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A $10 million project seeks to make Midwestern agriculture more resilient by diversifying farms, marketing and the agricultural landscape.
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“I love working with bees because, I think, they are the most important insects in the world. We need to promote them and find ways to take care of the existing populations,” Liced Giraldo Moreno said.
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“A major reason this project worked is because so many farmers around the state are comfortable working with Purdue Agriculture,” Ian Kaplan, professor of entomology, said. “We owe that trust to the networks and relationships Extension fosters among farmers in Indiana.”
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How do you make access to scientific knowledge more democratic for people around the world?
How can we be inclusive of diverse groups in the creation of that knowledge?
And, finally, how can we equitably transfer that information to those who speak different languages, may not read or write or live in hard-to-reach areas of the world?
These questions have guided the organization Scientific Animations Without Borders (SAWBO) since its founding in 2011. Co-founded by newly hired agricultural sciences education and communication assistant professor Julia Bello-Bravo and Barry Pittendrigh, Purdue’s Osmun Endowed Chair of Urban Entomology and director of the Center for Urban and Industrial Pest Management, SAWBO has created a research and highly scalable outreach program that uses the power of animation to disseminate scientific knowledge around the world.
For many years, scientists have been extracting DNA from the bones of ancient humans, humanoids and animals to paint a picture of evolution and species movement. Despite what’s been portrayed in the movie “Jurassic Park” — in which dinosaurs are resurr…
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“Many insects, arthropods, invertebrates and mammals pollinate,” Harpur said. “Bats are probably the best-known mammalian examples, but wasps, flies, beetles and slugs also pollinate. It works very similar to how bees pollinate-the animal is attracted to the flower in some way and pollen is transferred on to its body and then, eventually, to another plant. One of my favorite examples is the mirror orchid. Its flower looks and smells like a female wasp. It is so convincing that male wasps will try to mate with it and, in so doing, they transfer pollen between flowers.”
READ MOREScientists around the world develop new technologies and information that can improve the lives of people in developing countries. Getting that knowledge into their hands, however, often proves difficult.
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“If you like insects, or are even just curious about them, you have a unique opportunity coming up. Get out and enjoy it while you can,” recommended Elizabeth Barnes, an exotic forest pest educator for Purdue Extension Entomology.
The 17-year cicadas of Brood X were last seen in 2004. This spring, they are set to appear across Indiana and in parts of 14 other states.
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“Even though some days I’m getting out of bed to reach the field before the flowers open, it’s easy for me to find the endpoint of who we’re doing this for,” said Jacob Pecenka, a Ph.D. student in entomology. “Watermelon growers in Indiana.”
READ MOREBed bugs tuck themselves away into dark, unseen spaces and multiply rapidly, making them difficult to control. That job has gotten even harder in recent years as the pests have developed resistance to the insecticides long used to eradicate them from h…
READ MOREPurdue’s College of Agriculture welcomes people of all ages to experience Purdue Spring Fest from their home and backyards. Normally held in-person on Purdue University’s campus, the annual event will begin Monday, April 12, with online events and acti…
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Locating the rainbow scarab (Phanaeus vindex) beetle in Indiana can be like trying to find a needle in a haystack, or, well, like an insect on a dung heap.
While dung beetles abound in the state, the rainbow scarab, a type of dung beetle named for its iridescent and colorful body, is quite rare.
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For thousands of years, humans have altered — often negatively and inadvertently —microbial communities in a quest to improve agricultural crops. In recent years, knowledge…
READ MOREFor thousands of years, humans have altered — often negatively and inadvertently —microbial communities in a quest to improve agricultural crops. In recent years, knowledge about the roles microbes play in these systems has grown rapidly but is not yet…
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By Brian Wallheimer Any trip to Mars, likely to take a year or longer, will require astronauts to grow at least some of their own…
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“2020 was a year unlike any other, with numerous challenges, opportunities and accomplishments across our college,” said Karen Plaut, the Glenn W. Sample Dean of the College of Agriculture. “Through it all we were proud to share Purdue Agriculture’s stories with the incredible community of faculty, staff, students, alumni, donors and so many other supporters.”
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