Site Archive

Student’s research helps watermelon growers find sweet success

May 5, 2021

“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.”

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Food Safety Lab Announces Funding Opportunity for MSI-Led Partnerships for Global Food Safety Research

April 20, 2021

The Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Food Safety (FSIL), based at Purdue and Cornell universities, has announced a funding opportunity aimed at reducing foodborne illness in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean through research projects led by U.S.-based Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs). FSIL is one of more than 20 Innovation Labs funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) as part of Feed the Future, the U.S. Government’s global hunger and food security initiative. This Request for Applications (RFA) will fund research to support data-driven food safety policies and practices to address microbial and chemical food hazards.

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Students see growth potential in competition-winning biostimulant

April 8, 2021

In a contest created to develop novel applications for soybeans, it’s hard to beat a 98% soybean crop stimulant that improves soybean growth.

In the 27th annual Student Soybean Innovation Competition, Cai Chen, Nate Nauman and Emmanuel Alagbe topped six other teams to claim the $20,000 prize. The competition, sponsored by the Indiana Soybean Alliance, encourages Purdue student teams to create new products or materials from soybeans.

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Klein explaining Dehytray

Agricultural entrepreneurship: from labs to markets

April 7, 2021

Purdue University research, often published in scientific journals, became analytical ore that grateful industries mined and refined, profitably.

“We stood back as professors and watched. ‘Ooh, that’s great – they used our stuff!’” says Christian Butzke, a professor and associate head of the Department of Food Science. “A few decades later you think, ‘They took what we developed – and there’s nothing coming back to us other than a pat on the back and a handshake?’”

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Purdue professor tackles bovine respiratory disease with over $1 million in grant support

April 6, 2021

Bovine respiratory disease is the most common and costly disease affecting beef cattle in the world. Mohit Verma, assistant professor of agricultural and biological engineering at Purdue University, recently received multiple awards, totaling $1.4 million, from the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR) to support his groundbreaking work to produce a biosensor-based decision-making tool to manage the disease. The innovation will also help reduce and target the use of antibiotics, strengthening public trust in animal agricultural practices of antibiotic stewardship.

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Bryanna Nelson

Researcher uses opportunities to impact students

April 5, 2021

In high school, Bryanna Nelson assumed she had “too much enthusiasm for too many things” to narrow her academic focus. But after hearing about opportunities in agricultural education, she noticed “the field took all my personal interests and combined them into one.

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ABE Grad student

Agricultural and Biological Engineering Program Earns Top Ranking

March 30, 2021

Purdue University’s Agricultural Biological Engineering (ABE) Graduate Program is ranked #1 in its category in the annual U.S. News & World Report rankings of Best Graduate Schools. The ABE graduate and undergraduate programs have consistently received top ranking over the last decade.

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COVID vaccine

Data suggest COVID herd immunity may be hard to achieve

March 17, 2021

For thousands of years, humans have altered — often negatively and inadvertently —microbial communities in a quest to improve agricultural crops. In recent years, knowledge…

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Ironclad beetles offer a lot to learn for engineers and entomologists

March 15, 2021

For thousands of years, humans have altered — often negatively and inadvertently —microbial communities in a quest to improve agricultural crops. In recent years, knowledge…

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Val

Student’s research addresses water-related climate change concerns

March 4, 2021

A first-generation college student, Schull double-majored in biological engineering and natural resources at Cornell University, where a professor encouraged them to follow their research interests to Purdue. Schull is a programmer and hydrologist whose research focuses on water resource management using a food-energy-water nexus framework.

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Purdue scientists develop methods to improve molecular identification in plants

February 17, 2021

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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Solar Field

Ag Data Services: Turning data sets into data assets

February 15, 2021

The cows at Homestead Dairy in Plymouth, Indiana, are blissfully unaware that every minute of every day they’re generating mountains of data for Luiz Brito, assistant professor of animal sciences. Sensors are everywhere on the commercial farm where the cows are videotaped day and night. Automated feeders record each calf’s milk intake and eating habits, while milking robots collect comprehensive production, activity and behavior data.

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Student’s research makes healthy indoor plants more attainable

February 9, 2021

“Plant nitrogen is important in determining the growth and quality of ornamental plants,” explained Ranjeeta Adhikari, a Ph.D. student in horticulture and landscape architecture. “But indoor growers have limited options for simple, reliable and affordable technology to measure it.” Through her research at Purdue University, Adhikari has taken steps toward removing the limitations.

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Kalbaugh Among Plants

Behind the Research: Kirby Kalbaugh

February 8, 2021

Technology has long fascinated Kirby Kalbaugh, but early in his career, his goal was to manage a hotel or an amusement park. The Cincinnati native worked full time while studying hospitality management at Purdue. After earning his degree in 1998, he held various hotel management positions in Lafayette — a town he had grown to love.

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Smith Hall

Purdue welcomes back former professor as endowed entomology chair

February 5, 2021
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Becca Nixon

Student’s travels and research clarify cost of Pakistanis’ climate change adaptations

January 26, 2021

“As the environment is changing, people are encountering many stressors that are driving them to adapt,” explained Becca Nixon. “I want to help support strategies that align with their values and improve their well-being.”

To achieve her goal, Nixon’s social science research focuses on people whose livelihoods are tied to the Swat and Kabul Rivers in northern Pakistan.

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Mongolian herders

Purdue researchers explore how sound drives Mongolian herder cultural practices

January 20, 2021

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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Purdue-developed sorghum safer for grazing animals and takes stress off producers

January 5, 2021

Sorghum is a great crop for grazing, but certain conditions can cause the plants to become deadly for animals. Purdue University’s Mitch Tuinstra has developed a sorghum that contains no dhurrin, reducing the risk of poisoning in the animals.

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Collage of Top Story Images

Purdue Agriculture’s 20 most-read stories of 2020

January 4, 2021

“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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Dada in lab

Student’s research looks for answers at Purdue to questions raised at home in Nigeria

December 7, 2020

Adebukola Dada grew up on a Nigerian farm where her father raised various plants and animals. “If our crops did not do well, I asked my dad to tell me why,” Dada recalled. “That’s up to you to figure out,” her father replied. Now a Ph.D. student in agronomy, Dada is on her way to finding the answers.

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