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MISSISSIPPI STATE – Mississippi high school juniors considering medical careers have the opportunity to take part in an intense and revealing summer program at Mississippi State University.

The five-week Rural Medical Scholars summer program at MSU aims to identify the state’s future primary-care doctors and help them become members of the medical school class of 2022.

RAYMOND – Producers and consultants can register now to hear agricultural specialists address the management of a wide variety of pests during a daylong workshop on Feb. 12.

The annual pest management workshop will take place at Mississippi State University’s Central Mississippi Research and Extension Center auditorium in Raymond. Registration is $10 and begins at 8:30 a.m. The program begins at 9 a.m., and sessions will conclude by 4:30 p.m.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – A one-day Mississippi Market Ready Training at Mississippi State University can help business owners capitalize on the “buy local” movement.

On Feb. 13, MSU Extension Service experts will discuss current food policy legislation, building relationships with restaurant managers and chefs, proper packaging and labeling, marketing strategies, pricing structures and regulatory concerns.

This workshop will be at the Bost Conference Center from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Doors will open at 8:30 a.m. for coffee and socializing with speakers and colleagues.

When funny, mold-looking things start growing on landscape trees and shrubs, phones start ringing in Mississippi State University Extension Service offices across the state.

Winter is a wonderful time of the year when many of our deciduous trees drop their leaves, signaling the end of one year with the promise of new growth in the spring. But it’s also the time when home gardeners start to notice other things growing in their gardens. The fact that they are green to gray in color adds a sense of dismay.

GULFPORT -- Horticulture scientists at Mississippi State University are studying and recording the effects of the coastal climate on rooftop gardens in Gulfport.

When they learned the eight green roofs at the Armed Forces Retirement Home were struggling to survive, Christine Coker and Gary Bachman, both horticulture scientists at MSU’s Coastal Research and Extension Center, knew they could help.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Even though she did not grow up on a farm, Dr. Cyprianna “Chipper” Swiderski grew up in the Baltimore area with a love for horses.

That love carried her through two graduate degrees, an internship, a residency and nearly 25 years as an equine practitioner. Now, she is a faculty member in the Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Wildlife groups are sponsoring squirrel hunts for youths in seven counties across Mississippi on Feb. 9 to promote lifetimes of safe and responsible hunting.

HATTIESBURG – Muscadine and grape growers can get hands-on experience at a vine pruning workshop Feb. 12.

The Mississippi State University Extension Service is hosting the Muscadine Pruning Workshop from 10 a.m. to noon at the Beaumont Horticulture Unit, part of the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station.

GOODMAN -- Fruit, vegetable and flower growers can participate in a Jan. 18 field day highlighting sustainable growing practices.

The Mississippi State University Extension Service and several partner organizations will host the event at the Alliance for Sustainable Agricultural Production Demonstration Farm near Goodman from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Growers of all experience levels are welcome. Attendance is free, but pre-registration is required. Lunch and materials will be provided.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Mississippi State University’s Extension Service is seeking donations of adult-sized saddles and two additional safe, gentle horses for therapeutic riding sessions.

The MSU Extension Service’s 4-H Therapeutic Riding and Activity Center, or TRAC, promotes therapeutic riding through educational and research-based activities. Therapy horses must be in good health, have a current negative Coggins test, and be people friendly and extremely calm. English and western saddles are also needed for the program.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Mississippi 4-H is looking for four outstanding young people to work in state government for one week in March during the 2013 legislative session.

The Mississippi State University Extension Service 4-H program and the Extension Center for Government and Community Development are looking for qualified 4-H’ers to serve in the 2013 Legislative Page Internship Program. They will work with the Mississippi Senate during the week of March 11-15.

Color in the landscape can seem like an unachievable goal in the cold and dreary winter months. But it can be reached when gardeners rely on plants with features other than flowers to brighten the areas around homes.

Pyracantha is one of the best choices the home gardener can make for the winter landscape. This plant’s colorful berries can add beauty and interest to any winter setting.

I have made it my tradition for the last couple of years to suggest some New Year’s resolutions for the home gardener to consider.

This year, I’m changing that up a bit by sharing some of my own garden resolutions for 2013. Maybe you will see yourself in some of what I resolve to do next year.

When I speak to garden clubs and other groups, people often comment that my own landscape must be beautiful. I always answer, “Sometimes yes, but sometimes the landscape can look a little weedy and like it needs some pruning.”

There’s nothing like reaching into the toe of a Christmas stocking under your tree and finding a fresh and tasty satsuma orange that came right from your own garden.

I’d like to say I’ve done that, but so far, all the fresh satsumas I’ve enjoyed have come from my friend Terry’s house. Let me just say that I don’t have to worry about scurvy for a while.

Many children are on the move this Christmas season as they go over the river and through the woods to distant relatives’ houses. Travel can be very distressing for little ones who worry Santa might not be able to find them on Christmas morning. Fortunately, Santa has gone mobile with numerous Smartphone apps to help children and their parents stay in contact with the jolly old elf while on the move.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- A gift of butterflies has expanded the collection at the Mississippi Entomological Museum, the result of a life passionately dedicated to collecting the beautiful and fragile specimens.

Ruth Williams of Hattiesburg, widow of James J. Williams, donated Jim’s collection of tropical South American butterflies to Mississippi State University in November. There are about 1,300 labeled and identified specimens displayed in 46 cases.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – A team of Mississippi State University agricultural economists recently received funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to study policies impacting biofuel supply chains.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Did you pick your career or did it pick you?

Long, hot days driving a tractor in a hay field and crack-of-dawn cattle roundups helped me decide that farming was not the life for me. Instead, I opted for an education that allowed me to get an 8-to-5 job in an air-conditioned office and earn a regular paycheck.

In college, I majored in communication with an emphasis in public relations, never intending to stay in my hometown of Starkville. I was going to a big city with all the excitement and money that I thought it would offer.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Clarissa Balbalian’s job presents a new mystery every day.

“If you are analytical and like solving mysteries, this is the perfect job,” said Balbalian, the manager of Mississippi State University’s plant diagnostic lab. “I like working with people and helping them find solutions to their problems, too.”

Balbalian studied biology at Longwood University in Virginia, and then earned her master’s degree in forest pathology at West Virginia University.

By Kaitlyn Byrne
MSU Ag Communications

MISSISSIPPI STATE – This New Year’s eve, millions of Americans will resolve to improve their health is by eliminating tobacco products, such as cigarettes and chewing tobacco, from their lives.