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volume 4, issue 3

Engrossed in Gosse
Entomology Prof Preps to Pen Biography
By Jamie Creamer

Gary Mullen looks over reproductions of the insect watercolors Gosse painted in Alabama.

have learned a long time ago never to say “never.” That was what he said back in 2004, when his 597-page tome, “Medical and Veterinary Entomology,” rolled off the presses. That was his first book, he said, and that would be his last. Been there, done that, he said. Yet now here the Auburn University entomology professor is, just itching to sit down and start pounding out book number two. This one will be worlds different from “Entomology”—which, incidentally, now ranks as the top textbook used in medical and veterinary entomology classes in colleges and universities across the country.

Gary Mullen should

This second Mullen book will be a biography, one recounting the early years in the life of 19th-century British naturalist and artist Philip Henry Gosse. By the time of his death in 1888, Gosse was recognized as one of the leading entomologists, zoologists and marine biologists of the day in Europe. But the foundation for the selftaught naturalist’s scientific achievements very well may have been laid in 1838, while he worked an eightmonth stint as a private schoolmaster in Dallas County, Ala. “The time he spent in Alabama was a very formative period in Gosse’s life,” Mullen says. “It really launched his career as a naturalist.”

page 11

page 6

Courtesy, Canadian Museum of Nature, Ottawa

As a scientist and avowed history buff, Mullen has always been intrigued by naturalists of the 1800s—especially those with American connections and, even more so, the one with Alabama connections. In the past couple of years, Mullen has become consumed with all things Gosse, going so far as to take a year’s professional leave from his teaching and research responsibilities at AU to travel internationally in his quest to trace Gosse’s story. His fascination with Gosse was sparked in the 1980s, when he read
(continued on page 2)

the college of agriculture at auburn university

Major-league Design
Keever’s advanced landscape design class at Auburn University, the final assignment of the semester was a particularly challenging one: Take a rough, three-and-a-half-acre piece of property and transform it into a beautifully landscaped spread that would complement and enhance the new home being built on the site. And this wasn’t just any new home, either. It was the 20,000square-foot dwelling that former AU pitching ace and now Atlanta Braves right-hander Tim Hudson and wife Kim are building in southeast Auburn. The sports-star status of the client and the sheer scope of the project could have combined to make this an intimidating mission. But the nine students rose to the test, as was evidenced by the home run after home run they hit when presenting their final design plans to the Hudsons.

Hort Majors Pitch Landscaping Ideas to Braves’ Tim Hudson For the nine students in Gary
By Jamie Creamer

“These kids—they’re on top of it, man,” Hudson said during a break between student presentations on an afternoon at the end of fall semester 2006. “The ideas they’ve come up with are pretty amazing.” And the missus agreed. “It’s amazing; we can’t believe it,” Mrs. Hudson said after reviewing the fifth of the nine designs. “Every one that leaves, we say, ‘OK, that’s it; that’s the one we’re going with.’ “It’s almost like we hired nine landscape professionals to come in and landscape our property. They’re that good.” It was about a year ago that Keever caught wind of the Hudson’s plans to build a home in Auburn, and as soon as he heard that news, those mental wheels of his started spinning. “The situation had the potential of being a tremendous opportunity
(continued on page 2)

Discussing landscape plans for the Hudson’s home are, from left, Kim Hudson, Gary Keever,Casey Owen and Tim Hudson.

Contents
Names and Faces Engrossed in Gosse .........................1 Major-league Design .......................1 Worldwide Reach.............................3 Fillmer Puts Experience to Work ...4 Gifts Fund Scholarships ..................20

Roosevelt Street Diary ........................5 Extending the Knowledge ...................6–7 Departments Now ................................8–9 ASK .........................................................10–11 Research News ....................................12–13 Purely Academic ..................................14–15 New Developments, Old Friends .......16–17 Calendar of Events ...............................18

