Kansas
State University achievements
2006
Agriculture
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Three K-State agronomy professors were recognized by the Soil
Science Society of America at the 2006 annual meeting in Indianapolis,
Ind. Gary Pierzynski, professor and interim head of the department,
received the Marion L. and Chrystie M. Jackson Soil Science Award.
This award recognizes midcareer soil scientists who have made
outstanding contributions in the areas of soil chemistry and mineralogy.
Chuck Rice received the Soil Science Research Award for outstanding
achievements and original and significant research in soil science.
His research focuses on carbon and nitrogen dynamics in the soil,
and microbial ecology. George Ham, professor emeritus and former
director of the Agricultural Experiment Station, was recognized
for a lifetime achievement of outstanding service to soil science.
Ham received the Soil Science Distinguished Service Award. This
award is based on the recipient’s contributions during a
career of 25 years or more. December 2006
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Four members of K-State's chapter of Alpha Zeta, a professional
honor society for students in agriculture, are part of a group
of Alpha Zeta members nationwide heading to Louisiana Dec. 17-22
to help farmers, ranchers and rural communities still reeling
from hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The students are Lexie Hayes,
senior in animal sciences and industry; Scott Dooley, senior in
agronomy; Casey Weber, senior in food science and industry; and
Larissa Rice, junior in agricultural education. They are part
of a 30-member group of Alpha Zeta members who are going to Vermilion
Parish in south central Louisiana for the five-day volunteer project.
They will be mending fences, rebuilding barns and clearing brush
and debris. December 2006
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The department of agronomy at K-State has received a one-year
grant of $1 million from the Robertson Foundation, New York, for
outreach and research efforts into the role of agricultural soils
in reducing global warming. The grant will be used to fund the
ongoing efforts of the Consortium for Agricultural Soils Mitigation
of Greenhouse Gases, a consortium of the nation's top researchers
and educators in the areas of soil carbon and greenhouse gas mitigation
in agriculture, said Chuck Rice, K-State professor of agronomy
and national director of the consortium. The grant will enable
the group's work to continue for one year while other sources
of funding are explored to support the consortium beyond that
time. Rice said the grant comes at an especially critical time
for the environment and agriculture, as the rapid buildup of atmospheric
carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in recent years has
created increasing concern about the implications on our climate
and the environment. Agriculture can help mitigate these problems
in a cost-effective and environmentally sound way, but we need
to start measuring and crediting agricultural practices that reduce
global warming gases, he said. December 2006
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The K-State Collegiate Crops Team placed second at the Chicago
Collegiate Crops Contest and at the Kansas City Board of Trade
Collegiate Crops Contest and Nov. 18 and 21, respectively. K-State
placed second in grain grading and plant and seed identification,
and third in seed analysis at Kansas City. The team placed first
in plant and seed identification, second in seed analysis and
third in grain grading at Chicago. The national competitions required
participants to identify more than 200 different plants or seed
samples of crops and weeds; grain grading, which involves the
examination of eight different samples of grain, as well as determining
the grade of grain according to Federal Grain Inspection Service
standards; and seed analysis, which requires competitors to determine
whether seed samples contain impurities and if so, what contaminants
exist. Students competing at the national contests included Nick
Guetterman and Matt Pachta, both juniors in agronomy,and Zane
Unrau, senior in agricultural technology management. December
2006
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A K-State professor has been named the next president of a national
scientific council. Kassim Al-Khatib, professor of agronomy, has
been elected president-elect of the Council for Agricultural Science
and Technology. His one-year term as president of the council
will begin in October 2007. The Council for Agricultural Science
and Technology is a nonprofit organization with 173,000 members
nationwide. It is composed of 38 scientific societies and many
individual, student, company, nonprofit and associate society
members. The council assembles, interprets and communicates credible,
science-based information regionally, nationally and internationally
to legislators, regulators, policymakers, the media, the private
sector and the public. Al-Khatib, a weed physiologist, has been
on the agronomy faculty at K-State since 1996. December 2006
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K-State's Lauren Smith, senior in agronomy, received the prestigious
J. Fielding Reed Scholarship at the 2006 annual meetings of the
American Society of Agronomy, Nov. 10-15, in Indianapolis. The
scholarship honors an outstanding senior who is pursuing a career
in soil or plant sciences. The scholarship is supported by the
Agronomic Science Foundation and is administered by the American
Society of Agronomy. Smith also took third place nationally in
the society's Oral Research Symposium. Also earning honors was
Miranda Brown, senior in agronomy, who placed sixth nationally
in the society's Speech Contest. December 2006
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Johnson County Community College has become the ninth community
college in Kansas to sign a 2 + 2 agreement with K-State. The
agreement allows Johnson County Community College students to
earn an associate of applied science degree in food and beverage
management and then transfer the credits to K-State to complete
a bachelor's degree in food science and industry. December 2006
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Chuck Rice, professor of agronomy at K-State, has been selected
by Mike Johanns, U.S. agriculture secretary, to serve as a member
of the Agricultural Air Quality Task Force. Rice will serve a
two-year term, ending Sept. 30, 2008. The task force members are
noted scientists and experts in agriculture, industry, health
and science, according to Johanns. The task force advises the
secretary of agriculture on air quality issues. Its mandate is
to strengthen and coordinate the U.S. Department of Agriculture's
air quality research efforts, and identify cost-effective ways
to help the agriculture industry improve air quality and meet
federal and local air quality emissions requirements. November
2006
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The K-State Crops Team placed first overall in the Central Region
Collegiate Crops Contest for the 12th year in a row. Nick Guetterman,
junior in agronomy, was second individual overall. He placed first
in grain grading, second in seed analysis and third in identification.
