Site Archive

How The College of Agriculture is leading the community

April 16, 2020
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(Left to right) Cameron Mann, Justin Couetil and Stephen Schwartz

Award winners credit college’s contributions

April 15, 2020

Since 2003, 14 of the 36 G.A. Ross and Flora Roberts Award winners have been from the College of Agriculture. Justin Couetil, a biochemistry student, won the G.A. Ross Award in 2019. Cameron Mann won the Flora Roberts Award in 2017, representing agricultural communication and agribusiness.

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Hoosiers look to Purdue Extension for answers on COVID-19

April 14, 2020
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Graduate student appreciation week: A Q&A with Shawn Donkin

April 10, 2020
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Wheat Misters

Purdue’s Herb Ohm sees decades of work come to fruition

April 9, 2020

Herb Ohm had no intention of retiring in 2014. He still had work to do and, by his own calculations, he’d be in the field and lab for at least another three years when he would turn 70.

After earning his doctorate under famed Purdue wheat breeder and agronomist Fred Patterson, Ohm joined the Purdue faculty in 1971, eventually becoming the leader of the wheat-breeding program when Patterson retired in 1986. One of Ohm’s specialties was crossing wheat with wild and exotic species that contained genes long left behind by those who had cultivated modern wheat varieties. The hope was that those exotic species have natural genetic resistance to pests and diseases.

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Hiker on overlook with US Map

Conquering the Trail

April 9, 2020

Purdue Forestry and Natural Resources (FNR) alumnae Rebekah Lumkes and Baleigh Haynes joined an elite group of individuals, completing a 2,192 mile thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail. For one, it was the culmination of a college pipedream. For the other, it offered a much-needed life reset. Here is their story.

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Behind the Research: Jason Adams

April 8, 2020

Jason Adams starts each workday by checking the Indiana Corn and Soybean Innovation Center (ICSC) physical plant and the equipment that researchers have reserved for the day. “I’m an equipment junkie, and Purdue has given me a lot to take care of,” he says.

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Ethan Hillman in the lab

Graduate researcher makes the most of fungi

April 6, 2020

Ethan Hillman likens his arrival at Purdue to speed dating. Hillman, who chose the Purdue Interdisciplinary Life Science (PULSe) program for graduate study, rotated through multiple labs, looking to find the right match for the next five years.

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FNR student demonstrates perseverance and perspective

April 6, 2020
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When best-laid plans go up in smoke: How this instructor is simulating fieldwork online

April 2, 2020
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Animal sciences professor cautions against “panic buying” chicks during the COVID-19 pandemic

April 1, 2020
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Cat and dog with remote worker during coronavirus pandemic

Managing your “fur-workers”: Supporting your pets while working from home

March 31, 2020

A downside of working from home is that many of my important work conversations are interrupted by what I have begun to refer to as my fur-workers,” said Candace Croney fondly describing her cat, Bernie, and Havanese mix Desi. “They like to help me out by announcing the end of the world is coming because a delivery arrived or walk across my keyboard to end a web conference without my consent.”

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From the lab to the laptop: How College of Agriculture professors are pivoting to virtual classrooms

March 26, 2020

In many ways, attending in-person university lectures is a great equalizer, John “Barny” Dunning, Forestry and Natural Resources (FNR) professor observed.

“In the face-to-face format, I get three chances a week to remind students of critical deadlines, upcoming activities and impart crucial information. Of course, students don’t get that information if they don’t come to class, but then it is their fault,” Dunning said.

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Friend or Fungi? The complex relationship between fungi and climate change

March 23, 2020

The relationship between fungi and climate change is somewhat of a paradox, according to Cathie Aime, professor of botany and plant pathology, but that’s in keeping with these enigmatic and often misunderstood organisms.

As climate change radically alters global landscapes and ecosystems, fungi that are damaging to crops and threaten agricultural industries can become more prevalent. A recent example of this is the fungus that causes coffee rust (Hemileia vastarix), which has devastated coffee crops and the industry in Columbia and Central America and destroyed the livelihoods of millions throughout Latin America. An increase in temperatures, rainfall and extreme weather events, conditions favored by this fungus, accelerated the epidemic.

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McCoy under lights in lab

Plant science focus makes Purdue ideal for grad student’s research

March 18, 2020

I love trying to figure out things that nobody knows,” said Rachel McCoy, a doctoral candidate in Horticulture and Landscape Architecture who will defend her dissertation next month.

McCoy’s search for a postdoc is underway as she works toward her goal of becoming a professor at a small university.

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A Bug Bowl History: Where did cricket spitting come from and how fast can a cockroach run?

March 18, 2020
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Purdue horticulture professor receives award for illuminating secrets of the Voynich manuscript

March 17, 2020
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Christine Wilson meeting new Students

Not in Kansas anymore, Associate Dean Wilson returns to Purdue

March 13, 2020

“The most powerful leadership tool you have is your own personal example,” said Christine Wilson, quoting Purdue alumnus John Wooden. Wilson, the newly appointed associate dean and director of academic programs for the College of Agriculture, thought her life would follow a similar path to Wooden’s, but as Wilson noted, “Sometimes plan B is better than plan A.”

Wooden taught high school English, but he is better-known as the first athlete inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame as both a player and a coach. As a teenager, Wilson was determined to earn a scholarship playing basketball, with the goal of becoming a high school math teacher and basketball coach.

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Greenhouses at night

Message from the Glenn W. Sample Dean of Agriculture

March 13, 2020

Dear Purdue Agriculture Community,

Purdue University leaders have made important strategic decisions regarding our campus response to the outbreak of the newly identified coronavirus, COVID-19. I invite you to read more about those decisions and how they will be impacting classes on this site, which will be updated daily.

For Purdue Agriculture, these important guidelines have several implications that I want to share with you. We will be updating information regularly on this page and through our Twitter feed @PurdueAg.

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Butterfly on plants

The College of Agriculture welcomes five new faculty members

March 4, 2020
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