MAES News
April 1, 2005
- Buhler Named MAES Acting Associate Director
- Farewell Gathering for Gary Lemme
- 2004 Spartan Innovator Award presented to W.K. Kellogg Forest Experiment Station
- April Water Policy Workshop Focuses on Contaminants
- MAES Weed Scientist Studies Transgenic Herbicide- and Insect-resistant Corn
- MSU Corn Trials Provide Data for U.P. Producers
- Agriculture and Natural Resources Leaders Honored With Distinguished Service Awards
- Former MAES Scientist Receives Rutgers Lifetime Achievement Award
- MAES Scientist Part of Seminar on Ethics in Biosciences and Engineering
- IIE Sponsors Fulbright Workshops
- 2005
Field Days and Special Events
Buhler Named MAES Acting Associate Director
Doug Buhler, chairperson of the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, joined the MAES March 15 as acting associate director, a position he will hold through December 2005. Buhler also serves as acting associate dean for research for the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (CANR). He replaces Gary Lemme.
In his new role with the MAES, Buhler acts as liaison with Michigan commodity groups and assumes Lemme's leadership role in Project GREEEN (Generating Research and Extension to meet Economic and Environmental Needs). Project GREEEN is a cooperative effort between plant-based commodities and businesses together with the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station, MSU Extension and the Michigan Department of Agriculture to advance Michigan's economy through its plant-based agriculture.
As CANR acting associate dean for research, Buhler provides oversight for and coordination of the CANR's research program. The majority of research in the CANR is MAES-related.
Buhler was born and raised on a small dairy farm in southern Wisconsin. He received his bachelor's degree from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville and his master's and doctoral degrees (both in agronomy) from the University of Nebraska.
After receiving his doctorate, Buhler returned to the University of Wisconsin, where he taught and advised undergraduates and conducted research on weed biology, management and conservation. He joined the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) in St. Paul, Minn., in 1989 with research responsibilities in weed management and water quality. In 1993, Buhler was transferred to the USDA-ARS National Soil Tilth Laboratory in Ames, Iowa, where his research responsibilities included weed biology, ecology and management in corn and soybean production systems.
Buhler joined MSU as professor and department chair in 2000. In 2003, he also became MSU Extension's state leader for agriculture programs.
Buhler's research and outreach activities focus on the responses of weed populations and weed control practices to various crop and soil management systems. His research results are being used to develop and implement improved weed management systems and have resulted in more than 330 publications, including 125 refereed journal and review articles.
Buhler has been the author or editor of three books and an invited presenter at 90 seminars, symposia and workshops. He has served as an associate editor for Weed Science and Weed Technology and is a consulting editor for the Journal of Crop Production. Buhler is a fellow of the North Central Weed Science Society, the Weed Science Society of America, the American Society of Agronomy and the Crop Science Society of America. He received the Outstanding Researcher Technologist Alumni Award from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, paper of the year honors from Weed Science (as a co-author), the Raymond and Mary Baker Agronomic Excellence Award from Iowa State University, the Outstanding Young Weed Scientist Award from the Weed Science Society of America, the T.W. Edminster Award and the Midwest Area Early Career Scientist of the Year honors from the USDA-ARS, and he was named Distinguished Young Scientist by the North Central Weed Science Society.
The MAES is currently conducting a national search for a permanent director. The process for naming a permanent associate director will occur after the new director is selected.
Farewell Gathering for Gary Lemme
To honor Gary Lemme's contributions to the MAES and to give everyone a chance to wish him well in his new role, a reception will be held April 13 from 4 to 6 p.m. in the University Club Ballroom.
Lemme has been named dean of the College of Agriculture and Biological Sciences at South Dakota State University (SDSU) and will begin his new position in May.
To add a personal
letter to the keepsake collection that is being compiled, please send
the letter by April 6 to:
Candace Ebbinghaus
MAES
109 Agriculture Hall
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824-1039
If you will be attending the farewell gathering, please contact Ebbinghaus at 517-355-0123 or candy@msu.edu by April 8.
