Feature Stories

Taking the Land-Grant Model Global
Friday, May 31st, 2019
Were there challenges?” Haley Oliver, associate professor of food science, asks, reflecting on her experience establishing a food technology degree program at Herat University in Herat, Afghanistan. “The real question is: Where weren’t there challenges?”
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An Inside Take on Agriculture
Friday, May 31st, 2019
Krishna Nemali, assistant professor of horticulture and landscape architecture and one of the leaders of the department’s controlled environment agriculture initiative, is working up a sweat tending a few small trays of seedlings — primarily lettuce and other green vegetables. Nemali and a team of researchers and Extension specialists are doing more than growing plants here; they’re nurturing an entire industry.
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When They Speak, Policymakers Listen
Friday, December 14th, 2018
Assessing alternatives and consequences The “alternatives and consequences approach,” pioneered in the 1930s by Department of Agricultural Economics faculty members John Kohlmeyer and J. Carroll Bottum, infuses much of Tyner’s teaching. It’s also a mindset the department is passionate about passing on to junior faculty and students. “I tell my students that our job is…
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Climate Change Comes to Campus
Thursday, December 13th, 2018
Heat’s impact on health The consolation for students of the 2050s is that all residence halls are likely to have air conditioning by then — and they’ll have to, for several health reasons. “Those move-in weeks can be hot,” says Barb Frazee, executive director of University Residences. “But because we’re building two new halls and…
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Helping Breweries Tap into Their Potential
Friday, April 27th, 2018
Something’s brewing in Indiana Brewers Association statistics recorded 63 breweries in the state in 2013. Three years later, that number had more than doubled. Brewing has become a multimillion-dollar industry in Indiana, and while it may never reach the scale of industries like production agriculture or advanced manufacturing, Farkas saw an opportunity to support this…
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Our Surprising Strength: Cancer Research
Friday, April 27th, 2018
Shape-shifting RNA For many years, most scientists have been focused on the role DNA plays in cancer cell formation. But there is growing emphasis on RNA, a chemical messenger that takes instructions from DNA to encode proteins. The shape of DNA can determine how and when genes are turned on or off in the cell….
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Using the Unused
Friday, April 27th, 2018
Trash or treasure? Liceaga isn’t the only faculty member in the College of Agriculture converting the useless to something usable. Researchers are tackling local, regional and global problems in new ways. Tamara Benjamin, assistant program leader and diversified agriculture specialist, had been brainstorming ways to get fresh fruits and vegetables into local food banks. The small…
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Saving for the Future
Monday, November 20th, 2017
Historically, increasing crop production was the focus of agricultural research to feed the global population. The increased attention to postharvest loss reduction and processing grains into nutritious, value-added food products is relatively new, says Suzanne Nielsen, professor of food science and coordinator of Purdue’s Postharvest Initiative. That increased focus is important, because as the Food…
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