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October 2018
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From the Dean
Making an Impact.
As we continue our series celebrating the 150th anniversary
of Purdue University, our college focuses on building a sustainable economy and
planet while fulfilling our land grant mission.The Morrill Act that
established the Land Grant system of universities to teach agriculture,
engineering and the “mechanic arts” was followed by the Smith Lever Act that
established the Cooperative Extension system, with its mandate to inform the
public of agricultural developments. We
have a strong history of accomplishment and impact, but as we look forward over
the next 150 years, we must plan for how to sustain an ecosystem that enables
growth of new technologies and ideas to get beyond the University and for use
by the public.
In Indiana, we are fortunate to have a powerful Extension
system that delivers science-based research information to citizens in the
state. However, as we look to the
future, it is clear that we need a mechanism to enable technological
development and innovation for our research discoveries. In 2015, through the Plant Science Purdue
Moves initiative, we established a fund called the Ag-celerator™ that, through a competitive
process, provides up to $100,000 to help faculty and students develop start-up
companies. In order to receive the
funding, faculty or students must take the Purdue Foundry Firestarter course,
develop business plans, and pitch their ideas to venture capitalists who select
the winner(s) and help target the funding.
Because of these efforts, Purdue Ag technologies grew from 5% to 20% of
the startup companies at Purdue.
Last month, our college was involved in two activities to
help frame the next stage in developing agriculture technologies. Dr. Suzanne
Nielsen, Professor of Food Science and Faculty Fellow in the Office of
Corporate & Global Partnerships and Dr. Carolyn Woo, President’s Fellow, formerly
of the Catholic Relief Services, organized the Scale Up Conference to focus on
effective approaches to scaling up agricultural technologies and innovations in
the developing world. Purdue alumnus Dr. Akin Adesina, President of the African
Development Bank and World Food Prize winner, delivered the keynote address, and
we spent several days discussing how to scale up new technologies for
developing countries. This event was
instrumental in connecting people interested in making an impact in developing
countries. A sourcebook/toolkit is being developed as a result of the
conference, and we are following up with a scale-up event in conjunction with
the World Food Prize events taking place this month in Des Moines, Iowa. The
website for the conference is: https://ag.purdue.edu/scaleup/Pages/default.aspx
Also last month, Purdue sponsored the Innovation Showcase
at the Forbes AgTech summit in Indianapolis. This summit, held for the first time in the Midwest, focused on building
an innovation ecosystem in agriculture. Approximately
500 people participated in the event including farmers, venture capitalists,
CEOs of major companies, and state representatives. Of the 50 startup companies
that participated in the Innovation Showcase, 20 were based on technologies
from students and faculty from Purdue University. President Mitch Daniels was
one of the featured speakers and during an interview with Hoosier Ag Today, he
said, “Ag has always been a place of new innovation and where new technology
mattered a lot. I think some of the best and most exciting science and
entrepreneurial activity on our campus is taking place in the ag tech space.”
Whether it is Extension delivering information, scaling
technologies for developing countries or fostering entrepreneurship, our
faculty and staff believe in making an impact - helping farmers and consumers
gain from the advances in agriculture that impact food and agriculture and in
turn impact the world.
All the best,
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Purdue Ag People |
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Graduate Research
Spotlight: Jinho Jung
The Graduate Research Spotlight highlights graduate students
and their work. The October spotlight is on Jinho Jung, Agricultural Economics. |
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College Career Fair
Showcases Great Demand
The Purdue College of Agriculture Fall Career Fair, which provides
students and employers a one-of-a-kind opportunity, hosted a record number of
companies this year. |
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Nominations open for Ag
Alumni Certification of Distinction
The Purdue Ag Alumni Association seeks nominations for the Certificate
of Distinction Award to recognize those who have made significant contributions
to agriculture, forestry or natural resources. Nominees are not required
to be alumni of the College of Agriculture. Due by November 15. |
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College of
Agriculture hits milestone undergrad enrollment
The College of
Agriculture welcomed 2,803 undergraduate students this fall,
marking its largest undergraduate enrollment since 1980. Hoosier students make
up 76 percent of those enrolled, and 60 percent are female students. |
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Ag Alumni Trust Fund
call for proposals
We are now accepting proposals for 2019 Ag Alumni Trust Fund
spending. If you have a project or opportunity that you would like to be
considered, please send a one page description of the project/need, including
the dollar amount, to Danica Kirkpatrick (danica@purdue.edu)
by Monday, December 3. Trust funds have supported such things as special
equipment, study abroad opportunities, the DC internship program, and sending
students to professional meetings. Projects that will have impact on many
students appeal to the committee, as do experiential learning proposals.
Please contact Danica Kirkpatrick with questions. |
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Don’t forget to track
Civil Rights and Diversity Training
The College of Agriculture is committed to policies and
practices that assure that race, ethnicity and gender are not barriers to
success. All Purdue Agriculture faculty and staff members are required to
receive training in civil rights (the regulations), diversity awareness or
sexual harassment each year. Rather than mandate a specific training, we ask
that you attend any training that fits your needs and interests and enhances
your knowledge and understanding of diversity, civil rights or sexual harassment.