2004 Spartan Innovator Award presented to W.K. Kellogg Forest Experiment Station
 |
Greg Kowalewski, manager of the W.K. Kellogg Experimental Forest field station, received the 2004 Spartan Innovator Award at the 24th Annual Farm Managers Seminar in February.
Kowalewski, on behalf of Kellogg Forest staff members, accepted the award for ingenuity and innovation in designing and implementing a safety feature for their transportation wagons. Called the Safe Step, the new feature provides non-slip steps and a handrail to visitors and volunteers when they are boarding transportation wagons during Kellogg Forest activities and events, such as the maple syrup open house. The Safe Step is also designed to pivot over obstacles that may be encountered when moving through the trails.
The Innovator Award recognizes the outstanding efforts, positive contributions and achievements in the field by farm, station and property staff members to meet the ever-changing and continually growing challenges of regulations, safety, technology, research and funding.
“We have many conscientious, creative and talented people in the MSU/MAES farm, station and property family," said Ben Darling, assistant director of the Land Management Office. "This award is one small way to let them know that we notice and appreciate what they are doing and that it truly does make a difference. Through the recognition process, numerous ideas and concepts are demonstrated for all of the farm, station and property managers, enhancing their ability to solve common challenges and issues."
April Water Policy Workshop Focuses on Contaminants
The fourth workshop in the "Shaping Future Water Policy: The Role of Science" will take place April 15 at the James B. Henry Center for Executive Development on Forest Road. The morning lecture, from 9 to 10:15 a.m., is open to the public.
The workshop features George Tchobanoglous, professor emeritus at the University of California-Davis. His talk is titled "Innovations for Control of Contaminants." Tchobanoglous' research focuses on wastewater treatment and reuse, wastewater filtration, ultraviolet light disinfection, aquatic wastewater management systems, wastewater management for small and decentralized wastewater management systems, and solid waste management. He helped organize the first national conference on the uses of aquatic plant systems for wastewater treatment in 1979. Most recently, he chaired a blue-ribbon panel, convened by the California Department of Health Services and the National Water Research Institute, which developed guidelines for using ultraviolet light in wastewater reclamation. He has authored or co-authored more than 300 technical publications, including 12 textbooks and two reference works. The textbooks are used in more than 200 colleges and universities throughout the United States. They are also used extensively by practicing engineers, both here and abroad. Tchobanoglous serves as consulting editor for the McGraw-Hill book series on water resources and environmental engineering. He does national and international consulting work for governmental agencies and private companies. An active member of numerous professional societies, he is a past president of the American Association of Environmental Engineers.
The water policy workshops are designed to create a forum for discussion on how to improve and invest in a science-based policy agenda for the future for water use, conservation and protection in Michigan and the Great Lakes region.
For more information on the workshops, including a complete schedule, visit www.espp.msu.edu/water/.
MAES Weed Scientist Studies Transgenic Herbicide- and Insect-resistant Corn
By comparing the economics of managing weeds and corn rootworm in transgenic corn hybrids with conventional insect and weed management strategies, MAES weed scientist Jim Kells will be able to offer Michigan corn growers the information they need to decide if the transgenic hybrids are worth the additional cost.
“As more and more of these products come to the market, it is important that we look at the results and efficacy of the stacked-trait corn and also the economics of these systems,” Kells said. He thinks transgenic traits will offer corn growers new options for weed and insect management. “Stacking both insect and herbicide resistance traits into a single corn hybrid offers new strategies for insect and weed management for Michigan corn producers," he continued. "We wanted to really explore the economic impact these new strategies could have vs. more conventional types of weed and insect control.”
Clark Gerstacker, Corn Marketing Program of Michigan (CMPM) treasurer and Midland corn grower, who also serves as chairperson of the National Corn Growers Association Research and Business Development Action Team, said there is a need for this type of research project. The CMPM helped support Kells' three-year research project. The research was also supported by Project GREEEN (Generating Research and Extension to meet Economic and Environmental Needs), a cooperative effort by plant-based commodities and businesses in cooperation with MSUE, the MAES and the Michigan Department of Agriculture.
