Mike Smith, professor of reproductive physiology in the CAFNR Division of Animal Sciences, received the 2008 MU Graduate School’s Graduate Mentor Award.
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Animal Sciences’ Professor Earns Graduate School Mentor Award
Celebration of Excellence 2008
Frederick B. Mumford Awards 2007 Distinguished Service Award: Lowell Miller 2007 Outstanding Staff Award: Donna Vaught 2007 Outstanding Faculty Award: Robert Sharp Outstanding Teaching and Advising Awards 2008 Outstanding Teacher: Brad Fresenburg 2008 Outstanding Undergraduate Adviser: Anthony Lupo 2008 Outstanding Graduate Adviser: Azlin Mustapha 2008 Outstanding Teacher: Patrick Market Distinguished Research Award 2008 Outstanding Researcher: Jerry Taylor J.W. Burch State…
Farmer grows fish in old hog barns, shows value of diversifying farms
Abandoning the hog business to start a fish farm may seem an odd choice in Missouri, but that’s exactly what Higginsville, Mo., farmer Ellis Dieckhoff did when he converted his hog barns into a hatchery for bluegill, which he sells as bait fish.
The Pathway Plants Use to Fight Back Against Pathogens
MU study determines what happens between sensing the threat and activating a defense
Think that a field of plants is a bucolic place free of strife? Try again. It is a battlefield of chemical warfare between defending plants and attacking pathogens. And the plants are waging a good fight, according to a University of Missouri biochemist. Previous studies have shown that plants can sense attacks by pathogens and activate their defenses. However, it has not been known what happens between the pathogen attacks and the defense activation, until now. A new MU study revealed a very complex process that explains how plants counterattack pathogens. This discovery could potentially lead to crops with enhanced disease resistance.
Helping Farmers Help a Hard Luck Bird
Conservation and Agriculture Need Not Be At Odds, MU Research Project Shows
Things have been rough for the bobwhite quail since the 1950s when intensive “fence row to fence row” farming destroyed much of their habitat. Today’s quail population is about one-fifth of what it was during those days.
A Very Wet Spring
Highly Unusual Rainfall and Saturated Conditions to Blame For Major Midwest Flooding, MU Climatologist Says
Three days of rain doesn’t sound like much—unless it comes in prodigious quantities and on top of months of above-average rainfall that saturates the ground. Spring 2008 is seeing significant flooding in the Mississippi River valley.
Trimming and Fertilizing History
Alumni and Horticulturalists Work to Save a Historic Missouri Bur Oak
A survivor of uncounted tornadoes and lightning strikes, the 90-ft. tall, 91-inch wide tree was stressed. Probably the second largest bur oak in the nation, the soil around it has been compacted by cars and some of its dead limbs were infested with wood decay that threatened the other branches and trunk.
A New Friend in the Fight Against Cystic Fibrosis
Mizzou and Iowa Researchers Take First Step to Create Cystic Fibrosis Human Model Using Pigs
For years, scientists have studied cystic fibrosis using mice in which the cystic fibrosis gene was altered. However, mice do not develop lung disease like humans with cystic fibrosis. Now, researchers at the University of Missouri and the University of Iowa have taken the first step in developing a cystic fibrosis model with animals more common to humans—pigs.
A Budding Campus Competition
Competitive Flower Arranging is a Way for Students to Test Their Skills, Have Fun
For the second year, students in Mary Ann Gowdy’s floral design class at the MU College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources have ended their eight-week course by numbering-off into four-person teams to create the most attractive arrangement based on flowers, vases and accruements provided by Gowdy. Their final product goes on display on front of the Dean’s office in the Agriculture Building where faculty, staff, students and passers-by can vote on their favorite arrangement.
In Recognition of Leadership
The Ohio State University Recognizes Associate Dean Paul Vaughn
Paul R. Vaughn, associate dean for the University of Missouri College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, was presented the 2008 Distinguished Alumni Award from The Ohio State University. Vaughn, who earned his Ph.D. in Agricultural Education there in 1976, was recognized for his leadership in academic programs at MU and his contribution in several national educational organizations, from the…