Success Stories for June
Welcome to the June edition of "Success Stories," a compilation and recognition of the accomplishments of the faculty, staff and students of the West Virginia University College of Agriculture, Forestry and Consumer Sciences and West Virginia Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station. Editions are archived on the College's News web site, http://www.cafcs.wvu.edu/news/index.html, in addition to customary e-mail distribution. See the end of this message for submission information.
EVENTS
Seven individuals will be inducted into the West Virginia Agriculture and Forestry Hall of Fame at the annual enshrinement banquet to be held on Saturday, July 7, 2001, at Jackson's Mill. The honorees include Alfred L. Barr, emeritus professor and past associate director of the West Virginia Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station. Other honorees are Arden Cogar, John Elkins, William Maxey, and Don and Mida Peterson, Dencil Strader. For information or tickets, please contact Denise Hunnell in the Office of the Dean, (304)293-2395, dhunnell@wvu.edu.
AWARDS AND HONORS
Three College faculty members were featured in the Summer 2001 issue of the
West Virginia University Alumni Magazine.
· Alex Karther, associate professor of landscape architecture in the
Division of Resource Management, was mentioned in the "Kudos" column
for his work on the Star City riverfront revitalization project.
· Linda Butler, professor of entomology in the Division of Plant and
Soil Sciences, was included in an article recognizing WVU's 2001 Benedum Distinguished
Scholars.
· John Killefer, associate professor of biochemistry in the Division
of Animal and Veterinary Sciences, was profiled in an article on WVU's high-tech
research.
The Division of Plant and Soil Sciences has awarded the following undergraduate students with the Henry Miller, Jr. Scholarship: Heidi Bowman, Kristopher Faerber, Andrea Fisher, Rebecca Harrell, Mark Haynie, Matthew Madeira, Nichole Magee, Lisa Rayburn, Jennifer Setty, Jeffrey Slavensky, Erika Smith, and Craig Trippett. Judith, Steinberg, graduate student, has been awarded the Andrew Delmar Hopkins Scholarship. Laura Wright, undergraduate, has been awarded the Caroline B. Vierheller Scholarship. Matthew Williard, undergraduate, has been awarded the West Virginia Garden Club Scholarship. Steven Hutchens and Daniel Liston, undergraduates, have each been awarded the West Virginia Pest Control Scholarship
GRANTS AND RESEARCH ACTIVITY
Kyle Hartman, assistant professor of wildlife and fisheries resources management in the Division of Forestry, received $30,000 from the USDA/Forest Service and Westvaco for "The Role of in Stream and Streamside Management as Factors Influencing Brook Trout Production in Appalachian Forested Streams."
A WVU lamb project was one of 13 grants recently awarded by the United States Department of Agriculture to support agricultural market research and demonstration projects. The USDA awarded matching grants totaling $644,650 in 13 states. The grants are provided for under the Federal-State Marketing Improvement Program and are designed to improve marketing systems for food and agricultural products or to identify new market opportunities for farm products. The West Virginia Department of Agriculture, in cooperation with the Division of Animal and Veterinary Sciences, WVU Extension, and the West Virginia Sheep Management Project, was awarded $38,500 to develop a comprehensive database for lamb production in West Virginia and a marketing plan to enhance the profitability of small independent lamb producers.
PUBLICATIONS
Changlu Wang, graduate student, John Strazanac, research associate, and Linda Butler, professor of entomology, Division of Plant and Soil Sciences, collaborated on the article, "A comparison of pitfall traps with bait traps for studying leaf litter ant communities," for the Journal of Economic Entomology.
Cindy W. Fitch, assistant professor in human nutrition and foods in the Division of Family and Consumer Sciences, was a co-author of a "Share Fair" poster presentation, "Family Meal Time: A Joint Venture," made at the Priester Extension Health Conference 200l that was held in May in Dallas, TX.
Two papers were published in the proceedings of the annual meeting of the American Society for Surface Mining and Reclamation. Kyle Stephens, graduate student, Alan Sexstone, associate professor of environmental microbiology, John Sencindiver, professor of agronomy, Jeffrey Skousen, professor of agronomy, and Kevin Thomas, graduate student, Division of Plant and Soil Sciences, authored "Microbial indicators of Minesoil quality in southern West Virginia." Thomas, Sencindiver, Skousen, and Jim Gorman, research instructor, authored "Chemical properties of minesoils on a mountaintop removal mine in southern West Virginia."
PRESENTATIONS, MEETINGS, AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Louis McDonald, assistant professor of soil chemistry, Division of Plant and Soil Sciences, will be attending the ninth annual West Virginia Great Teachers Seminar in North Bend State Park in Cairo, WV, June 25-28.
Jan Yeager, director of the Division of Family and Consumer Sciences, represented WVU and the Division and gave a formal welcome at "Nutrition ... The Next Generation II," a symposium held at Fairmont State College. The West Virginia Department of Education Office of Child Nutrition sponsored the weeklong symposium in cooperation with Fairmont State College and WVU. Students could register for credit at WVU. Human nutrition and foods faculty participating included Mary K. Head, professor emerita, Betty J. Forbes, lecturer and director of dietetic education programs, and Cindy W. Fitch, assistant professor. Fitch presented a session, "Feeding Vegetarians Who Don't Like Vegetables." Graduate students in human nutrition and foods attending were Jennie Wilkins, Rachel Stewart, Kim Stone, Marcia Romanchak and Shelly Hawkins.
Rajeev Arora, associate professor of horticulture, Division of Plant and Soil Sciences, has been invited to present an oral presentation at the sixth International Plant Cold Hardiness Symposium to be held in Helsinki, Finland, from June 30 to July 6. The topic of the presentation is "Genetic and Physiological Analyses of Cold Acclimation in Rhododendron."
Two graduate students from the Division of Plant and Soil Sciences, Kyle Stephens and Kevin Thomas, presented papers at the annual meeting of the American Society for Surface Mining and Reclamation in Albuquerque, NM, during the week of June 4. John Sencindiver, professor of agronomy, advises the two students.
SERVICE
Dottie D. Rauch, assistant professor in child development and family studies in the Division of Family and Consumer Sciences, will serve as interim University Marshal for one year. Previously, Rauch has served as a commencement floor assistant, a field assistant, and a substitute marshal.
Bobbie G. Warash, professor in child development and family studies in the Division of Family and Consumer Sciences and director of the WVU Child Development Laboratory (Nursery School), received a request from an educational consultant in Kuwait for help with science discovery learning centers and early childhood education. He had read her article, "Is It Contract Day?" in the ACEI journal.
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"Success Stories" is an electronic publication of the West Virginia University College of Agriculture, Forestry and Consumer Sciences. Please forward comments and suggestions to David Welsh, public relations specialist, via e-mail at dwelsh@wvu.edu or by phone at (304)293-2329.