorial UnionOSU Board of Trustees approved new degree, bond sales

The board on January 16 approved a resolution requesting the State Treasurer to issue bonds previously authorized by the Oregon Legislature in 2013 and 2014 for real estate and expansion of OSU-Cascades, renovation of Strand Agriculture Hall, partial funding for the construction of the Learning Innovation Center (also known as the new classroom building), and partial funding for construction of Johnson Hall – a new $40 million, 60,000-square-foot engineering building.

The board also approved a process to annually determine student tuition and fees. 

(Read more...)

OSU's global economic impactNew analysis puts OSU's economic impact at more than $2.37 billion

An analysis of Oregon State University’s economic impact released recently  estimates that Oregon’s largest university contributed $2.371 billion to the global economy last year – an economic footprint that has grown by $311 million, or 15 percent, since 2011.

The greatest impact is in Oregon, where OSU was responsible for adding an estimated $2.232 billion to the state’s economy in 2014 – a figure that accounts for 31,660 jobs.The analysis was conducted by the economic consulting firm ECONorthwest, based on OSU expenditure data, visitor data, student enrollment and a 2013 Oregon Travel Impacts study. (Read more...)

Our Best

OSU UpdateExtension and Experiment Station Communications brings home 3 awards

Extension and Experiment Station Communications  received the following three awards from District VIII of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education:

Oregon's Agricultural Progress received a Grand Gold award in the category of print general interest magazines with a circulation of less than 29,999. The Bridges to Prosperity website received a silver award in the category of development writing. Sampling the Scientist's Life received a gold award in the category of best articles of the year.

Global Experiences

IAAS logoOSU to host International Association of students in Agricultural and related Sciences National Summit

The International Association of Students in Agriculture and Related Sciences is a worldwide network of students working to promote the exchange of knowledge, experience, and ideas and to promote mutual understanding between students in agricultural and related sciences around the world.  The Summit will be held at the Memorial Union, April 16-19. 

(More about Summit)

(More about IAAS)

hatchlingBlog:  The Journeys of a Metamorphosing Conservationist by Rachel Patterson

Hatching Season.  Across the summer months, the mallets and grids of Loggerhead nesting season gradually morph into boxes and brooms. Dozens of tiny disoriented tracks replace adult turtle tracks and camouflages, and tourists flock to join the commotion. This is August on Kyparissia Bay, otherwise known as hatching season.

The first sign of a hatching nest is a drop in the center after an incubation period of around 45 days. The drop is created by the falling down and compression of sand as the newly hatched turtles begin to climb to the surface. (Read more...)

Hatching turtleBlog:  Puerto Rico & Panama Adventures by Bronwyn Horn

Bronwyn starts her trip in Maunabo, Puerto Rico working for an organization called ATMAR, which is short for friends of the turtles. She will be there for 7 weeks working with Hawksbill sea turtles. After that she travels to David, Panama as an intern at Alouatta Sanctuary for 4 weeks working with mantled howler monkeys. Check in on Bronwyn and her adventures through her weekly blog.
(Read more...)

Program Highlight:  Hazelnut Program

Hazelnuts v.1Video:  Hazelnuts

Hazelnuts are important for Oregon because Oregon produces 99% of the US crop.  It is a real opportunity in a real niche crop that can do well in Oregon when most places in the world can't grow it. 

Newly planted hazelnut treesGrowing resistance, Oregon hazelnuts battle blight

(NPR Morning Edition) Although Oregon is known for many exports — from timber to hipster irony — few people are aware that it's actually the country's leading source of hazelnuts.

Growers estimate that 99 percent of the United States' crop comes from Oregon's Willamette Valley. Just a few years ago, the industry was on the verge of collapse due to a disease called Eastern filbert blight. Now, years of research have brought blight-resistant breeds to fruition.

(Listen and learn more...) (Photo by Betsy Hartley)

Shawn MehlenbacherShawn Mehlenbacher, Professor, Hazelnut Breeting and Genetics

Shawn Mehlenbacher regularly gives presentations to Oregon's hazelnut growers at the annual meeting and summer tour of the Nut Growers Society of Oregon, Washington and British Columbia.  He reports research results to the Oregon Hazelnut Commission.  The Arbor Day Foundation takes the lead in outreach by the Hybrid Hazelnut Consortium.