names and faces
helpful assistance of a graduate student I had at the time, Steven Murphree—started investigating.” What he and Murphree learned was that the paintings—yes, the originals—were in England, in the possession of Gosse’s great-granddaughter, Jennifer Gosse. That thought so consumed Mullen that, in the early 1990s, he traveled to England for the express purpose of visiting Ms. Gosse and possibly seeing the paintings firsthand. And, oh, did he see them. Bound in an artist’s sketchbook that Gosse intended to publish as illustrations in “Entomologia Alabamensis” once he returned to England, the paintings were “extraordinary,” “masterful” and “some of the finest, if not the finest, scientific depictions of insects ever produced,” Mullen wrote in a special 2001 Auburn University Libraries brochure on the libraries’ possession of color transparencies of all of Gosse’s insect paintings. (Though Ms. Gosse didn’t take Mullen up on a suggestion that the paintings be donated to the Auburn University Libraries Special Collections and Archives, she did agree to place the paintings on indefinite loan with the British Library. “At least we know they’re protected,” Mullen says.) Keever says the Hudsons could choose one student’s plan, but more likely, the final product will be a composite of some of the couple’s favorite features from one or more designs. The students admit that, in the beginning, the project bordered on the overwhelming. “The property was huge, and initially we had problems with the scale and trying to fit everything on one sheet of paper,” says Smith. “That was definitely a challenge.” For Owen, the real test came at a later stage. “Trying to come up with enough plant material for three and a half acres was the tough part,” he says. “After a while, you run out of plants.” It definitely wasn’t a project to procrastinate on. Students estimate that from start to finish—which included the initial site inventory, client interview, preliminary and final design—they invested as much as 70 or 80 hours in the project. “I must have spent a solid two weeks on it,” Smith says. “It was the most time-consuming project I’ve ever done. I ended up doing a lot of outside research for it.” Fortunately, the Hudsons were sheer pleasure to work with, the students say. “They were very personable and relaxed,” Owen says. “They were good

Gosse’s “Entomologia Alabamensis” is on exhibit at the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art at Auburn University through spring 2008. For details, go to www.jcsm.auburn.edu.
As his knowledge about and fascination with Gosse grew, Mullen began to entertain the idea of writing an article, maybe two, to submit to the quarterly history magazine “Alabama Heritage.” “But the more research I did, the more I became convinced that this story merited more than just snippets in magazine articles,” Mullen says, and so he committed—to himself if not to a publisher—to producing a biography of Gosse’s early life that includes full-color renderings of Gosse’s superb Alabama insect artistry. That much is certain. What is far less clear is just when the Gosse book will roll off the presses. “There’s no way I can begin to estimate even when I’ll begin to write it,” Mullen says. “There’s so much more research to be done.” And so little time to do it. During his year of professional leave, Mullen traveled extensively on Gosse research missions. He made one trip to London to study Gosse’s paintings at the British Library; one to Newfoundland, where Gosse lived for eight years after emigrating from England as a teen; two to Quebec to visit the Canadian Museum of Nature where some of Gosse’s other paintings are housed; and two to Ottawa, at putting all of us at ease and making us comfortable.” Senior Katie Baba agreed. “The first time we met Tim and Kim, I was quite starstruck and had a tough time interviewing them like they were ‘normal’ clients,” Baba says. “But I got much more at ease because they were so very nice and down to earth.” That a Major Leaguer would build a house in Auburn may seem strange, until you consider that Hudson hails from Lee County’s Salem community and his parents are still there, that both Hudson and his wife are AU alums (he’s a ’97 grad and she where the naturalist lived immediately before arranging the schoolmaster job in Alabama. And in addition to the international travels, Mullen made the rounds in the state, delivering Gosse lectures in 10 Alabama cities as part of the AU Center for the Arts and Humanities’ 2006 Draughon Seminars in State and Local History. In those presentations, he covered basically the time in Gosse’s life that he plans to cover in the book: “from birth to the time he got on that boat (in 1838) going back to England,” Mullen says. But now that he has his full-time responsibilities back as an entomology professor and Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station researcher at AU—not to mention his recent undertaking to make publisher-requested revisions in and updates for the second edition of “Medical and Veterinary Entomology”—he has had to relegate his Gosse fetish largely to an after-hours and weekend project. “It’s frustrating,” Mullen concedes. “It may take retiring to have the time.” Mullen, the state media’s go-to man on insect-transmitted diseases, joined the Auburn faculty in 1975.

