News

By Alicia Barnes
MSU School of Human Sciences

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Aiming to better prepare children for kindergarten, the Starkville Rotary Club is providing literacy assessments to local early care and education programs.

Working with an audience much younger than their usual lunch crowd, Rotary members introduced the Between the Lions Preschool Literacy Initiative to 3- and 4-year-olds at Emerson Preschool, the Brickfire Project and First Presbyterian Church Childcare.

By Meg Henderson
College of Forest Resources

MISSISSIPPI STATE – An international wildlife organization has recognized a Mississippi State University department head for promoting gender and ethnic diversity in natural resource professions.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Wildlife, fisheries and aquaculture students at Mississippi State University recently received top honors from the Southern Division of the American Fisheries Society.

Members of MSU’s student organization affiliated with the American Fisheries Society received the 2012 Outstanding Subunit Award during the society’s regional meeting held February 7-10 in Nashville. To be considered for the award, student chapters throughout the Southeast submitted a list of activities and community service projects performed throughout 2012 and a letter of recommendation.

STONEVILLE – A long-time researcher with Mississippi State University recently received recognition for outstanding career achievements by the Southern Branch of the American Society of Agronomy.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Body Walk, a larger-than-life model of human body systems, got its first new major components since the program started teaching elementary school children in 2005.

Katie Bouchillon, Body Walk coordinator with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, wrote a grant to fund the facelift for the popular children’s health education exhibit.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Two Mississippi State University row crop researchers recently received recognition at a national conference.

MSU weed scientist Jason Bond was named the 2013 Rice Researcher of the Year at the 2013 Conservation Tillage Systems Cotton and Rice Conference in Baton Rouge, held Jan. 31 and Feb. 1. Bond has conducted research with an emphasis on rice, corn and cotton at MSU’s Delta Research and Extension Center in Stoneville for six years.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – A veteran agricultural economist and administrator at Mississippi State University was recently honored for his achievements and distinguished service to his profession.

Bill Herndon, who serves as the associate vice president of MSU’s Division of Agriculture, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine, received the 2013 Southern Agricultural Economics Associate Lifetime Achievement Award.

The award recognizes significant and enduring contributions in scholarship or public service to southern agricultural economics.

Mississippi is going "app" when it comes to attracting tourists to our state's historical and cultural treasures.

Many Mississippians are choosing to stay close to home and explore, while others from outside the state are choosing to visit for our natural resources and literary heritage, as well as to discover the birthplace of America’s music. It is easy in the hustle and bustle to forget the hidden gems just up the road from us.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- As if Mississippi did not already have enough bugs, three new insect pests became established in the state in 2012.

Blake Layton, entomologist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, said the newest insect residents are two flies and one bug: the spotted wing drosophila, the Bermudagrass stem maggot and the kudzu bug.

“All three pests came from Asia and are here to stay,” Layton said. “They are expected to cause significant economic losses in the crops they affect.”

Spotted wing drosophila …

Many Mississippians are anticipating the first signs of the spring show put on in our landscapes by the popular, but nonnative Southern Indica azaleas. These shrubs hide behind their evergreen foliage, waiting to dazzle us with color.

Some gardeners consider native azaleas hard to grow, so we don’t see these varieties as much in Mississippi landscapes. Several species of native azaleas thrive in the Southeast. They may not be as showy as their evergreen cousins, but native azaleas are stunning in their own right.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – After a week of intense competition, 42 animals and their exhibitors qualified for the 44th annual Dixie National Sale of Junior Champions, Mississippi’s premier youth livestock auction.

Thirteen hogs, 12 lambs, nine goats and eight steers were auctioned off at the Mississippi State Fairgrounds’ Trade Mart. For the first time, the animals were sold by the head instead of by the pound to make it easier to calculate multiple buyers’ bids.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Mississippi State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine invites youths with interests in animals and veterinary medicine to apply for a summer camp.

MSU Veterinary Camp will provide a hands-on experience to youths aged 13 to 15. Campers will participate in interactive labs and learn about veterinary medicine from CVM instructors. Students considering a career in veterinary medicine, scientific research or an animal-related field are encouraged to apply.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Experts at Mississippi State University recommend that those planting trees in the landscape this Arbor Day do their homework before getting started.

“Most people see a tree they like and decide that they want to have one in their yard, but that is really not the way to decide what kind of tree to plant,” said John Kushla, an associate Extension and research professor with Mississippi State University’s Extension Service and the Forestry and Wildlife Research Center.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Some Mississippi State University students may be able to eat their own homework as they transform a hayfield into a student farm.

MSU’s newly established student farm is located on about 24 acres of the H. H. Leveck Animal Research Center, commonly called South Farm. The student farm is a project guided by the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, MSU’s Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, and MSU’s Department of Landscape Architecture.

HATTIESBURG -- Mississippi producers expect peanuts to remain a strong commodity in years to come with a steady global demand and new marketing opportunities.

“The demand for peanuts will stay in place because of global economics and population,” said Mike Phillips, plant and soil sciences department head at Mississippi State University. “International markets rely on the United States for this product. And a global population that is expected to exceed 9 billion by 2050 will drive this commodity to be successful.”

MISSISSIPPI STATE – The Mississippi State University Extension Service is strengthening its administrative team by adding a second associate director.

Paula Threadgill, who currently serves as the state program leader for Family and Consumer Sciences and the interim state program leader for the 4-H Youth Development program, will begin her new role as an Extension associate director immediately.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – An aquaculture researcher at Mississippi State University has been named a Fellow of the World Aquaculture Society for his contributions to the advancement of global aquaculture.

By Meg Henderson
MSU Forest and Wildlife Research Center

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Results from a Mississippi State University study of mallard ducks in the state’s south Delta revealed information that could help shape conservation and habitat management programs.

For several years, Brian Davis, assistant professor in MSU’s Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Aquaculture and researcher in MSU’s Forest and Wildlife Research Center, has been studying how mallards use the overall landscape and how the landscape affects their survival.

by Karen Templeton
Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine

MISSISSIPPI STATE – In the midst of one of the country’s worst flu seasons in recent history, work is already well under way to develop next season’s influenza vaccines.

Seasonal flu causes approximately 24,000 deaths and more than 200,000 hospitalizations in the United States each year. Dr. Henry Wan, an associate professor at the Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine, wants to make the development of vaccines a more efficient and economical process.

BILOXI -- Coastal area commodity producers are invited to meet with Mississippi State University experts during the fifth annual Commodity Advisory Council Feb. 25 at the Coastal Research and Extension Center.

Producers will have the opportunity to evaluate and provide direction on Extension programming and research by the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station for their products and crops. Representatives of MSU’s Extension Service and MAFES will discuss current issues and answer questions.