Feature Story

MISSISSIPPI STATE – The headline speaker for the Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine’s Human-Animal Bond Lecture Series will help participants envision a world where humans and wildlife can better coexist.

Dr. Michael Hutchins, director and CEO of The Wildlife Society, will give his keynote address, “Adventures at the Human-Wildlife Interface,” at 7 p.m. on Oct. 28 in the CVM auditorium on MSU’s main campus.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Homecoming activities at Mississippi State University Oct. 23 included a dedication ceremony for a recently renovated campus landmark, which now has both a new look and a new name.

The event celebrated the addition of the name of retired MSU administrator Vance H. Watson to the campus' home of agricultural programs since 1929.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Mississippi State University researchers found it takes a special kind of turf to keep a cemetery looking nice without frequent maintenance.

Wayne Philley, an agronomist with the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, was the lead researcher on a three-year study that examined turf’s performance and maintenance requirements in a cemetery setting.

By Karen Templeton
MSU Ag Communications

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Mississippi’s specialty businesses are finding a quick and easy virtual connection to consumers through a newly expanded computer mapping tool.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Darren Miller was 13 when he experienced the heart-thumping, adrenaline-flowing excitement of his first squirrel hunt.

Miller, manager of Southern Environmental Research for Weyerhaeuser Co., has good memories of the first time his father took him squirrel hunting. Now a father himself, Miller enjoys taking his daughters hunting.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- An administrator with more than 25 years experience in agricultural education has been named director of the Mississippi State University Extension Service.

Gary Brown Jackson will assume his duties as head of the statewide educational outreach system Jan.1, 2011, pending formal approval of the Board of Trustees, State Institutions of Higher Learning.

PICAYUNE – The arts, history and music of the past will come to life at the eighth annual Piney Woods Heritage Festival at Mississippi State University’s Crosby Arboretum Nov. 12-13 in Picayune.

Preregistered school groups will visit from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. Nov. 12. The cost is $2 per child, and the admission is waived for teachers, chaperones and bus drivers. The general public is invited to attend Nov. 13 from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. The general public admission is $2 for children and $5 for adults.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Weighty woods, trained termites and oak bubbling bazookas will be among the many highlights at Mississippi State University’s Wood Magic Science Fair.

The Oct. 18-22 event will introduce students to the benefits of forestry, forest products and wildlife. The Wood Magic Science Fair is sponsored by MSU’s Department of Forest Products, College of Forest Resources and wood product industries. It will be held at MSU’s forest products complex at 100 Blackjack Road in Starkville.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – The summer’s drought has made lawns, woods and grassy areas into fire starters, creating ideal conditions for wildfires across Mississippi.

On Oct. 6, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour issued a statewide ban on all outdoor burning in response to “extremely dry conditions and fire danger.” The ban will remain until the conditions improve and the danger is abated. This action came less than a week after the Mississippi Forestry Commission issued a statewide Wildland Fire Alert.

By Kaitlyn Byrne
MSU Ag Communications

JACKSON – More than 500 students paired science and entertainment at the third annual 4-H National Youth Science Day on Oct. 6 at Oak Forest Elementary School in Jackson.

“This event encouraged kids to value their education and realize science is fun,” said Rocheryl Ware, Mississippi State University Extension 4-H agent in Hinds County. “They were learning while enjoying themselves. We wanted it to be hands-on for the kids so they could understand school can actually be interesting. The kids had a blast.”

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Mississippi State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine has planned a celebration in October to examine the special relationship between humans and animals.

The Human-Animal Bond Lecture Series will explore various facets of this relationship with the goal of raising awareness of the bonds between humans and companion animals, production animals and wildlife. Event organizers hope to educate and entertain audiences with information on the bond that exists between humans and animals.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Mississippi State University researchers added two rice varieties this year to the university’s growing list of intellectual property holdings that generate revenue and benefit consumers.

As a major research institution, MSU holds a number of commercially valuable patents and other forms of intellectual property protections.

This summer, researchers at MSU’s Delta Research and Extension Center in Stoneville released a new conventional rice variety named Rex. They also submitted a Clearfield variety to a company for potential commercial release.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- A U.S. Department of Agriculture conservation practice designed to increase the population of northern bobwhite and other grassland birds appears to be working in Mississippi and elsewhere.

By Karen Templeton
MSU Ag Communications

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Mississippi State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine’s new veterinary medical technology program is preparing students for a dynamic field full of career options.

PRAIRIE -- Mississippi beef producers can fine-tune their forage-fed operations with information offered at an Oct. 22 workshop in Monroe County.

The Forage-Fed Beef Workshop will be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Mississippi State University’s Prairie Research Unit.

Program topics include forage systems for pasture-finished beef, current forage-fed research, cattle buying decisions, selling and marketing, and the benefits of forage-fed beef. All beef producers are invited to attend the free workshop. Lunch will be provided.

PICAYUNE – Music lovers and plant enthusiasts are invited to enjoy blues and jazz music during Crosby Arboretum’s fall plant sale.

As part of the Crosby Arboretum music series, Jackson native Latongya Garner will perform a blend of traditional blues and jazz at 1 p.m. on Oct. 9.

By Justin Ammon
Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station

MISSISSIPPI STATE – In 1999, a Madison boy lay bed-ridden for more than two weeks, and breathing treatments, inhalers and bronchitis medication all failed to treat his mysterious flu-like symptoms and high fever.

“It was just a total energy drain,” said Joe Short, the once-sick junior high student who graduated from Mississippi State University last spring with a degree in marketing.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Local gardeners know fall has arrived when Mississippi State University’s horticulture club announces its annual fall plant sale.

This year’s sale will take place Oct. 1 from 9 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. in the campus greenhouses behind Dorman Hall. The event is free and open to the public. A wide variety of flowering plants will be available such as chrysanthemums and pansies, as well as ornamental display options including pumpkins and corn stalks.

OXFORD – Representatives from small communities will get the chance to learn how to attract tourists by promoting their towns’ unique history, culture and charm at the annual Alabama-Mississippi Rural Tourism Conference Oct. 25-27.

The conference is sponsored by the Mississippi State University Extension Service, the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, the Tennessee Tombigbee Tourism Association and other community and economic development entities.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – The Mississippi State University Extension Service 4-H Youth Program received a $5,000 grant from the Monsanto Fund to support the 4-H cooperative business tour in 2011.

The annual 4-H Cooperative Business Leadership Conference is the reward given to senior level 4-H members who placed first in their state competitions at 4-H Congress. They are joined on this tour by the state awareness team members and the state 4-H Council officers.