“As growers have the opportunity to use new technologies such as stacked transgenics to possibly improve production techniques, it is vital that we assess the true economic impact on production costs,” Gerstacker said. “As transgenic crops become more and more widely accepted around the world, we have to invest in these types of projects to ensure we continue to be players in the global market.”
In 2004, four field sites with different levels of pest infestation were established. Transgenic and conventional weed management strategies involved preemergence and postemergence herbicide applications and herbicide selection based on scouting. Techniques to control corn rootworm included a resistant hybrid, a conventional soil-applied insecticide and seed treatment.
“The data generated through this research will be the basis of recommendations on the adoption and utilization of these technologies, which should lead to greater production efficiency and profitability,” Kells explained. “This study will provide the information needed to determine those situations in Michigan where the cost of stacked resistance traits is economically justified.”
MSU Corn Trials Provide Data for U.P. Producers
Making this year’s planting and harvesting decisions will be a bit easier for corn growers in the Upper Peninsula, thanks to performance data obtained from corn hybrid trials conducted by an MAES scientist in Delta County in 2004.
Results from the trial are published in the 2004 Michigan Corn Hybrids Compared booklet. MSU Extension bulletin E-431 is available free of charge from county MSU Extension offices. It can also be ordered online at www.emdc.msue.msu.edu.
The corn hybrid trials generated yield potential data and information on pest control traits for the newly released corn rootworm Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis, a naturally occurring bacterium found in soil) and European corn borer Bt hybrids.
U.P. corn hybrid trials will continue through the 2005 growing season. Stand counts take place in June, and harvests occur in late September and early November.
Previous testing done by the MSU corn hybrid testing program in Alger and Delta counties revealed significant differences in yield potential -- 57 bushels of grain per acre and 5 tons of silage per acre difference between the highest and lowest yielding hybrid entries.
“These figures demonstrate the importance of delivering corn hybrid performance information specific to Upper Peninsula growers,” said Kurt Thelen, MAES crop and soil sciences researcher.
According to the Michigan Agricultural Statistics Service, approximately 20,000 acres of corn are grown annually in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. About 12,000 acres are harvested for corn silage, and the remaining 8,000 acres are harvested for grain. Thelen explained that the corn crop provides the feed base for the region’s livestock industry, a critical component of the Upper Peninsula’s agricultural economy.
Project GREEEN (Generating Research and Extension to meet Economic and Environmental Needs), Michigan's plant agriculture initiative at MSU, provided funding for the corn hybrid trials in Delta County.
“Without Project GREEEN this work would not have been possible,” Thelen said. “As the seed industry continues to consolidate, private seed companies are no longer as willing to fund trials in smaller markets such as Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. This means that carrying out similar hybrid trials in the future will be much more reliant on grant funding from sources such as Project GREEEN.”
Agriculture and Natural Resources Leaders Honored With Distinguished Service Awards
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 President Simon presents the award to Dave Trinka. |
Three Michigan leaders in agriculture and natural resources were honored March 8 with Distinguished Service awards from the MSU College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (CANR).
Herman Geers, of East Lansing; David Woods, of Britton; and Dave Trinka, of South Haven, were recognized for their success in agribusiness or natural resources-related enterprises and their commitment to leadership in community, state and national activities.
Lou Anna Simon, MSU president, and Jeffrey Armstrong, dean of the CANR, presented the awards during the Agriculture and Natural Resources Week luncheon at MSU.
Geers founded Michigan Agricultural Commodities, Michigan’s largest grain handling company, in 1976. He has served as president of the Michigan Agri-Business Association and also utilized his leadership skills on the National Grain and Feed Membership Committee and the Michigan FFA Board of Directors.
Woods is an innovative leader in seed production. He managed Woods Seed Farm, a five-generation family operation, from 1960 to 2000. He has displayed leadership within the Michigan Crop Improvement Association, the Michigan Corn Growers Association, the Michigan Soybean Association, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency of Lenawee County and many community organizations.
