Stories
June 14, 2019
Preparing Students for the Workforce
Robin Rotman has taken a unique path to becoming an assistant professor at the University of Missouri. She joined the School of Natural Resources after 10 years of practicing law; first at the Missouri Department of Natural Resources and more recently in private practice in Washington, D.C. Rotman holds a bachelor’s degree from Sewanee: The University of the South, a master’s degree from the University of Oxford, where she was a Rhodes Scholar, and a Juris Doctor from Yale Law School. Throughout her entire career, Rotman has worked on issues related to energy, the environment and natural resources, which continue…
June 12, 2019
A Life of Service and Innovation
Robert J. Jones, chancellor of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, has an inspiring list of professional accomplishments over his years in higher education, first as a researcher and teacher, and now as a leader. Robert J. Jones is pictured with family in December 2018 when he returned to Mizzou to receive an honorary degree. From left to right: Clifford Browner, brother-in-law; Glenndale Williams, son-in-law; Taara Hassan Williams, daughter; Lynn Hassan Jones, wife; Jones; and Mary Alice Browner, sister. Still, he says the achievement of receiving an honorary degree from the University of Missouri last December was near the top…
May 10, 2019
A Combination of Research
Last year, Amanda Patterson was looking for a place where she could combine her reproductive research interests in animals and her stem cell research interests in women. She found the perfect opportunity at the University of Missouri. Patterson joined the Division of Animal Sciences in November 2018 as an assistant professor. She also has a joint appointment in Obstetrics, Gynecology and Women’s Health with the MU School of Medicine. Patterson’s research is focused on understanding how the uterus is repaired after pregnancy, in both animals and women. “During pregnancy, there is a dramatic remodeling, growth and change that happens within…
May 2, 2019
From Farm Kid to Executive
It was 1979 when Missouri farm kid Brett Begemann anxiously started his freshman year at Mizzou. Growing up on his family’s farm near Mayview, Missouri, Begemann came to MU with the intention of returning to the farm. He described himself as “just a farm kid back then” and remembers thinking how big the city of Columbia was, which led him to wonder how he would ever make it in such a big city. Little did he know that he would see much bigger cities in his future. Due to a drought, Begemann didn’t return the family farm after graduating from…
April 16, 2019
Continuing to Learn
Spread throughout Blake Hurst’s home near Tarkio, Missouri, are newspapers, magazines and books. To read, and read, and then read some more was part of the advice Hurst gave students while on campus from April 3-4 as CAFNR’s Robert O. Reich Executive-in-Residence. The program brings industry leaders to the college to share knowledge and experience with students, faculty and staff. During his visit, Blake, the president of Missouri Farm Bureau, spoke to students in CAFNR, providing insight gained throughout his career. “It’s such a cliché, but it’s true, all you can do here [at MU] is to hopefully get kind…
April 3, 2019
CAFNR Programs of Distinction
The University of Missouri College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources (CAFNR) has numerous existing research, teaching and extension programs that are nationally and internationally recognized. To highlight the recognized strength of existing and future programs, CAFNR has established criteria for Programs of Distinction, a select collection of programs that exemplify CAFNR’s drive to distinction. CAFNR’s Programs of Distinction, together with our academic programs, define our current impact on Missouri’s agriculture and natural resource economies, providing understanding for how CAFNR is addressing challenges facing Missouri agriculture and natural resources. In line with CAFNR’s new strategic plan, the College has designated…
March 8, 2019
Coming Home
Four values – respect, responsibility, discovery and excellence – can often be read hanging from banners attached to the iconic Mizzou columns. For Mizzou students, alumni, faculty and staff, the four words can evoke a certain pride. For College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources alumnus Kellie Bray, the values remind her of her time on MU’s campus. Bray served as a member of the committee that helped create Mizzou’s value statement as a student in the late 1990s. “Now to see those flags between the columns, I feel a lot of pride when I see them,” Kellie said. “I think…
March 8, 2019
An Icelandic Adventure
Mary Hendrickson and her husband had been itching to do some traveling. Hendrickson had kicked around the idea of applying to become a Fulbright Scholar, or find something in the same vein. An opportunity of that nature would give her the chance to not only travel, but to teach and do research on another continent. Carol Lorenzen, a professor in the Division of Animal Sciences, found just the opportunity. Lorenzen alerted Hendrickson about a Fulbright opening in Iceland. It was a perfect fit. “This is all really Carol’s fault. She saw the posting and sent it right to me,” said…
March 5, 2019
Study Finds Vast Opportunities for Food, Beverage & Forest Product Manufacturing in Missouri
Food, beverage and forest product manufacturing in the state of Missouri could soon be a more than $70 billion industry. A new study found significant potential for transforming Missouri agriculture commodities, in state, into value-added products. This study was the first step in the Show-Me-State Food, Beverage and Forest Products Manufacturing Initiative, a project of the Missouri Agricultural Foundation. TEConomy Partners, a firm specializing in research, analysis and strategy for innovation-based economic development, conducted the study. TEConomy Partners, a firm specializing in research, analysis and strategy for innovation-based economic development, conducted the study. TEConomy proposed three initiatives to grow Missouri…
Feb. 8, 2019
Feasting on Famine: Fighting ‘Hidden Hunger’ and Food Waste
Like many people, Kiruba Krishnaswamy loves to eat. She even calls herself a foodie, and she loves to explore the cuisines of different cultures. Despite her lifelong love of food, Krishnaswamy, an assistant professor of biological engineering, had never heard of food engineering before she went to college, but she was intrigued by it. Krishnaswamy intends to spend the next five to 10 years at MU building out a zero hunger inter-disciplinary research team to grapple with global challenges. Thus, her research group, named FEAST (Food Engineering and Sustainable Technologies), will consist of both food scientists and engineers from CAFNR…