Site Archive
Founded in 2018, the Unsung Diversity Hero Award is presented annually to a faculty member, staff member and student for their efforts to create an inclusive environment within their department and the college as a whole, going out of their way to lead others by setting a positive example.
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Spring is in full bloom and trees are beginning to look green again. Learning how to identify trees in yards, neighborhoods and local parks provides insight into the diversity and relationships found in nature. Lenny Farlee, Purdue Extension Forester, shares how to identify trees native to Indiana.
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April showers bring May flowers and summer produce that you can devour! Whether you’re a beginner or looking to expand your garden, Karen Mitchell, consumer horticulture Extension specialist, reminds us of four simple tips so you can plant confidently.
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Purdue Extension’s, Cora Carter, one of the first to volunteer for the Purdue F2F program, was forced to pivot to a virtual platform. Since the COVID-19 pandemic travel limitations, the F2F program has delivered almost 30 virtual programs to support Trinbagonian farmer groups and institutions. The first in-person assignment, completed in January, focused on providing hands-on training in sheep production to Vision on Mission (VOM), an organization that provides rehabilitation services, empowerment, life skills, employment training and development in agriculture and other areas to individuals in need of re-integration into society.
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Wine is one of the most popular beverages in the world. According to Fortune Business, the global wine market is a $340 billion industry, and it’s growing every year. The United States is the largest consumer of wine worldwide, with an estimated one in three American adults drinking wine multiple times a week. The world’s passion for wine is reflected by a robust wine-making culture. Across the globe, wine is being produced, consumed, and exported in massive quantities, and the technologies and processes that go into creating high-quality wine are constantly evolving.
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A Scarlet Tanager’s bright red feathers can make them look out of place among the canopies of Indiana’s forests. But when they winter near the equator, Scarlet Tanagers look right at home.
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The lakeshore around the Indiana Dunes National Park welcomes Snowy Owls most winters, but when predicting if the birds will make their way to Tippecanoe County, experts look far north and to the past.
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“River otters were a native species to Indiana but they were extirpated from our state,” explained Patrick Zollner, professor of quantitative ecology. With fur hundreds of times denser than human hair, otters were the target of trapping and unregulated harvesting. In 1942, they were officially classified as extinct from Indiana.
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In 1919, Indiana stood as the nation’s number one maple syrup producer boasting vast acres of maple forests. Decades of removing trees, however, made the statewide industry move to the back of the line in scale of production.
A $500K Acer Access and Development Program grant, the USDA funded program that supports states’, tribal governments’, and research institutions’ promotion of the domestic maple syrup industry, was recently awarded to Purdue University’s College of Agriculture to move the needle in the other direction.
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Henry Quesada grew up on a farm in the mountains of Costa Rica, about five miles away from the nearest house.
“I remember when I was little, we had cattle and we made cheese. Every week we loaded the horses and went to the nearest grocery store where we traded cheese for food,” reflected Quesada. “We had a really sustainable life. We used everything, nothing was wasted.”
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In the annual report recording nationwide grain dust bin explosions, seven incidents were reported in 2021, down from eight in 2020.
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More than 1,500 miles separate Purdue University and Enrique Velasco’s Honduras-based alma mater, Zamorano. Despite the distance, Velasco formed a new connection to Zamorano when he began his research in West Lafayette. Velasco studied agribusiness management in Honduras and sought a horticulture internship to balance his studies. There, he learned about research done by Purdue associate professor of horticulture and agricultural economics Arianna Torres, who also studied at Zamorano.
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In celebration of National Houseplant Appreciation Day, Karen Mitchell, consumer horticulture Extension specialist, shares these helpful tips to ensure your plants stay green and healthy.
“Houseplants are great year long, but they are especially beneficial in the winter to keep your home’s inside as green as possible. Winter is also the best time to reevaluate your houseplants for necessary care,” said Mitchell.
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When the holidays are over and the needles begin to fall from your natural Christmas tree, continue to spread holiday cheer by returning your tree to nature.
Jarred Brooke, Extension wildlife specialist, and Mitch Zischke, fisheries specialist, share a few creative ways you can repurpose and recycle your tree this year.
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What is green, popular around Christmas and steals things from trees? Other than the Grinch?
While the Grinch lives on top of a mountain, American mistletoe (Phoradendron leucarpum) lives high up on the branches of trees. Its genus, Phoradendron, translates to “tree thief” referencing its hemiparasitic nature.
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In 1962’s “The Annotated Mother Goose,” author William S. Baring-Gould theorized the five golden rings included in “The 12 Days of Christmas” refer not to jewelry, but Ring-necked Pheasants. Whether his theory matches the English Christmas carol’s original meaning or not, pheasants have secured their place in the holiday season for families across rural America.
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When Krispn Given mentions he’s a honey bee researcher, the first question people ask him is whether he gets stung a lot. He doesn’t.
The bees are defensive sometimes but not aggressive, says Given, who is key to the entomology department’s beekeeping and pollinator protection programs. He is widely recognized for his innovative work in honey bee instrumental insemination and honey bee breeding.
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“You don’t want a corn maze to be too simple, but you also don’t want it to take too long and have people in there panicking,” Dan Quinn, assistant professor of agronomy and Extension corn specialist, said. “There’s a lot of thought that goes into making one.”
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In Indiana, Latinx and other multiracial and multicultural students are three times more likely to attend a school with a D or F grade than a white student. Over 35 percent of Hoosier Latinx students did not complete high school and the graduation rate for Latinx students is nine percent lower than that of their non-Latinx peers.
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The United Nations will celebrate International Day of Rural Women on October 15, 2021. We will be celebrating all rural women on this day, but one Purdue woman has been chosen by the Network of Rural Women Producers in Trinidad and Tobago (NRWPTT) to be honored. DeKalb County Director and Agriculture and Natural Resources Extension Educator Elysia Rodgers will be honored at the NRWPTT International Rural Women’s Day celebration event. Rodgers was selected because of her contributions as a goat farmer, mentor and F2F volunteer.
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