names and faces

Worldwide Reach
By Jamie Creamer

’83 Alum Rises to Leadership Role in Poultry Industry
the only thing Randall Ennis knew of poultry when he enrolled in Auburn University in the fall of 1979 was that he liked his chicken fried. Poultry science wasn’t even on his potential-major radar screen. How things can change. Today, the ’83 AU poultry science graduate is chief operating officer of Aviagen Inc. For those not in the poultry-industry loop, Aviagen is the top poultry-breeding company on the planet. Through a comprehensive global network of distributors, Aviagen delivers day-old breeder chicks for the production of broiler chickens to more than 250 poultry companies in 85-plus countries. In fact, almost half of the world’s broiler chickens are derived from Aviagen stock, and Aviagen produces the breeders for every poultry integrator in the U.S. And as COO, Ennis is responsible for it all—for managing and coordinating everything that goes on at all Aviagen production facilities worldwide. That includes joint ventures, four regional offices and hundreds of hatcheries, feed mills, laboratories, distribution centers and production farms in the U.S., the U.K., the Netherlands, Hungary and, most recently, Brazil. His is a new post, created last year by the Board of Directors to pull together the individual units of Aviagen Group in order to enhance the company’s products and service to customers and maintain and strengthen its position as industry leader. The role, he says, is “all-encompassing.” “It revolves around being an effective leader and encourager within the organization,” Ennis says from his Huntsville office. “But it’s also the visionary for where the company needs to be for the future, the sometimesmediator between the Board of Directors and the operational divisions, a face to the customers and the one who interacts daily with operations around the world to assure that we are tracking to our plan.” When he arrived as a freshman at Auburn 28 years ago, his life was headed in a much different direction, toward pre-veterinary medicine. But within a year, the Trussville native had changed his mind. “There was an oversupply of vets at the time, and, to be honest, I just didn’t want to stay in school for eight years,” Ennis says.

About

Courtesy, Canadian Museum of Nature, Ottawa

(GOSSE, from page 1)

“Letters from Alabama,” a book of personal observations and experiences Gosse penned while living in the Black Belt region of west-central Alabama. So mesmerized by Gosse’s writings was Mullen that he did a little research and found that, drawing on a skill he learned from a father who earned a living painting miniature portraits, Gosse produced 48 pages of intricate watercolor illustrations of 230 insects—mostly butterflies—that captured his attention as he explored the state’s countryside during his brief time here. “I began to wonder what happened to these paintings,” Mullen says. “Out of curiosity, I—with the
(MAJOR-LEAGUE, from page 1)

Randall Ennis

photo courtesy of Chasity Nichols

“I liked the complexity and diversity of the industry and all the opportunity it offered. I knew I wanted to be a part of it.”
He did want to stay in the College of Agriculture, though, so he started checking out his options. “I looked at ag economics and ag engineering and animal and dairy sciences, but none of them were ‘it,’” he says. “I didn’t know what I was looking for.” His future path was determined when family friend Paul Jones, owner of a poultry supply company in Ennis’ hometown, encouraged him to consider the poultry side of agriculture. “I was open to trying it,” Ennis says. He took one introductory poultry course and never looked back. “It was just something I felt comfortable with, and it was exciting,” Ennis says. “I liked the complexity and diversity of the industry and all the opportunity it offered. I knew I wanted to be a part of it.” While at Auburn, Ennis worked at the poultry research lab on campus and was a member of the poultry science club, even serving as vice president at the national level. After graduating, he considered remaining at Auburn to get his master’s—but not for long. “I was ready to get out of school, plus, I was interested in the production/integration side of the business,” he says. “I wanted the actual dealing with the live bird, growing it, feeding it and processing it.” He got that wish with his first job out of Auburn: working on the processing line at a Gold Kist plant in Trussville. “I had high aspirations—I knew I wanted to be a leader in the industry—but I also knew that meant I had to first get the experience at the ‘grassroots’ level,” he says. In 1985, he left Gold Kist for ConAgra, where he worked first as a poultry specialist in broiler and breeder production and then proceeded to move up the ladder: to quality assurance director, then to live operations manager and on to processing operations manager for ConAgra’s pre-pack plant in Gainesville, Ga., before being named division manager for all operations at the Gainesville facility.

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was ’96), that they have three young children—5, 2 and 1— and that Auburn’s city school system consistently ranks among the best in the state. “We’d traveled so much in the last six or seven years with baseball, so once our oldest started kindergarten, we knew it was time to pick a spot and settle,” Mrs. Hudson says. “And all signs pointed to Auburn.” For now, the Hudsons are living in Peachtree City, Ga., where they have been since the Braves acquired Hudson from the Oakland Athletics in 2005. They hope to be in their new home by Christmas. a