(More about Shawn Mehlenbacher)

Students

Martin SanchezMartin Sanchez, ABM, wins USDA essay competition

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced January 28 the selection of 30 university students to attend USDA's 2015 Agricultural Outlook Forum titled "Smart Agriculture in the 21st Century" to be held Feb. 19-20, 2015, at the Crystal Gateway Marriott Hotel in Arlington, Va.

Twenty university juniors and seniors were chosen based on an essay sharing their thoughts on "Agriculture as a Career."  Martin Sanchez, an agricultural business management major from OSU's College of Agricultural Sciences, was among the winners.

(Read more...)

 

Emma MillerEmma Miller crowned Oregon Dairy Princess

(Oregon Live) Emma Miller, 20, was crowned Saturday night as Oregon's 56th state Dairy Princess-Ambassador.  The annual coronation event was hosted by the nonprofit Oregon Dairy Women at the Red Lion Hotel in Salem. The Dairy Women support Oregon's dairy farmers, and their Princess-Ambassador represents the industry at events around the state and in the legislative halls of Salem.

Miller, from Independence, is studying agricultural sciences at Oregon State University. According to the Oregon Dairy Women, she hopes to become a high school agriculture teacher. 

She'll get plenty of experience working with children over the next year as the Dairy Princess. Much of her duties will involve giving educational programs to school children across the state.

The state competition included two full days of interviews and speeches. In addition to receiving scholarships for their achievements, the winner and her first alternative actually become employees of the Oregon Dairy Women.

(Read more...)

Students and Bridgeport win beer gold star awardOSU students collaborate with Bridgeport Brewing to win gold at European Beer Star Awards

(Brewbound) BridgePort Brewing Company, Oregon’s oldest craft brewery, announced today that Trilogy 3 Brewers’ Class, the final beer in Bridgeport’s 30 year anniversary series, won Gold at The European Beer Star award. Conceived as a sessionable brown ale, Trilogy 3 Brewers’ Class was jointly designed by students enrolled in the Fermentation Science Program at Oregon State University, program director Dr. Thomas Shellhammer, and BridgePort brewmaster Jeff Edgerton.

(Read more...)

New Fields

2014/15 Ag Exec Council OfficersAgricultural Executive Council - Student Government in CAS

Officers from left to right:
Bailey Jenks, Director of New Fields
Gregory Christensen, Vice President
Joey Meyer, Director of Public Relations
Mandi Carlson, Director of Correspondence
Rand Campbell, Director of Finance
Dustin Welters, President
Austin Miller, Director of Ag Days

This year’s officers have been serving on the council since Spring Term of 2014. (Read Officer Bios)

Ag Exec Council OfficersMore about the Agricultural Executive Council

The Agricultural Executive Council is a governing group of students representing the College of Agricultural Sciences. The officers administer functions for students within the College of Agricultural Sciences, and coordinate activities of the clubs affiliated with the College. Some of the events that Ag Exec puts on include an Etiquette Dinner, Ethics Panel, Country Western Dance, the ‘Ag Day’ event in the MU quad, as well as a Spring Industry Tour. The Agricultural Executive Council also acts in cooperation with the administration of the College of Agricultural Sciences offices to further public relations and improvements to the College. 

Facebook:  OSU Agricultural Executive Council

Recent NewsFall Term Ag Exec recap

This past Fall Term was quite a busy one for the Agricultural Executive Council. We kicked off the year with a long-weekend trip to Kah-Nee-Tah Resort for our officer retreat. While the guys in the group might have loved sleeping in a Tee-Pee for a weekend, the gals had other thoughts! We revised our Constitution, planned events for the year, came up with individual and team goals, as well as got to know each other and bonded as a team.

When we came back, we rolled right into the College of Agricultural Sciences Fall Kick-Off Gelato Social for incoming students. Here students learned about the many clubs our College has to offer, as well as enjoyed some creamy gelato from a local gelato shop. We truly learned that Oregon’s weather could be quite moody… Not an hour into the event and we got rained out! As a team we are excited for the new covered plaza to be built by Strand Agriculture Hall so that future years won't get any rain on their parade!

Throughout the Football Season, the Ag Exec officers supported the College of Agricultural Sciences at the Celebrating Agriculture Game, our Alumni Tailgater, and the Potato Bowl. Beaver Pride is something that comes naturally to all of us, and celebrating tradition and agricultural top off the excitement of a home game. While hanging out and connecting with donors and alumni, the Ag Exec Officers are always willing to be part of the game day rush. GO BEAVS!