Matt Pachta, junior in agronomy, placed first overall. He was
first in seed analysis and second in grain grading and identification.
Zane Unrau, senior in agricultural technology management, placed
third overall. He was first in identification and third in seed
analysis and grain grading. Eighteen students from four universities
and community colleges participated in the contest. The K-State
team is coached by Gerry L. Posler, professor of agronomy. November
2006
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K-State's Soil Judging Team won first place in the overall team
and group judging categories at the recent 2006 Region 5 Soil
Judging Contest in Manhattan. Teams from seven Midwestern universities
competed in the regional contest. K-State's Adam Heitman, junior
in agronomy, took the high individual top honor among all students
competing. Paul Hartley, junior in agronomy, and Kelsey McGie,
freshman in milling science and management, tied for sixth high
individual in the competition. The K-State team is now eligible
to compete in the National Soil Judging Contest, which will be
hosted by Utah State University, Logan, Utah, in April 2007. October
2006
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K-State's Seong-Hyun Park, a doctoral student in horticulture,
received her second People-Plant Interaction Research Award from
the International Society for Horticultural Science. Park, who
won the award in 2002, was recently honored again at the International
Horticulture Congress meetings in Seoul, Korea. October 2006
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Many college students have eaten their fair share of snacks and
breakfast cereals. But at K-State, they can learn the technology
needed to make these foods in a hands-on, laboratory environment.
Sajid Alavi, assistant professor of grain science and industry,
is teaching a course this semester that instructs students in
the technology used to make products like snacks and pet food,
as well as nonfood items like packing materials. Extrusion Processing
in the Food and Feed Industries includes a lab portion that lets
students use the equipment that makes a cheese curl look like
a cheese curl and makes a noodle look like noodle. The course
is being offered by the department of grain science and industry.
August 2006
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K-State's C. Michael Smith, professor of entomology, is among
the six new Fellows of the Entomological Society of America. Smith's
election was made by the society's governing board. Candidates
are selected for outstanding contributions in research, teaching,
extension or administration. For the last 30 years, Smith has
been recognized as an international leader in research on plant
resistance to arthropods. His work has involved several crops,
including clover, soybeans, rice and wheat. He has received more
than $4.9 million in extramural support for his research. He is
the author of more than 80 refereed scientific papers and three
books, including "Plant Resistance to Arthropods – Molecular
and Conventional Approaches." He co-authored "Techniques
for Evaluating Insect Resistance in Crop Plants," the basic
"how-to" reference for students and established scientists
in the area of host plant resistance. He also has been invited
to give presentations around the world, with more than 50 invited
lectures in 20 different countries. August 2006
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Doug Jardine, professor of plant pathology, is the recipient of
the 2006 Distinguished Service Award from the North Central Division
of the American Phytopathological Society. Jardine was recognized
at the division's annual meeting in mid-June. The division includes
Kansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri,
Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Wisconsin and contiguous
provinces in Canada. He is a longtime member of the society, which
has a membership of more than 5,000 plant pathologists and scientists
worldwide. Jardine currently serves as director of the society's
office of public affairs and education. He also has served in
several other officer and committee positions of the society and
the division. July 2006
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Those annoying houseflies buzzing around your meal at a fast-food
restaurant may be more than a nuisance -- they also may pose
a health threat. According to researchers at K-State, the flies
can carry and have the capacity to transfer antibiotic-resistant
and potentially virulent bacteria to your food. Ludek Zurek, assistant
professor of entomology, and Lilia Macovei, an entomology research
associate, screened houseflies from five different restaurants
in mid-size communities in Kansas. They found that the majority
of the flies carried antibiotic-resistant bacteria. This indicates
the flies either developed in the manure of animals that were
heavily exposed to antibiotics or that they were in contact with
feces of some animals that were exposed to antibiotics. Zurek
said the study showed that houseflies in food-handling and serving
facilities carry antibiotic-resistant and potentially virulent
Enterococci that have the capacity for horizontal transfer of
antibiotic-resistant genes to other bacteria. Zurek and Macovei
wrote about their findings in the June 2006 issue of the journal
Applied and Environmental Microbiology. June 2006
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Four K-State students will be part of the grounds crew at the
27th Senior Open Golf Championship, July 6-9, at Hutchinson's
Prairie Dunes Golf Course. Golf course management students Nathan
Ratzlaff, Dylan Senn, Michael Liebe and Jeff Cameron, will get
the opportunity to work with 40 volunteer professional golf course
superientendents and assistants at the national event, as well
as seeing some of the world's best senior golfers. June 2006
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Three horticulture students at K-State have been recognized with
various national honors. Jenna Lutz, senior in horticultural therapy,
has been awarded the national Ann Lane Mavromatis Horticultural
Therapy Scholarship and will be recognized at the American Horticultural
Therapy Association's 34th annual conference, June 14-16, in Portland,
Ore. Seong-Hyun Park, doctoral student in horticulture, will be
given the Publications Award by the American Horticultural Therapy
Association for her master's research thesis and for the first-place
research poster she presented at a past International Society
for Horticultural Science meeting. Park also will be recognized
at the American Horticultural Therapy Association's annual conference.
