Site Archive
The COVID-19 pandemic guaranteed this year to be like no other. The pandemic affects people of all ages, but it has been especially challenging for children as schools went virtual and youth organizations were forced to cancel activities and trips. Knowing it is critical for youth to engage in hands-on learning experiences to build life skills, Indiana 4-H was determined to continue reaching youth statewide.
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Leaves are changing, the air is cooler and Hoosiers are still looking for fun and safe things to do while we follow pandemic health and safety standards. From picking apples and pumpkins to firing apple cannons and getting lost in a corn maze, Indiana’s orchards provide fun activities for all ages to enjoy, even if they do look slightly different than past years.
In addition to changes due to COVID-19 precautions, farm visitors will notice that there are fewer apples to pick this year. A late frost blanketed the state this past April and had a devastating effect on the apple crop.
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As a sixth-grader, Emma Lendy was the only girl in her class to choose the category, How Things Work, for her science project. In helping her build a telegraph, Lendy said her father, a mechanical engineer, “fostered my interest in delving into why things work, not just taking them for granted.”
Lendy’s inquisitiveness and Purdue’s reputation drew her to the university. While an undergraduate student, Lendy worked in the lab of Barbara Golden, a professor of biochemistry.
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The COVID-19 pandemic is forcing many aspects of life on the Purdue campus to change. Faculty and graduate students are rising to the challenge, redesigning lab courses in creative and innovative ways.
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In April 2020, Purdue University’s International Programs in Agriculture (IPIA) and Purdue Cooperative Extension announced the USAID John Ogonowski and Doug Bereuter Farmer-to-Farmer (F2F) program to be implemented by Purdue University in Trinidad and Tobago over the next three years. A United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funded program, F2F provides technical assistance from U.S. volunteers to farmers, farm groups, agribusinesses, and other agriculture sector institutions in developing and transitional countries.
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From juicy red strawberries to sweet apples and melons, Indiana is home to many fruit growers. While each year presents its challenges in the field, this year Indiana faced an unfortunate late frost event, causing crop damage during a crucial point in the growing period. Outside of the fields, growers faced another challenge, creating a safe and healthy environment for employees and customers.
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“I told myself in high school that I wanted to make a change in the world,” said Sneha Jogi, a senior in agricultural communication. “While I can’t change the entire world, or an entire issue for that matter, I know I can make an impact on communities, families and their lives.”
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Each year, youth from Indiana’s 92 counties learn and fulfill the 4-H pledge, vowing their hands to larger service and their health to better living from their club to their community. They participate in club meetings, community service activities, leadership events and more while completing a project of their choice. Each project is a collection of hard work and hands-on learning experiences, resulting in new skills that prepare youth to be leaders in their communities.
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Hundreds of green industry professionals gather every summer for Purdue’s Turf and Landscape Field Day. As COVID-19 spread, so did the realization that 2020’s event would look different.
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International Programs in Agriculture at Purdue, like departments and units throughout the university, has paused normal activities such as travel and in-person meetings. In March 2020, the IPIA team migrated to virtual meetings utilizing the Zoom platform to continue to stay connected. IPIA staff have been meeting weekly since mid-March. The virtual meetings are not what you might imagine an all staff meeting would normally look like.
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For a company to stay in business for 100 years, it has certainly faced its share of hurdles. Lake Forest Flowers planted its roots northeast of Chicago in 1917 a few months before the Spanish Flu arrived. A century later, facing the COVID-19 pandemic, Lake Forest Flowers continues to find ways to meet changing needs.
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Before electricity and modern refrigeration, icehouses were built to keep ice and snow frozen, and it was sold and shipped year-round. As refrigerators grew in popularity, icehouses shifted their business model. They became the predecessor to convenience stores, selling perishable groceries and cold drinks. 7-Eleven traces its origin to one such icehouse.
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As March 14 drew near, Purdue alumni Woody and Kayla Nichols grew increasingly concerned about the upcoming open house at their store, Prairie View Ag Supply. More than 400 guests were expected at the annual event, but COVID-19 and uncertainty were beginning to spreading.
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Staff in IPIA and Food Sciences worked behind the scenes this spring to ensure 11 international interns’ well being and repatriation.
Ada Camila Montoya Gomez, a senior in environmental engineering at Zamorano University in Honduras, was deep into three research projects at Purdue this spring when safety concerns around the coronavirus closed the university.
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The College of Agriculture accounted for more than a third of Purdue researchers who asked for access and support to continue critical research when facilities closed this spring.
With about 15 wiliwili trees in the Lilly Greenhouses, and only 150 left in the wild after an insect pest decimated its population, Purdue oversees an important concentration of this deciduous tree native to Hawaii. Scott McAdam, assistant professor of botany and plant pathology, has been growing the trees for three years.
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Angie Frost had been hearing from youth and adults that they needed more mental health resources. So the Healthy Living Extension Specialist for Indiana 4-H Youth Development trained a group of Teens as Teachers early this year to lead other youth in practicing social and emotional wellness. “We focused on that in February, without at all knowing what we’d be going through a month later.”
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“Being trapped inside during the coronavirus pandemic has been hard on my mental health, as I’m sure it has been for many of us,” shared Jessica Outcalt. “Defending my dissertation three days before the world began shutting down, finishing my degree in the middle of a global pandemic and graduating with my Ph.D. via a virtual ceremony I watched while birds sang in my backyard was a wild experience.
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By day, Marshall Martin is a professor of agricultural economics, the senior associate director of agricultural research and graduate education and assistant dean in the College of Agriculture. In the evenings, he’s known to many customers as just the “blueberry man.”
While much at Martin Acres LLC, the West Lafayette farm he manages with his wife, Berdine, remains the same this year, they are taking precautions due to COVID-19. Martin is basing these necessary safety adjustments on guidelines for U-pick operations published by Purdue Extension.
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