for our students, so I followed up on it,” Keever says. Through a mutual acquaintance in the AU Athletic Department, Keever contacted the Hudsons. “I emailed them and basically told them about the class, and how its goal is to give students real-life experiences in landscape design, from start to finish of a project,” Keever says. “Fortunately, they were wide open to the idea.” Mrs. Hudson says it was a nobrainer. “We have zero experience when it comes to landscaping, and to be honest, we hadn’t gotten past the house enough to even begin thinking about what we’d do with the lot around it, so it sounded like a good idea to us,” she says. “Plus, we just thought it would be kind of fun to see what the (students) would come up with.” All of the students took advantage of the natural elements on the site, but they took different approaches to the details. Horticulture senior Ian Smith says his major theme was relaxation and outdoor living spaces, while senior Casey Owen says he focused on water. “My design had a waterfall in the backyard,” Owen says. “They really liked it, but it’s pretty expensive, so I don’t know if they’ll go for it.”

Ag Illustrated Subscriptions
Ag Alumni Association members will automatically receive a copy of Ag Illustrated. To become a member, go to www.ag.auburn.edu/adm/ alumni/. However, if you’re not a member and want a copy of the publication or have a friend or relative who would like to receive a free subscription, fill out the form below and mail it to: Ag Illustrated 3 Comer Hall Auburn, AL 36849

Or subscribe online. Go to www.ag.auburn.edu/agillustrated and click on the “Subscribe” button. Name: ______________________________________________ Address: ____________________________________________ City/State/Zip: _______________________________________

His goal of being a leader in the industry was starting to be realized even at the age of 32. He had stepped up another rung, to division manager responsible for all operations at the Gainesville plant, when, one day in 1995, his phone rang. “It was a call from a headhunter, that Ross Breeders in Huntsville was looking for a vice president of operations,” Ennis says. Ennis landed the job with Ross, a breeder supplier to customers in the U.S. and Canada. “I had some doubts, because it was a tremendous responsibility, and I knew there would be an enormous learning curve,” Ennis says. “But I’ve never been one to back down from a challenge, and this gave me a chance to be involved in a totally different segment of the poultry industry.” Four years later, when Ross Breeders merged with international poultry breeder Arbor Acres and formed Aviagen as the parent company, Ennis was named president. In that capacity he was responsible for all North America operations. Now, as Aviagen COO, his territory is the world, and he stands poised to take the corporation to unparalleled heights. “The vision is to continue to grow as a company through superior products, service and innovation,” Ennis says. “We are a company with great people, and we have the science, technology and infrastructure to provide quality products—not just now, but for many years to come.” a

2 AGIllustrated

Summer 2007 3

names and faces
Fillmer Puts Experience to Work for Auburn
By Jamie Creamer

holds a key post in the new Auburn University Natural Resources Management & Development Institute today, but Larry Fillmer’s connection with Auburn University almost didn’t happen. In fact, his first application for admission to the freshman class of 1965 met with rejection. “Auburn was accepting only a limited number of students from outside Alabama at the time, and I was from New Jersey,” the Birminghamborn but Jersey-raised Fillmer says. Though he had been accepted at both Northwestern University and American University in D.C., the teenaged Fillmer long had had his heart set on Auburn. “I had two uncles and an aunt who had all gone to Auburn, so there were strong family ties drawing me here,” Fillmer says. School officials finally gave him the nod and he was a stellar student, graduating with high honors and as the 1969 outstanding graduate from the AU College of Business. An Air Force ROTC cadet throughout his four years, he also graduated with a regular commission in the Air Force. “This was right at the peak of the Vietnam War, and it was my assumption that when I left Auburn I would go to Vietnam to serve,” Fillmer says. But the Air Force had other plans. They sent him to the University of Alabama, to earn a master’s degree in industrial management. From there, he was assigned to an office in charge of replacing the Air Force’s aging base-level computer systems. He completed his Air Force commitment in 1976 as a captain and then entered the private sector, working the next 10 years for South Central Bell and AT&T, playing a key role in managing the divestiture of the Regional Bell Operating Companies from AT&T. In 1985, he joined Amdahl Corp., a fully integrated provider of mainframe computers and services, where he rose through the ranks in a variety of executive management and marketing positions. When Amdahl became a wholly owned subsidiary of Fujitsu, one of the world’s largest electronics firms, several years later, Fillmer managed the transition of its legacy customer-service and computer businesses. When he wrapped up his corporate career in December 2003, Fillmer was president and CEO of Amdahl IT Services and Fujitsu Technology Solutions.

