Feature Story

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Campers looking for a little education along with their recreation this summer should check out camps offered by Mississippi State University.

Various camps are available on campus as well as in individual counties.

Bug Camp, a four-day, interactive opportunity to learn about entomology and plants, has been attracting children and adults to MSU’s campus since 1994. It is the only camp of its kind in the world and attracts participants from across the United States.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- John Guyton enjoys digging up secrets and passing them along to others.

“I like to use little-known facts about nature to give people a different way to think about their environment and the ways they interact with that environment,” said Guyton, entomology specialist with Mississippi State University’s Extension Service.
His approach is especially helpful when it comes to teaching kids.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Plastic storage crates in a sunny lab at Mississippi State University are the new homes of 52 endangered Boreal toads, native to the Colorado Rockies.

Boreal toad numbers have dwindled to dangerous levels in recent years, and MSU has partnered with the Memphis Zoo to find a way to increase the population.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics selected a Mississippi State University student to serve as a delegate to the national organization.

Jesse Pace, a senior from Flowood majoring in Food Science, Nutrition and Health Promotion with a concentration in nutrition, was elected to serve a one-year term on the academy’s advisory committee. The committee consists of seven elected positions and one appointed position and includes students from universities across the United States.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Mississippi State University is “beating the bushes” for high school students with horticultural interests for a June 3-6 camp on campus.

Designed for students age 15 to 17, the 43rd annual Horticulture and Landscape Architecture Summer Camp will offer a variety of educational and fun activities.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Not many 17-year-olds spend their free time doing stem cell research, but an interest in helping special-needs children brought Brenna Nye to Mississippi State University to do just that.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – A handful of Mississippi State University entomology students spent their spring semester learning how to be crime scene investigators or expert witnesses in a courtroom.

Their teacher, Jerome Goddard, has been an expert witness on both sides of court cases and understands the importance of knowing details to defend or challenge crime scene findings.

STONEVILLE -- Mississippi State University has hired a new irrigation specialist for its Delta Research and Extension Center in Stoneville.

Jason Krutz began his dual appointment with the MSU Extension Service and the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station May 1.

Krutz has worked in irrigation management and water quality and quantity research for almost 10 years.

STONEVILLE -- A Mississippi State University researcher has been selected for a national leadership training program.

MSU research professor Tim Walker, an agronomist and rice breeder at the Delta Research and Extension Center in Stoneville, will participate in Leadership for the 21st Century, or Lead21.

Each year, Lead21 trains 80 participants from land-grant institutions and their associates, such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

STONEVILLE – Mississippi State University is making several changes this year to the field day schedule in Stoneville to accommodate participants’ needs.

Steve Martin, head of MSU’s Delta Research and Extension Center, said they are breaking with tradition by splitting the event into two days with two crop focuses. They also have changed meeting times from mornings to afternoons.

The July 19 field day will focus on soybeans and corn. The July 31 event will highlight rice.

MISSISSIPPI STATE –Mississippi State University Extension Service’s 4-H youth development program will pay tribute to America’s military heroes with the Welcome Home Garden project, sponsored by Burpee Seed Co.

PICAYUNE – Two thousand swamp gum seedlings are taking root in the Crosby Arboretum’s Gum Pond exhibit after an Earth Day celebration and planting party.

New South Access and Environmental Solutions donated the trees, and 24 employees and their family members volunteered to plant them into the arboretum’s Gum Pond educational exhibit on April 28.

The tree planting will help the arboretum to meet its mission of conservation and education, said Bob Brzuszek, associate professor of landscape architecture at Mississippi State University.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – The Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station recently honored several faculty and staff members for their research, publications and commitment to excellence.

Dan Reynolds, a MAFES researcher and professor in MSU’s Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, received the 2012 Excellence in Research award for his work on herbicide application and weed control for crops grown in Louisiana and Mississippi.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Mississippi State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine honored its first graduating class in the four-year veterinary medical technology degree program with a special pinning ceremony April 27.

Dr. Allison Gardner, clinical instructor in CVM’s veterinary medical technology program, said veterinary technologists make important contributions in the field of animal care.

By Rebekah Ray
MSU Delta Research and Extension Center

STONEVILLE -- Scientists at Mississippi State University’s Delta Research and Extension Center are researching new ways to reduce aflatoxin in infected corn.

Corn is one of the state’s leading row crops, but it is susceptible to aflatoxin, a fungus that can reduce profits and hurt marketability.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Youth interested in outdoor fun and hands-on learning experiences can register for two different summer camps focused on natural resources.

High school students curious about careers in natural resources are invited to attend Mississippi State University’s Natural Resources Summer Camp June 10 to 14. Any high school student entering ninth grade in 2012 or older may attend. This includes 2012 graduating seniors.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Mississippi State University is planning four workshops throughout the state to help participants learn how to better manage their land for white-tailed deer.

The workshops are in two-day sets, and participants can register for one or both days. Workshops will be held June 1 in Vicksburg at Hinds Community College and June 2 at the Mahanna Wildlife Management Area Office in Valley Park. The workshops on the MSU campus will be July 13 and 14 at the College of Forest Resources’ Thompson Hall.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Cary W. “Bill” Herndon, a long-time leader in Mississippi State University’s Division of Agriculture, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine, has been named the new associate vice president in the division.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Mississippi State University has named Sam K. Chang as the new head of the Department of Food Science, Nutrition and Health Promotion.

Chang has been a professor in the Department of Cereal and Food Sciences at North Dakota State University since 1997. Before joining NDSU in 1984, he served as a research fellow at the University of Arizona and associate professor and head at the Chinese Culture University in Taiwan.

NATCHEZ -- Area gardeners can fill their landscapes with flowers, plants and one-of-a kind art from the first-ever Gardener’s Expo.

More than 30 vendors from across the South will sell gardening-related items. Mississippi State University Extension Service professionals will be on hand to offer expert advice and answer questions. The expo will be held at the community center at 215 Franklin Street in Natchez.