Feature Story from 2015

STONEVILLE, Miss. -- John Orlowski joined the Mississippi State University Extension Service and Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station July 1 as soybean agronomist.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Mississippi fishermen and shoppers are wondering where the shrimp are as they wait for the on-again, off-again shrimp season to really get underway.

Dave Burrage, Mississippi State University Extension Service professor of marine resources at the Coastal Research and Extension Center in Biloxi, said shrimp season might have opened too early this year.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Backyard hobbyists and commercial producers of fruit and vegetable crops share a common need: pollinators.

Without them, flowering plants would be unable to produce fruit and seed. Bees are most commonly associated with pollination, but butterflies, hummingbirds and flies also are common pollinators.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- A Mississippi State University Extension Service nutritionist has been granted a fellowship by the world’s largest organization of food and nutrition professionals.

BILOXI, Miss. -- A long-time Mississippi State University floral professor is now teaching the Mississippi public about floral design.

Jim DelPrince, who taught students on the Starkville campus for 23 years, joined the MSU Extension Service as a floral design specialist July 1. He is stationed in the MSU Coastal Research and Extension Center in Biloxi.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Travel emergencies can happen at any time, but planning ahead with well-stocked first-aid kits can help take the sting out of road disasters.

David Buys, an assistant professor in the Mississippi State University Extension Service and Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, said preparation and prevention are crucial for travelers.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Returning to school is difficult for most students, but for those who have suffered family losses, the new academic year can be an overwhelming burden.

Megan Aucoin, a senior social work major at Mississippi State University from Starkville, Mississippi, knows all too well how difficult it can be to return to school after such a loss. Aucoin, 21, lost her mother, Alana, to colon cancer in fall 2013.

RAYMOND, Miss. -- Starting school is a milestone that can be marked by anxiety for first-time students and parents, but the right preparation can make the transition easier.

Beth Bell, a child and family agent with Mississippi State University Extension in Tallahatchie County, said even a child who has been in child care outside the home can be nervous about the unknown.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Samyra Harris, 7, did not know what she was getting into when her mother enrolled her in a 4-H Cloverbud robotics camp for three days at Mississippi State University.

“I thought we would just play with robots. I didn’t know we would build them, too,” Harris said.

Actually, the morning camp sessions are more about programming than building the robots, and other activities offered a taste of science, technology and engineering. To the 5- to 8-year-old participants, it is all about the fun.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Parents who want to see that their children get the best education possible know that learning takes place both inside and outside the classroom.

Jana Carolyn Everett, a fourth-grade teacher of talented and gifted students in Starkville, said students make more lasting connections to education when learning happens not only at school, but also at home.

“When learning can be expanded beyond the walls of the classroom, the material learned comes alive,” Everett said.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Packing a balanced school lunch that kids like requires one skill: observation.

Brent Fountain, nutritionist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, recommended that parents recognize what their children like eating the most at home.

JACKSON, Miss. – The Early Years Network celebrated the grand opening of the new Hinds County Resource and Referral Center and was recognized as a community partner on June 25.

The new resource and referral center is located at 350 West Woodrow Wilson Avenue in the Jackson Medical Mall. The center provides special-needs materials, learning toys, teaching resources, books and equipment for infants, toddlers, preschoolers and school-age children available for check out to families and providers in the state free of charge.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Young Mississippi 4-H leaders will tour six business cooperatives across the state, honing leadership skills in a July 21-23 conference.

Along with their adult leaders, the group includes 46 4-H Congress first-place winners, state 4-H Ambassadors and state 4-H Council officers. They will tour business cooperatives in Mayhew, Greenwood, Scott and Greenville before returning to Mississippi State University.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- The old adage “the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence” may have a new twist when it comes to cattle forages.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Sorghum midges have been an issue for Mississippi grain sorghum producers for as long as they have been growing the crop, but early plantings across the state have been affected more than usual this year.

Jeff Gore, an entomologist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service and Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, said he has fielded calls from farmers who report increasing problems with the crop-compromising insect across the state -- an indication that the issue is not isolated to a specific area.

By Katie Timmerman
MSU College of Veterinary Medicine

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- While most people choose to spend their vacations relaxing, a number of Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine students and faculty chose to do volunteer work in Haiti.

Dr. Skip Jack, a professor at MSU-CVM, traveled to Haiti with veterinary students Rachel Mayfield, Megen Cummings, Taylor King and Jessica Wilson as part of Christian Veterinary Missions.

RAYMOND, Miss. -- Back-to-school supplies can often include expensive items that can blow the family budget, but a little preparation can help keep the cost down.

Susan Cosgrove, financial management agent with the Mississippi State University Extension Service in Newton County, said families often overlook these expenses when preparing the family budget.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- The Mississippi State University Extension Service is offering two deer management workshops in August to hunters and professionals working with white-tailed deer populations.

The first workshop will be held at the Mississippi Natural Science Museum in Jackson on Aug. 15. The second workshop will be held at Thompson Hall on the MSU campus in Starkville on Aug. 22.

A $50 registration fee for each workshop includes lunch and class materials. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. The programs will begin at 9 a.m. and conclude at 4 p.m.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Mississippi State University will offer a Turfgrass Field Day at the R.R. Foil Plant Science Research Center in Starkville on Aug. 25 at 8:45 a.m.

Coaches, school superintendents, landscape architects, county Extension agents, lawn care professionals, golf course managers, sports field managers, and turf and landscape students are welcome to attend the field day. Homeowners may attend, too, but the event is designed for industry professionals and county agents.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Long before Charlie Weatherly earned the state’s 2015 Master Gardener of the Year honor, his family roots were dug deep into the Mississippi soil.

Although he retired from Mississippi State University in 1997, Weatherly has not strayed far from the land-grant institution’s campus or mission. How could he? As a child, he frequently came to campus with his father, Ernest, who was a county agent for what is now the MSU Extension Service.