Please use our Qualtrics survey tool to report training activities. |
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Awards and Recognitions |
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| Elizabeth Tran, Biochemistry, has been designated a Purdue University Showalter Faculty Scholar for 2018. |
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| Josh Widhalm, Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, was named a 2018 Scialog Fellow by the Research Corporation for Science Advancement and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. |
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| Marisol
Sepúlveda, Forestry and Natural Resources, received the 2018
Purdue Agriculture Research Award, the highest honor recognizing research
excellence by a faculty member in the College of Agriculture. |
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 |  | | Levon Esters and Neil Knobloch, both of Agricultural Sciences Education and Communication, received the Experiment Station Committee on Organization and Policy (ESCOP) 2018 National Experiment Station Section Diversity and Inclusion Award for their work with Mentoring @ Purdue (M@P). | Jason
Ackerson, Agronomy and Hui-Hui
Wang, Agricultural Sciences Education and Communication, have
been named 2018-2019 Scholarship
of Engagement Fellows by the Purdue Office of Engagement. |  |  | | Pam
Mow, Botany and Plant Pathology, received the 2018 Community
Spirit Award from Purdue APSAC/CSSAC for outstanding service to the community,
society and humanity. | Torrie
Cropps, Agricultural Sciences Education and Communication,
received the 2018-2019 Dissertation of the Year Award from the Southern
Regional Education Board. |  | | The AgIT Business
Relationship Management Team received several awards at the BRMI Connect
conference in October: Mark
Sullivan: Practitioner, Team, and Community of Interest; Crystal Domkowski: Team and Community of Interest; and Leanne
McGiveron: Practitioner, Team, COI, Trailblazer, and Global
Community Impact. |
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Purdue Ag in the News |
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Genetic study
provides new information about endangered whales
Hope for an alarmingly low number of gray whales in the
western Pacific Ocean might rest with their cousins to the east, according to a
study of the animals’ genetic resources led by Andrew
DeWoody, Forestry and
Natural Resources. |
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Agriculture professor
selected to present Justin Smith Morrill Lecture
Haley
Oliver, Food Science, has been selected to deliver the 2018
Justin Smith Morrill Lecture at the 2018 National Institute of Food and
Agriculture, and Association of Public and Land-grant Universities Memorial
Lecture Series. The lecture honors Justin Smith Morrill, for whom the Morrill
Act — which created the land-grant university system — is named. The only
previous Purdue recipient was former President Martin Jischke. |
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Scale Up Conference
attracts hundreds from around the world to Purdue
Hundreds of participants came from around the world to
attend the first-ever Purdue Scale Up conference focused on expanding
agricultural technologies to reach millions in developing countries. |
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Ag Barometer drops to lowest level in two years as farm
financial conditions worsen
Agricultural producer sentiment dropped to its lowest level
since October 2016 as producers expressed concern over worsening farm financial
conditions, according to the latest PurdueUniversity/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer reading. |
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Purdue fungus
researcher might help save your morning brew
Cathie
Aime, Botany and Plant Pathology, has received a grant
from World Coffee Research,
a nonprofit collaborative research and development program of the global coffee
industry, to study the biology of coffee leaf rust, one of the most serious
threats to Latin American coffee crops in the last 60 years. |
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Dates and Deadlines |
October 23: 7th Annual College of Agriculture
Entrepreneurship Event
October 24-27: National FFA Convention, Indianapolis
November 1-2:
Dean’s Advisory Council New Member Orientation and Fall Meeting
November 7: TEAM
Award ceremony
November 15: Ag
Alumni Association Certificate of Distinction nominations due
November 22-23: Thanksgiving Holiday
For more dates and deadlines, check the Purdue Agriculture calendar. |
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University News |
New Purdue master
plan endorsed by Trustees
Purdue University Physical Facilities unveiled the new West
Lafayette campus master plan on October 12 following the plan’s endorsement by
the Purdue Board of Trustees. The
Giant Leaps Master Plan builds on Purdue’s 150-year history
and looks to the future to imagine how the campus’s physical space will set the
stage for the next 50 years of giant leaps.
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Benefits enrollment
will run for two weeks -- Oct. 22 through Nov. 2
Purdue’s annual benefits enrollment is coming up Oct. 22 to
Nov. 2. During this time, employees will go online to make benefit selections
for 2019.
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Boilerkey required
for all Purdue website CAS authentication as of Oct. 30
On October 30, 2018, all faculty, staff and students will be
required to use BoilerKey,
Purdue’s version of two-factor authentication, to sign in to CAS-authenticated
webpages, such as myPurdue, Blackboard, Kronos, Ariba and Concur. Faculty and
staff who plan to enroll for benefits on or after Oct. 30 also will need
BoilerKey to access the enrollment portal.
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Purdue employees
invited to SuccessFactors Resource Fair on Nov. 1
The Transform
Purdue initiative led by Business Process Reengineering is in
the final phase designed to streamline, simplify, organize and automate Purdue
business processes and related system. Business
Process Reengineering will host a SuccessFactors Resource Fair for
all Purdue employees on Nov. 1 in preparation for Purdue’s approaching upgrade
to SAP SuccessFactors in January 2019.
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Report Hate and Bias
Purdue University is a community where diversity is valued and incidents of hate and bias are not tolerated. Students, faculty, staff, and campus visitors who feel that they have been the victim of a bias related incident (or who have witnessed a bias related incident) are encouraged to report it online at www.purdue.edu/report-hate or to contact the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities at 765-494-1250. Your report can remain anonymous if you wish. Remember, if it is an emergency situation that requires immediate medical or emergency services attention, please call the Purdue University Police Department at 911 or 765-494-8221. |
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Purdue Agriculture InFocus
Editor: Dinah L. McClure
Email: dmcclure@purdue.edu | West Lafayette, IN 47907-2053 765-494-8392 | Purdue University is an equal opportunity employer.
If you are having trouble accessing this page because of a disability, please contact the Webmaster at AgWeb@purdue.edu |
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