Evergreen
May 18, 2017
Christopher R. Daubert Named CAFNR Vice Chancellor & Dean
Christopher R. Daubert, currently professor and department head of Food, Bioprocessing & Nutrition Sciences and system co-chair of Food, Biochemical & Engineered Systems at North Carolina State University, has been named vice chancellor and dean of the MU College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources. He will join CAFNR effective Aug. 1. “The MU College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources has strong people, programs and partnerships serving our land-grant heritage, making CAFNR such an attractive destination and opportunity for leadership,” Daubert said. “The faculty and staff are exceptional and dedicated, and CAFNR’s students are incredibly capable and well prepared…
March 14, 2017
High Tech, Low Cost
To accurately create 3-D models of plants and collect data both on regions of crops and individual plants, the research team developed a combination approach of a mobile sensor tower (in background) and an autonomous robot vehicle equipped with three levels of sensors and an additional robotic arm. Photo courtesy of Gui DeSouza. A two-pronged robotic system pioneered by University of Missouri researchers is changing the way scientists study crops and plant phenotyping. Felix Fritschi, associate professor in the Division of Plant Sciences, and Suhas Kadam, a postdoctoral fellow in Fritschi’s laboratory, have teamed up with Gui DeSouza, associate professor of…
Feb. 10, 2017
Navigating New Waters
Principal component analysis (PCA) is nothing new. In fact, the math for PCA processes, in which a large amount of data can be categorized or compared by discovering distinct patterns in such fields as spectra and microscopy, has been around since Steven Van Doren, professor of biochemistry, was an undergraduate at Oklahoma State University double majoring in biochemistry and computer science in the early ’80s. Van Doren recalled how at that time he had to write many lines of code to perform a PCA command that Jia Xu, a postdoctoral fellow who works in his laboratory, can now insert using…
Feb. 3, 2017
‘A Whole New Game’
With technology ever changing, University of Missouri Extension professor Gene Stevens knows how important it is to keep up with the latest trends. Stevens, who is located at the Fisher Delta Research Center in Portageville, Mo., has developed a program to help farmers do just that. Stevens, through MU Research and Extension, has developed the Crop Water Use App which can assist farmers with their irrigation scheduling. “When I began my career, there was a lot of excitement about using computers in agriculture,” Stevens said. “That was back in the 1980s, when we didn’t have as many tools as…
Jan. 19, 2017
Staying Fresh
Nutritionally, nothing is different when red meat, say ground beef for instance, darkens to brown, but try telling that to the average customer at a grocery store. “That’s the number one driver that consumers have,” said Carol Lorenzen about the bright redness quality of meat. A research team involving that included Lorenzen, professor of meat science in the Division of Animal Sciences, and her graduate student, Jade Cooper, have been investigating the impact of LED (light-emitting diode) lighting on beef color. The team published a research paper in the October 2016 issue of the Journal of Animal Science that…
Dec. 9, 2016
Measuring the Impact of Fundamental Change
The agricultural production revolution is here. Biotechnology, robotics and automation; big data and precision agriculture; genetic-based chemistry and other digital innovations are changing the ways and rules of the agriculture industry. Never before have farmers and food producers had more access to more data points that can provide newfound insight on how to grow and produce crops with greater efficacy. Through a multitude of sensors, for instance, farmers can have instant access to field data on plant genetics and growth, soil conditions, disease and pest pressures, atmospheric temperature and humidity levels as well as modern analytics on how to respond.
Dec. 1, 2016
A Man for All Seasons
CAFNR Vice Chancellor and Dean has never been afraid to show his personality. Photos by L.G. Patterson. Everyone knows about the smiley face. It is part of the brand of Vice Chancellor and Dean Tom Payne. Looking at all of the related memorabilia in his office, one can see how the symbol has become synonymous with his infectious optimism and enthusiasm he has used over the past 18 years to help guide the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources through good times and bad. “I wanted to add a little more emphasis and so I wrote my name ‘Tom’ and…
Nov. 18, 2016
‘A Daughter of CAFNR’
The Columbia home of Robin Wenneker contains several pieces of memorabilia that help tell the story of both her childhood and her family’s deep connection to the University of Missouri. Yet out of all of the scrapbooks, photos and artwork, it is a piece of cardboard that she claims as one of her most prized possessions. The cardboard piece, encased in a glassed-in frame, contains a short note from her father, Ron Wenneker, when she was in middle school. In a pre-cell phone/texting world, Ron would always leave notes for Robin, her mother, Carolyn; and her brother, Ryan. It was…
Sep. 1, 2016
Looking Back 40 Years — And Beyond
It began 40 years ago with what could best be called a “grand experiment.” For decades, faculty at the University of Missouri’s Department of Biochemistry had one collective goal — to study life at the molecular level — but were in two separate units, one housed in the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources under the name agricultural chemistry and one in the School of Medicine under its current name. It is about a 15-minute walk from Schweitzer Hall, located on the northeast corner of campus, to the medical school. The first merged department chair, Jim Gaylor, had the cross-campus walk…
Jan. 20, 2015
Recycling Mitochondria
A molecule could be key to developing drugs that will keep brain cells healthy in individuals with Parkinson’s disease.