Finally, Erin Grace, junior in horticulture with an emphasis in
greenhouse management, was awarded a $6,000 Vic and Margaret Ball
Internship Scholarship by the American Floral Endowment. May 2006
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K-State's National Agri-Marketing Association student team placed
first in the 2006 National Agri-Marketing Competition. The competition
was at the National Agri-Marketing Association's annual conference
and trade show, April 19-21, in Kansas City, Mo. For the competition,
students chose a product and developed a plan to successfully
bring their product to the marketplace. David Lehman, K-State
instructor of marketing and team coach for the competition, said
the K-State team chose to market a fruit juice fortified with
skim milk and developed a marketing plan. Teams made a formal
presentation of their marketing plan to a panel of judges. Overall,
27 student National Agri-Marketing Association chapters participated
in the marketing competition and more than 350 student members
attended the conference. In the finals, K-State competed against
the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Michigan State University,
the University of Florida, Iowa State University and Virginia
Polytechnic Institute and State University. May 2006
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K-State's Landscape Contracting Team was recognized as one of
the Top 10 schools at the 30th annual Professional Landcare Network's
-- or PLANET -- Student Career Days at Brigham Young University,
in Provo, Utah. The 26 students representing K-State finished
in 10th place out of 52 competing colleges and universities. This
was K-State's sixth year of participating in the national event
known as the "Landscape Olympics," and its second consecutive
year as a top 10 school. K-State students also claimed top 10
individual honors in several of the 25 competitive events, including
one national championship. Events included annual and perennial
Identification, business management, exterior landscape design,
irrigation design, landscape plant installation, leadership skills
and sales presentation. May 2006
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Melvin Hunt, professor of meat science at K-State, was named the
Harry L. Rudnick Educator of the Year by the North American Meat
Processors Association. The group´s members honored Hunt
in Chicago March 25. Hunt joined K-State´s faculty in 1975
and teaches the introductory meat science class. Hunt´s
classes typically fill quickly and his former students, including
some he has never met, number into the thousands. That's possible
because in 1988, Hunt launched a distance education version of
his introductory meat science course to make it possible for students
from other colleges and universities and food company employees
to enroll. April 2006
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Allen Featherstone, professor of agricultural economics and director
of the distance education master's in agribusiness program at
K-State, has been recognized with a 2006 Excellence in Teaching
Award from the University Continuing Education Association. The
award is for outstanding teaching, course development, mentoring
of students and service to continuing education. March 2006
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K-State is creating a Center for Engagement and Community Development
to promote engagement on and off campus in teaching, research
and outreach, and to apply K-State's expertise in issues of community
development across Kansas. K-State has adopted the definition
of engagement as redesigning teaching, research, extension and
service functions to become more involved with the community outside
the university. The center will provide incentive grants for faculty
to build and foster a better understanding of engagement across
campus through conferences, workshops, seminars and training.
The center is the result of reorganizing the former Kansas Center
for Rural Initiatives. The new center will have a full-time director
who will report to the provost. K-State Research and Extension
is a partner in the effort. March 2006
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Curtis L. Kastner, professor of animal sciences and director of
the Food Science Institute at K-State, was recognized Monday,
April 10, with a 2006 Faculty Service Award from the University
Continuing Education Association for his use of technology in
the delivery of information and courses to professionals in the
food industry. Kastner has been involved in continuing education
activities at K-State for 25 years. He teaches distance education
classes and serves as the administrative liaison with the Division
of Continuing Education for the Food Science Institute, developing
long-term strategic goals to leverage expanded educational opportunities
in the food science field at both the credit and non-credit level.
April 2006
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Two Kansas State University weed scientists were recognized at
the 60th annual meeting of the North Central Weed Science Society.
Dallas Peterson, professor of agronomy, was elected a Fellow of
the Society, its highest distinction. Curtis Thompson, professor
and Southwest Area Extension crops and soils specialist in Garden
City, received the society's 2005 Distinguished Achievement Award
for Service. January 2006
2005
Agriculture
2004
Agriculture
2003
Agriculture
2002
Agriculture
2001
Agriculture
Prior
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K-State
College of Agriculture