Members of the officer team were invited to the College of Agricultural Sciences Dean’s Dinner, held at the end of October. During the dinner, students were placed among tables to interact with faculty and alumni. We enjoyed hearing stories about anything from farming operations, to veterinary science studies, to landscape architecture. These kinds of stories and interactions are what make being a student of the College that much more interesting. 

To wrap up the term for the Agricultural Executive Council, we hosted our annual Etiquette Dinner. We open the event to any student involved with an Ag Exec club. Our speakers for the evening were Jessica Budge of Oregon Agriculture in the Classroom, and Jake Cramer from S&T Fraternity Management. During the catered dinner, Jessica and Jake gave a presentation of how to professionally eat, mingle, and carry a conversation during a formal dinner or cocktail reception, or in our case a 'mock-tail' reception. The evening's events wouldn't have been possible without Jessica and Jake as well as a generous donation from Wilbur Ellis. The Agricultural Executive Council is looking forward to bringing more professional development events to the students of the College of Agricultural Sciences, as career preparation opportunities is one of the goals for the Ag Exec Officer Team this year.

Look for more pictures and articles on our New Fields Blog, which can be found at: http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/newfields/

Coming soon, stay tuned!  New College of Agricultural Sciences t-shirts, Spring Industry Tour, and Ag Days

Research

Patrick IversenCAS Professor helps develop promising Ebola drug

(by Kym Pokorny) As the Ebola crisis in Africa continues and concern ramps up in the United States, a pharmaceutical company with a Corvallis connection is ready to respond with a limited amount of a potentially promising new drug.

Sarepta Therapeutics can provide an anti-viral drug if more people in the U.S. become infected, according to Patrick Iversen, a professor in the College of Agricultural Sciences at Oregon State University, adjunct professor in the College of Science and former senior vice president of the biotech company. 

(Read more...)

Michael BehrenfeldWhy do plankton bloom?  The answer could force rethinking of ocean's food web

(by Gail Wells) A new study at Oregon State University could overturn conventional wisdom about the role of phytoplankton in the Earth’s carbon cycle, potentially changing scientists’ understanding of how global warming will alter the environment for marine life.

OSU researcher Michael Behrenfeld, an expert in marine plants, is leading a $30 million NASA-funded study of a phytoplankton “hot spot” in a triangle of ocean stretching from Woods Hole, Massachusetts to the Azores and north to Greenland’s southern tip.  (Read more...)

Russ KarowKarow named Executive Director of Agricultural Research Foundation

(Capital Press) Russ Karow, former head of Oregon State University’s Crop and Soil Science Department, has accepted a position as the next executive director of the OSU Agricultural Research Foundation.

Karow is in line to replace Kelvin Koong, who is stepping down June 30 from the position he has held since September of 2011.

Phil Walker, president of the foundation, said the organization’s personnel committee identified Karow as its top candidate early in the hiring process. 

The foundation, which was established in 1934, provides custodial services for research funds by accepting targeted grants from nonprofit organizations, including commodity commissions, and distributing the funds to researchers. In addition, the foundation accepts gifts toward research. It also distributes about $400,000 annually to researchers in competitive grants — funds it accrues through investments.  (Read more...)

Paul W. Barkley

Paul W. Barkley Tackles Food and Agricultural Controversies in New Book Depolarizing Food and Agriculture: An Economic Approach

A trip to the grocery store can be fraught with perplexing food purchasing decisions: organic or conventional production, global or local food sourcing, genetically modified (GM) or non-GM products.  These issues are divisive among buyers, sellers, and growers along the supply chain of food and agricultural production.  Dr. Paul W. Barkley, an Oregon State University adjunct professor in the Department of Applied Economics, teamed with his son Andrew Barkley to coauthor Depolarizing Food and Agriculture: An Economic Approach, a book that analyzes these controversial topics and potential solutions.  The Barkleys’ book presents contemporary, polarizing (Read more...)

Bruce Mate (Photo by Talia Galvin)Chasing Giants: A whale tracker reflects on four decades of searching for answers

(1859 Oregon Magazine) Every spring for almost thirty years, Bruce Mate makes his way down to Baja to reconnect with the same female gray whales. Over four decades, he’s witnessed their transition from smooth-skinned youth into mothers. More recently, he’s seen wrinkles start to appear around some of their eyes, each eye roughly the size of a baseball. He’s met and played with their offspring, even seeing some from the next generation become mothers themselves. These whales feel like family to him.  (Read more...)

