Grad students to host Virginia Lee ‘Change the World’ benefit
The sixth annual Virginia Lee ‘Change the World’ Fellowship Fundraising Event is 6 p.m. Thursday, April 28, at Ensminger Pavilion. The benefit celebrates the life of Virginia Lee, a Crop and Soil Sciences doctoral student who died in 2010 at age 24. It also supports the fellowship started in her honor, which helps women pursuing a CSS doctorate with a focus on addressing world-wide hunger. Cost is $18 ($13 for students) in advance, $25 ($18) at the door.
The Virginia Lee Fellowship Fundraising Committee, made up of WSU Plant Science and Crop Science graduate students, hosts. To purchase tickets, contact Gina Nichols.
Sign up for CSA shares at Eggert farm
This spring, WSU’s Eggert Family Organic Farm offers both regular and full-size shares in its Community Supported Agriculture program. The subscription service provides a packed box of fresh vegetables every week, late May through mid-October.
You can help support the student teaching farm by becoming a member. Learn more here, or contact Brad Jaeckel for prices and registration.
Student Wildlife Society chapter holds first Family Science Saturday
WSU’s student chapter of the Wildlife Society hosted its first Family Science Saturday this winter, teaching families and children of all ages about wildlife. Chapter Vice President Alexandra Kahler organized the event with the Palouse Discovery and Science Center.
The Wildlife Society inspires and helps professionals to sustain wildlife populations and habitats through science-based management and conservation.
Faculty, growers meet to prioritize oilseed research
Prioritizing canola and oilseed research and Extension needs, the annual Washington State Oilseed Cropping Systems (WOCS) project meeting was held March 1 at the Lewis Alumni Centre on the Pullman campus.
Canola growers, WSU and University of Idaho faculty, state representatives, the Washington Oilseeds Commission, and a visiting scientist from Columbia took part. Faculty and graduate students summarized their 2015 research and Extension projects, and outlined work continuing in 2016. Read more here.
Awards and Grants
CAHNRS students bring home 11 awards from Showcase
Crimson award winner Jeremy Thompson
Students in CAHNRS had a strong showing at SURCA, the Showcase for Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities, held March 28 at the Pullman campus. Forty-eight students presented, with 11 receiving awards.
Four students received Crimson awards, the top award at SURCA: Natalie Hurst in Animal Sciences; Jeremy Thompson in Agricultural Technology and Production Management; Adrian Rus and Mariah Sterner in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation Science.
Gray award winner Lauren Celmer shares research on flaxseed oil
Two students received Gray awards: Holly Lane, studying organic agriculture systems, and Lauren Celmer, studying food science. One student, Jake Lazar, a fruit and vegetable management major, received the Early Career Award, presented to first-year students and sophomores who receive excellent scores from judges. Four students earned the Novice Researcher award: Jeremy Hemmer and Hannah French, studying animal Sciences; Jose Orenday-Ortiz in food science; and Peter Baker in earth science.
This represents the highest SURCA awards total by CAHNRS students in four years.
College honors go to top students, faculty, volunteers
Sophie Trombetta, graduate student in Animal Sciences, takes part in CAHNRS Honors.
Agents of excellence were recognized at the 2016 CAHNRS Honors awards ceremony, held Thursday, March 24, at the SEL Events Center in Pullman.
More than 30 student awardees including Aggie of the Year winner Jenica Hagler, Faculty of the Year recipient Kevin Murphy, and 2016 Dean’s Wall of Honor recipient Chuck Eggert, among many others, were honored. The annual gala highlights students, volunteers, donors, faculty and staff who represent the College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences at its best. Read more here.
NSF Fellowships for Environment grad students Rose, King
Two students in the School of the Environment were awarded Graduate Fellowships from the National Science Foundation. Vanessa Rose, a doctoral student studying environmental and natural resource aciences, received a three-year fellowship. Travis King, a master’s student in natural resource sciences, received both an NSF fellowship and a Fulbright U.S. Student Program award for big cat research in Honduras. King also received a Kaplan Graduate Award from Panthera.
Rose is co-advised by School of the Environment and School of Biological Sciences faculty members Steve Bollens and Gretchen Rollwagen-Bollens. King is advised by SOE Assistant Professor Dan Thornton.
Extension pollinator video earns gold
Congratulations to Island County Extension Director Timothy Lawrence, Urban IPM Coordinator Carrie Foss, and CAHNRS Video Producer Darrell Kilgore, along with the WSU bee team, who earned the Gold Award from the Association of Natural Resource Extension Professionals (ANREP) for Pollination and Protecting Pollinators.
This amazing 54-minute video gives in-depth information about pollinators and bees in a way that anyone can understand, explaining the importance of pollinators in relation to our food supply. WSU researchers and professional beekeepers present information in the video. Learn more about WSU pest management and safety work here.
Silver award for Shore Stewards website
Extension’s Shore Stewards website was also chosen for honors in the ANREP conference. The website, created by the CAHNRS web team, helps provide guidelines and resources for living on or near Washington’s coastal waterways, lakes, rivers, streams. It received a Silver award for the web sites, social media and online courses category.
The ANREP awards ceremony will take place during the joint NACDEP/ANREP conference in Burlington, Vermont, June 26 to 29.
Interior Design presentation picked for top 5
Kyra Christiansen and Kathleen Ryan
A research project by Kathleen Ryan, Assistant Professor of Interior Design in the School of Design and Construction, and Kyra Christiansen, a 2015 Interior Design graduate, was recognized in the Top Five Presentations at the 2016 IDEC Interior Design Educators Council Annual Conference – Interior Design Matters, held last month in Portland, Ore. A peer jury chose Ryan and Christiansen’s presentation, “A Product of Sharing: Designing a Culturally Adaptive Exhibit,” as among the best of the best in the category Scholarship of Design Research.
$238K grant helps research study bird pests
Amber Adams-Progar
A team of researchers, Extension specialists, and dairy producers received a $238,105 Western SARE Research and Education grant to study pest bird management issues affecting Washington dairies.
Amber Adams-Progar, a dairy management specialist in the Department of Animal Sciences, partnered with Susan Kerr, a livestock and dairy regional specialist at WSU-Mount Vernon Research Center, Karen Steensma, associate professor at Trinity Western University and dairy producer, and Stephanie Shwiff, a research economist at USDA-APHIS, to address dairy producers’ concerns about pest bird damage on their farms.
Their project will tally economic losses from pest birds, evaluate the influence of pest birds on cow behavior and health, and test effectiveness of sustainable bird deterrence methods. Learn more here.
USDA award for Barale’s work on food resource project
Karen Barale, Associate Professor and Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) Leader for Extension, was recently awarded a Certificate of Appreciation from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The award recognizes her strong leadership in the development, testing and validation of food resource management questions for a new adult behavior checklist, and for her dedication to meeting deadlines and ensuring project success.