He

Working It Out
Long Hours Pay the Way for Ag Econ Major
By Jamie Creamer Larry Fillmer

Institute Chief Focuses on Structure
Larry Fillmer, executive director of the newly created Auburn University Natural Resources Management & Development Institute, faces a challenging task: to pull together agriculture- and natural resource-related units at Auburn—including the College of Agriculture, the School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, the Alabama Cooperative Extension System and the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station— under one umbrella, all with the mission of addressing some of the most pressing issues facing citizens of the state and nation. The creation of an institute to focus on issues related to Alabama’s agricultural and natural resources was the key recommendation that came out of a 29-member, broad-based Commission on Agriculture that President Ed Richardson established in 2004 to advise him on the future direction agriculture and associated programs at AU should take. Richardson in December 2006 appointed Fillmer to lead the institute, citing his extensive experience at managing change in large organizations as a major qualification. Two of Fillmer’s first orders of business were to oversee the selection of a permanent name for the institute and to establish two centers of excellence in the alternative energy and water resources arenas. Those two entities, the Center for Bioenergy and Bioproducts and the Water Resources Center, are up and running, thanks in large measure to the efforts of faculty members Steve Taylor and Graeme Lockaby, appointed by Richardson to lead the centers. “The focus in both is to help economic development in more rural areas of the state, Fillmer says. “We want to start helping Alabamians ” understand new potential for natural resources that can continue to make their land and their operations successful. “That’s part of my responsibility: If we’re not doing things to retain jobs in the farming and timber industries, I won’t be doing my job. ” During the next few months, Fillmer will be conducting an organizational analysis of the four units encompassed by the institute. To that end, he will be assembling a small team made up of representatives from each unit and led by the College of Business’s management department. The team will work with him to find ways to consider an appropriate structure for the institute and to examine areas where efficiencies can be achieved. Fillmer says he came into the job with but one preconceived idea on how the institute should be organized, and that is that the structure of the institute itself “should be fairly lean and agile. ” For more information on the institute, go to www.nrmdi.auburn.edu.

Jacob Gorman

After more than 30 years of corporate life, he and his wife, Dale, headed back east. “Our daughter and son-in-law and, at the time, four grandchildren were in Auburn,” the now-grandfather of six says by way of explanation. But grandkids weren’t the only draw to the Loveliest Village. “I wanted to work at Auburn,” Fillmer says. “Any success I have had in my career was based on the foundation I received here at Auburn University, and I was anxious to make a contribution back to the university for what it had provided me.” His first job in Auburn was as executive director of a new AU outreach initiative known as the I-85 Corridor Alliance. In March 2005, he left that post to take a permanent position with AU as a development officer, working in major gifts and corporate relations. Auburn President Ed Richardson tapped him to be executive director of the Natural Resources Management & Development Institute in December 2006. “Dr. Richardson and I had several conversations about my desire to use my corporate background to assist the university,” the high-energy Fillmer says. “I am thrilled that I’ve been given this opportunity. My enthusiasm is unbounded.”

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gets a kick out of it every time somebody says something like, “Just wait till you have to get out in the REAL world and get a REAL job…” “I say, ‘Yeah, I can’t wait,’” the spring graduate in agricultural economics says. “I can’t wait, because then, I won’t have to work but half as much and half as hard, and I’ll make a lot more money!” He wasn’t completely kidding. In his five years at Auburn University, Gorman’s time has revolved around carrying a full course load and working at least two jobs to boot. Sometimes that’s posed, shall we say, educational challenges—like the time he was enrolled full time and working as both a technical assistant at the College of Veterinary Medicine and a night-shift waiter at Applebee’s. The restaurant’s late hours were the problem. “I wouldn’t get out of there till 2 in the morning, and that didn’t cut it with school,” he says. “I didn’t have time to study; I didn’t even have time to sleep.” In fact, it was while he was working that vet school/restaurant rotation that he “made history” in a microeconomics class taught by ag econ alumni professor Patricia Duffy. “I fell asleep during a test,” Gorman admits. “Just sat right there and went to sleep. Dr. Duffy said it was the first time she’d ever known anybody to do that.” A year or so ago, tiring of the late-night restaurant scene and long-

Jacob Gorman

ing to have more control over his hours, Gorman turned entrepreneur and launched Tiger Cuts Lawn Care and Outdoor Services, a lawn maintenance business that keeps him hopping weekday afternoons after classes. He also traded his vet school gig for weekend jobs as a ranch hand on two private cattle operations. He works basically from sunup to sundown Saturdays and Sundays.