(Photo credit:  Talia Galvin)

Art About Agriculture News

Honey for the Queen, Kim HamblinOSU's Art About Agriculture exhibit open in Newberg

("Honey for the Queen" by Kim Hamblin) (Story by Kym Pokorny) Oregon State University’s Art About Agriculture exhibit celebrating the bond between Oregonians and the land hung in the Chehalem Cultural Center in Newberg through Feb. 12. On March 9, the exhibit moves to the Memorial Union Concourse Gallery on the OSU campus, where it will remain until May 7.

For 33 years, artists around the Northwest have been invited to submit pieces related to an agricultural theme for the curated show presented by the OSU’s College of Agricultural Sciences. The 2015 show, called This Everlasting Valley: Willamette River Valley and Basin, is the third to play homage to the fertile Willamette Valley.

Shelley CurtisVideo:  Art About Agriculture Program

Shelley Curtis, curator of the Art About Agriculture collection since 1999 gives an overview of the past, present and future of the program.

(See video)

Art About Agriculture

Alumni, Donors and Friends

Wren PattonWren Patton - Understanding and Protecting a Changing Ocean

(Honors Link and University Relations and Marketing) If Wren Patton feels comfortable among such a group of global thinkers, it’s likely due to her background. She graduated from Oregon State University with Honors Baccalaureate degrees in biology, fisheries and wildlife science and international studies. Her University Honors College thesis took her to North Carolina to research sea turtles with NOAA. She feels well equipped to share ideas with top researchers.

“Oceans are very important to me, and they have been for a long time. ” says Patton. “Oceans are not constrained by international or state boundaries, therefore it really takes a global perspective to access solutions.” (Read more...)

In Memoriam

Chet PriorChester (Chet) Prior

(By Michael Kane, Northeast Oregon Now)  The Hermiston agricultural community lost another stalwart with the passing of Chet Prior in Tucson, Ariz., on February 15th at the age of 78. “His contributions to our community and region would be hard to calculate,” said “Phil Hamm, director of the Hermiston Agricultural Research & Extension Center (HAREC). “He was involved with so many things that help shape our community.”

Prior was a 2011 inductee into the Oregon State University College of Agricultural Sciences Hall Of Fame. He was a longtime supporter of HAREC and served on the station’s advisory board for nearly 20 years. Along with Hawman, Prior was behind the effort to donate four center pivot irrigation systems to the station in 1989. “He understood the importance of agricultural research and the importance of this experiment station,” Hamm said on Monday. Hamm said Prior was instrumental is helping to secure the station’s water right and provided land on his farm for over 20 years for on-site research activities by OSU faculty. In his letter nominating Prior to the OSU Hall of Fame, Hamm wrote that Prior understood how critical water was to the area’s farmers. “Chet is also a prophet, best typified by his understanding of the importance of water, long before water issues developed in our area,” wrote Hamm in 2011. With support from the Blue Mountain Potato Growers, and with two colleagues, Bob Levy and Chuck Rohrman, Prior helped found the Oregon Water Coalition.
(Read more...)

line

The College of Agricultural Sciences at Oregon State University is Oregon's principal source of knowledge relating to agricultural and food systems, and a major source of knowledge regarding environmental quality, natural resources, life sciences, and rural economies and communities worldwide. The College provides undergraduate and graduate education leading to baccalaureate and graduate degrees, and extended education programs throughout Oregon and beyond. Its research programs create knowledge to solve problems and to build a knowledge base for the future. It is a source of information and expertise in integrating and applying knowledge with benefits that are felt in domestic and international settings.

line

Elizabeth Webb, Editor of The Source
Sara Monk, Web and Drupal Developer

Comments:  http://agsci.oregonstate.edu/cas-feedback

The College of Agricultural Sciences at Oregon State University is Oregon's principal source of knowledge relating to agricultural and food systems, and a major source of knowledge regarding environmental quality, natural resources, life sciences, and rural economies and communities worldwide. The College provides undergraduate and graduate education leading to baccalaureate and graduate degrees, and extended education programs throughout Oregon and beyond. Its research programs create knowledge to solve problems and to build a knowledge base for the future. It is a source of information and expertise in integrating and applying knowledge with benefits that are felt in domestic and international settings.

Comments