Site Archive

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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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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Nira with a dog on campus

Student learns from two and four legged friends

February 27, 2020

I love seeing that light in a dog’s eyes, when everything clicks and they realize ‘Wow, all these skills I’ve been learning my whole life have a purpose.’ You can see it in the clients’ eyes too when they meet their dog and realize, ‘I’m not alone. I have purpose. Because of this dog, I can tackle the world.’”

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Brandon Hunter smiling in research lab

MANRRS helps groom entrepreneur for life after Purdue

February 26, 2020

“I didn’t want to come to Purdue. I just wanted to get out of the Midwest,” said Brandon Hunter, who grew up in southern Illinois. “I saw myself moving somewhere far away like California, Georgia or Pennsylvania.”

Hunter first heard about the MANRRS-Purdue chapter through Pamala Morris, assistant dean and director of multicultural programs, and Myron McClure, assistant director of student recruitment and retention.

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A handful of crickets that Hall and Liceaga use in their research.

Could crickets offer the next breakthrough in diabetes and hypertension treatments?

February 11, 2020
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Popcorn in a movie theater bucket

What’s under the shell of this popular snack?

February 7, 2020

No country grows or consumes more popcorn than the United States and only one state, Nebraska, produces more popcorn than Indiana. Consequently, it’s surprising that in 2019, only 75,000 of Indiana’s 5 million corn acres contained popcorn.

The hard outer hull of popcorn, called the pericarp, explains why 1.5 percent of the state’s corn pops while none of the rest can.

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Graduate Ag Research Spotlight: Aishwarya Chandrasekaran

February 3, 2020
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Hunger Banquet demonstrates the realities of campus food insecurity

January 23, 2020

By Emma Ea Ambrose  “I thought this was going to be a fairly innocuous lunch but I’m starting to worry,” entomology professor Tim Gibb said.…

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Men speaking in front of a tractor

AgrAbility gets farmers back to work worldwide

January 22, 2020

To Bill Field, professor of agricultural and biological engineering, a man who suffers a head injury falling from a grain bin in Indiana is no different than a woman who loses a foot to snakebite near Bangkok. “They have the same mechanical needs,” he explains — “how to get to where they need to be and do the things they’ve always done.”

Field directs the national AgrAbility Project, a USDA-NIFA-sponsored program that helps farmers, ranchers and other agricultural workers with disabilities meet those needs. His work focuses on three main areas: the health and well-being of farm families; enhancing emergency response in rural communities; and helping farmers rehabilitate after they’ve experienced a disability. The last priority taps Field’s ongoing research on assistive technology in agricultural workplaces.

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Graduate Ag Research Spotlight: Omar Zayed

January 17, 2020

OMAR ZAYED “Understanding plant tolerance mechanisms to overcome abiotic stress — and providing a new technique to help plants to be more resistant to salinity…

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Graduate Ag Research Spotlight: Jing Huang

January 6, 2020

JING HUANG “Accurately collecting plant vasculature is very challenging. We are establishing plantains as a model species to study vasculature-specific physiology and responses due to…

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Purdue program changes the drift of communication

December 18, 2019

By Brian Wallheimer A dozen years ago, Steve Smith could anticipate the calls coming in from farmers across the state. They’d report when and how…

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Graduate Ag Research Spotlight: Jonathan Knott

December 16, 2019

JONATHAN KNOTT “In understanding how human-related impacts are changing the world, I’m working toward helping future generations.” — Jonathan Knott, PhD candidate, Forestry and Natural…

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Agricultural economics senior finds solutions while crossing borders

December 4, 2019

By Emma Ea Ambrose “I really gained a deeper appreciation for agriculture and the fact that it’s not just about the exchange of food, it’s…

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Graduate Ag Research Spotlight: Derico Setyabrata

December 2, 2019

DERICO SETYABRATA “I personally enjoy food — cooking and eating. Sometimes the dry-aging process can really improve the products. It’s interesting for me to figure…

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Graduate Ag Research Spotlight: Shelby Gruss

November 22, 2019

SHELBY GRUSS “High-throughput phenotyping is a huge field with new opportunities, and just to be part of it is exciting. You get to see new…

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