Trinka is the director of horticulture for the Michigan Blueberry Growers Association, a grower-owned cooperative that markets approximately half of Michigan’s blueberries. He has provided leadership in identifying key regulatory and government policy issues that affect Michigan’s $60 million blueberry industry. He also has helped identify, prioritize and fund MSU research programs important to blueberry production and producer profitability.
Former MAES Scientist Receives Rutgers Lifetime Achievement Award
Retired MAES lactation physiologist H. Allen “Tuck” Tucker received the 2005 Lifetime Achievement Award from The Graduate School-New Brunswick at Rutgers University in New Jersey in March. Tucker’s award was presented at a Rutgers symposium, “Advances in Mammary Biology.”
“Dr. Tucker’s work led to pioneering advances in our understanding of lactation and significant improvements in dairy management and production,” said Henry John-Alder, the graduate director of the Rutgers animal sciences program.
Tucker, who received his doctorate at Rutgers in 1963, retired from a 37-year Michigan State University career in 2000. Much of his MSU research helped to extend and explain the benefits of extended photoperiod – that’s longer days and more sunlight – on growth and milk production in dairy cattle.
Though he was an accomplished basic science researcher, Tucker’s colleagues said he always worked to explain the significance of his work to the dairy industry.
“He believed it was never acceptable to do research just because you had a certain new research tool or because it would be interesting to ‘peek under that rock’ or to ‘go fishing,’” wrote MAES animal scientists Roy Fogwell and Jim Ireland in an April 2000 article in the Michigan Dairy Review. “Indeed, Tuck made it his ‘business’ to remind other scientists and students that they must understand and be motivated by the significance of the research to the real world.”
MAES Scientist Part of Seminar on Ethics in Biosciences and Engineering
Helping students consider how the interrelations between science, technology and society are both reflected in and affected by their work is the goal of the "Social and Ethical Considerations in Biosciences and Engineering" seminar April 13. It runs from 9 to 10 a.m. in 165 Communication Arts Building.
MAES sociology researcher Larry
Busch, who is also director of the MSU
Institute for Food and Agricultural Standards (IFAS), is one of
the speakers at the seminar. Mark
Worden and Daina
Briedis, professors of chemical engineering; John
Lloyd, professor of mechanical engineering; Susan
Selke, professor of packaging; Kenneth
David, associate professor of anthropology; and John
Stone, faculty research associate at the IFAS, are the other speakers.
The seminar is being held in conjunction with a multidisciplinary course that teaches students from the biosciences and engineering to work together effectively in multidisciplinary research teams. Students in the course are engaged in research at the intersection of nanotechnology and biotechnology -- for example, developing nanostructured biomimetic interfaces (artificial cell membranes) in which medically important proteins would be embedded.
The seminar is free and open to all who would like to attend.
IIE Sponsors Fulbright Workshops
To help faculty members and students be more competitive in applying for Fulbright scholarships and other international exchange awards, the Institute of International Education will hold a series of workshops in the International Center in April. The workshops will also help faculty members and students who have been awarded Fulbrights understand the objectives, requirements and deadlines of the Fulbright program.
In addition to learning how to develop a more competitive application, participants will also learn how to select a host country, make useful contacts abroad and solicit winning letters of recommendation.
The workshop schedule
is:
Graduating Seniors Workshop: April 13, 5-7 p.m., 303-305 International
Center. RSVP by April 8.
Graduate Students Workshop: April 18, 5-7 p.m., 303-305 International
Center. RSVP by April 15.
Faculty Workshop: April 14, 5-7 p.m., Spartan B&C International
Center. RSVP by April 8.
To RSVP, call Kathy Riel at 355-2350 or e-mail her at riel@msu.edu.
2005 Field Days and Special Events
Saginaw
Valley Bean and Beet Research Farm
Annual Field Day, August 30, 2005
Registration starts at 8:30 a.m.
The field day runs from 9 a.m. to noon. Lunch is included.
