News

School-age children are filling up backpacks with pencils and crayons as they prepare for the first day of school, which will be followed closely by homework assignments to complete on home computers. Increased computer usage brings the need for parental supervision and vigilance.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – An experienced leader in the child development field has been named the new director of the Child Development and Family Studies Center at Mississippi State University.

Melissa Tenhet accepted the permanent position in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences after serving as the center’s interim director for three months. She will also teach part-time as an instructor of human development and family studies in the School of Human Sciences.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Their classmates may be taking the summer off, but two undergraduate students at Mississippi State University are spending long hours in a laboratory conducting studies that would challenge seasoned researchers.

Their supervisor, Erdogan Memili, is not surprised. He nominated Alexis Parisi and Kate Thompson for National Science Foundation research programs for elite undergraduates.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Greater consumer demand for locally grown produce has made truck crops a bigger part of the state’s overall agricultural production and increased related research at Mississippi State University.

Truck crops get their name from the fact that they are often sold from the back of pickup trucks. They are produce crops, including blueberries, strawberries, sweet corn, beans, tomatoes, watermelon, greens and squash.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Mississippi State University researchers successfully promoted egg laying in threatened Boreal toads when they moved the amphibians out of the refrigerator and into the wine chiller.

Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station researchers at MSU are working with a group of 52 threatened Boreal toads native to the Colorado Rockies. The toads are housed in a special lab in the MSU Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Entomology and Plant Pathology.

CANTON – The filmmaking process recently came to life for 13 4-H’ers who attended the Canton Young Filmmakers Workshop.

With instruction from experienced film students and professionals, teens from George, Pontotoc, Greene and Union counties spent six days conceiving, writing, filming and editing a 3- to 5-minute video. A 4-H Tech Wizard grant funded their participation in the camp. The grant enables children of military families from three areas of the state to attend the camp.

JACKSON – Families can find it difficult to eat healthy and watch their wallets while meeting the demands of everyday life.

Mississippi State University’s Extension Service family and consumer sciences educators can help.

It is during the midsummer months in Mississippi that I most appreciate gaillardia in gardens and landscapes.

This plant makes a fantastic addition to the summer garden. Gaillardia is a native plant with few pests and a palette of bright, warm colors that really liven up the landscape. Adding to its usefulness is the fact that gaillardia is ideal for the entire state of Mississippi. Gaillardia often grows wild in the most neglected and harshest conditions.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Muscadine grape growers can hear about the latest research and see fruit on the vine at Mississippi State University’s McNeill Experiment Station in Pearl River County on Aug. 24.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- A Mississippi State University administrator has been named a fellow in the American Chemical Society’s Agricultural and Food Chemistry Division.

Sam Chang, head of the Department of Food Science, Nutrition and Health Promotion, will be honored at the 246th annual meeting of the American Chemical Society in Indianapolis in September.

STONEVILLE – Irrigation and precision agriculture were hot topics for corn and soybean growers and crop consultants who gathered in Stoneville for a July 18 event.

Mississippi State University scientists and Extension specialists shared current research findings and ongoing efforts to determine the best production methods at the annual Corn and Soybean Field Day.

MSU’s Delta Research and Extension Center hosted the event to address numerous agronomic issues.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Some of the nation’s leaders in the field of robotics will be at Mississippi State University August 11-15 for the first 4-H Robotics Academy.

The workshop is open to 4-H agents, volunteers, teachers and senior 4-H’ers, and will train them in the ROBOTC and NXT-G programming languages.

The 4-H Robotics Academy will be at the Bost Extension Center’s Building B. At the end of the week, participants can take an optional exam for certification by the National Robotics Academy.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Every summer, nature enthusiasts come across baby animals they think are orphans, but most of the time, these young animals have not been abandoned.

Fawn births in Mississippi peak in July and August but many are born from May through October. Wild hogs can have one to three litters per year, depending on circumstances, so it is not unusual for people to encounter young wild animals.

STONEVILLE – Like most Mississippi row-crops struggling to overcome last spring’s challenges, rice will be at the mercy of late-season weather to produce average yields.

Tim Walker, rice specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, said rains kept farmers from timely plantings. After that, cool spring temperatures slowed growth, putting much of the rice crop about three weeks behind schedule.

Once the crop was established, a new problem emerged.

“The biggest challenge has been herbicide drift from other crops,” he said.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Mississippi State University has joined the ranks of conservationists trying to increase the population of one of the most critically endangered species living in North America.

Mississippi gopher frogs are native to south Mississippi, and for a time, the only known colony living and breeding in the wild was living in one Harrison County pond. They have since been found living near three other ponds in the DeSoto National Forest, bringing the total known wild population to an estimated 100-200 gopher frogs.

STONEVILLE – Mississippi State University scientists looking to help catfish producers keep costs low and quality high have found catfish can thrive for the first six weeks after hatching by feeding on naturally occurring zooplankton.

Several aquaculture researchers at MSU’s Thad Cochran National Warmwater Aquaculture Center compared the growth and survival of two groups of recently hatched catfish, called fry. Both groups were raised in ponds, but for six weeks, one group ate commercial feed daily while the other group did not.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – A 4-H program created in the South is training the nation’s next generation of responsible landowners, land managers and wildlife professionals.

The Wildlife Habitat Education Program began in Tennessee in 1978 as a way to teach 4-H’ers the fundamentals of wildlife science and how to manage habitats to benefit different animal species. In addition to general information about wildlife and conservation, participants participate in contests to test their individual knowledge and their ability to work as a team to create a wildlife management plan.

I’ve been getting a lot of questions from homeowners who want to add some color to landscapes in the middle of this hot and humid summer. My answer brings bad news.

It is really tough to add color at this time of year to in-ground planting beds. To be truly successful, plants for summer color need to be planted in the spring to ensure they establish a good root system before the heat of summer sets in.

RAYMOND – Former colleagues, friends and family members used the words loyal, genuine and humble to describe Frank T. “Butch” Withers Jr. during a naming ceremony in Raymond for the center he helped create.

Mississippi State University’s central Mississippi hub for research and Extension was renamed on July 10 for Withers, who served as head of the center from 1996 until his retirement in 2006.