“I don’t stress out over things. Things are what they are.”
You’d think the intense work and school schedule and school performance pressures would have taken their toll on body and mind. But Gorman has just taken it all in stride. “I never feel overwhelmed by what I’ve got going on,” he says. I don’t stress out over things. Things are what they are.” Gorman claims that he prefers being swamped to being idle and that

he would work—though maybe not quite as much—no matter what his situation. (“Working while you’re in school builds a lot of character and makes you more responsible overall,” he contends.) But the fact is that Gorman has put in 30- and 40-hour work weeks on top of 15-and 16-hour course loads largely out of necessity. Quite simply, his family lacked the financial resources required to send a kid to college, and, for Gorman, scholarships weren’t an option. (“My grades,” he says by way of explanation.) He’s gone the distance on student loans, a couple of grants and his employment income. “I’m basically a cheapskate; I don’t spend much money,” Gorman says. “So it’s worked out OK.” Though in his undergraduate studies, Gorman never has been exactly an academic standout, his determination and dedication to getting an education have been impressive. Says ag econ’s Duffy, “Jacob’s a student who has had to work hard at off-campus jobs just to stay at Auburn. He values education enough to be willing to juggle these outside commitments to pursue a degree.” Gorman originally hails from Wisconsin but moved with his family to Dadeville his sophomore year in high school. “That’s how I wound up at Auburn; it was right down the road,” he explains. It also offered agriculture, which is all Gorman was interested in majoring in. He’d grown up “off and on” on his grandfather’s dairy farm; he’d worked on a ranch in Wyoming for a year out of high school; he used to “rodeo”; and his goal in life is to one day own a ranch and raise bucking horses. So it just made sense for him to major in agriculture. He chose ag economics, first, because of the wide variety of career options that such a degree would offer him and, second, because of how his brain works. “The way my mind thinks, I like to rationalize and reason through math problems and economic models, so it was the best fit for me,” Gorman says. Despite his claims of longing to be out in the real world, he will be enrolling next in AU’s agricultural economics’ master’s program—again, because of the advanced career opportunities he’s trusting it will afford. He’s also trusting that grant money will come available for a graduate assistantship. “But, hey, if that doesn’t come through, I’ll just keep working and taking out loans,” he says. “I’ll be fine. Whatever happens, I’ll be fine.”

Roosevelt St.

diary

Richard Guthrie

Spring has sprung on the Auburn campus. The azaleas and other flowers have been unusually beautiful and the warm weather is bringing everyone outside, especially the students. So what else is new? Well, one of the most exciting developments is our new president. The AU Board of Trustees announced back in March that our new president is Dr. Jay Gouge, an AU alumnus and College of Agriculture graduate. Dr. Gouge received his bachelor’s degree in 1969 and his master’s in 1970 from AU, both in horticulture, then went on to Michigan State University where he earned the Ph.D. degree, also in horticulture. We look forward to Dr. Gouge’s official arrival in July! Another thing that’s new here in Auburn this spring is the effort to get our message out to prospective students through our Web site. These days many students (and their parents) begin their college search on the Web and we want our College of Agriculture Web site to grab their attention. To help with that, and to help with our many other Web needs, we recently added a Web master, Mark Bransby, who is working to transform the College of Agriculture Web site into THE Web destination for prospective students—and anyone else who visits our site. Check it out for yourself at www.ag.auburn.edu. And something that’s not new to Auburn, but is a sure sign of spring and summer on the Loveliest Plains, is the opening of The Market at Ag Heritage Park. We kicked off the market season in April, are holding three special spring market days in May (see the calendar for dates), then our regular weekly season begins June 7 and runs through Aug. 30. We invite you to come out and enjoy Ag Heritage Park while buying fresh foods and produce.

Dr. Richard Guthrie
Dean, College of Agriculture Director, Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station

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Summer 2007 5

extending the knowledge
News from the Alabama Cooperative Extension System— “Your Experts for Life. For more information on these or ” other Extension-related stories and projects, visit www.aces.edu.

extending the knowledge
Environmental Science Education Center Overview:
• The Environmental Science Education Center will be 17,500 square feet of interior space covering two floors. It will be constructed of stone, concrete, wood, glass and steel. • An additional 1,050-square-foot observation deck will be nestled in the treetops and accessible from the main floor. • Two large laboratory classrooms will support the 4-H Center’s Environmental Field School, along with shared laboratory preparatory area. Both laboratories will have direct access to the outdoors so children can explore outside and come inside to laboratories filled with technical and audiovisual support . • A large multifunction room seating 400 and three seminar rooms will be available for classes, meetings and conferences. • Water collected from the building’s roof and stored in a cistern will be used for the toilets throughout the building and for the fire protection sprinkler system. • Displays featuring lake and land habitats will be featured in the corridors and lobby adjacent to the laboratory areas. • The building is designed to meet the latest in air quality and indoor environment guidelines and to be energy efficient utilizing natural light for daylighting.

Notes on a Biodiesel Revolutionary
By Jim Langcuster

out to become a revolutionary. As a matter of fact, the 27-year-old Redstone Arsenal engineer is about as conventional as one can be. Except for a brief time attending college in Florida before transferring to the University of Alabama at Huntsville to complete his engineering degree, Hall has lived his entire life in the Tennessee Valley, hanging out with friends and family and pursuing the middle-class dream with his wife and 3-year-old daughter. So what turned Hall into a revolutionary? In his case, frustration with spiking gas prices, coupled with a passion for tinkering with technology—technology that, as it turns out, has put him squarely on the road to energy self-sufficiency. He’s not alone. Hall is one of legions of Americans from sea to shining sea fed up with gasoline prices and foreign energy dependence. But instead of tossing tea (or, perhaps in this case, gasoline pumps) into Boston Harbor, these revolutionaries are resorting to another time-honored American tradition—home brewing. A passion for self-sufficiency seems to run deeply in Hall family veins. Lance’s cousin Mark Hall, an agent with the Alabama Cooperative Extension System who specializes in alternative energy technology and education, welcomes the spiking gasoline costs precisely because they’re spawning a rising generation of revolutionaries, like Lance, who are determined to take matters in their own hands. The two recently teamed up to provide other aspiring revolutionaries with the knowledge to chart their own course toward energy independence. In Lance’s case, the first step involved acquiring a car equipped to run off biodiesel—no small task,

Lance Hall never set

considering that he needed at least a four-door vehicle to transport his daughter. Expense was another big factor. Lance didn’t want to squander too much money on what began as an experiment. After careful research via the Internet, he settled on a 1982 Volkswagen Jetta purchased off eBay—one he hauled back home from Oklahoma with a trailer. By Lance’s own account, it was “a sight to behold.” “Only one door handle worked,” he recalls, “and you had to pry your finger into the holes where the handles once were to open the doors.” The radiator also leaked, but the engine ran fine, and that really was what mattered. “As long as I could get my biodiesel to run in that engine, I’d be fine,” Hall says. Since then, Lance has been brewing his own biodiesel using waste vegetable oil from a local cafeteria and cafe. He strains the oil himself and stores it in a can for future use. Then, he mixes the strained oil with methanol to produce the reaction required to convert it into methyl ester—biodiesel—with glycerin as a by-product. Lye also is used to control pH levels and to speed the reaction. Once processing is completed, the next step involves deciding on the type of mix to use with his car. Until recently, Lance has stuck with a B50 blend—50 percent biodiesel and 50 percent conventional diesel—though he’s considered going to B75 and even B100 as the warmer months approach. Hall has never regretted his decision to become a biodiesel revolutionary—something that he “absolutely loves to do.” Even so, he offers a few words of caution to the novice. One of the

Lance Hall with his biodiesel car.

biggest challenges for biodiesel do-ityourselfers often involves finding a dedicated source of waste vegetable oil. Hall gets his from a local school cafeteria and bowling alley snack shop. Most large restaurants, though, prefer to work with commercial companies whom they pay to carry off large quantities of the waste oil. Most have neither the time nor the inclination to work with do-it-yourselfers. There’s also the safety issue. Training in handling hazardous materials is an absolute necessity for prospective home brewers, Lance says. Methanol is especially flammable and should never be exposed to sparks or lit cigarettes—wearing protective clothing, especially gloves and a face shield, is a must when processing biodiesel. Disposing of processing byproducts also is a challenge for some, though many have begun using it to make everything from fire-starter logs to soap. While biodiesel is prized by many users for the cleaner engines associated with its use, one unwelcome side effect—its tendency to gel faster than conventional diesel, especially on cold mornings—has proven to be a limiting factor for some. The good news is that as interest in this alternative fuel grows, a number of companies have begun producing additives tailored especially for biodiesel.

Mark also cautions that biodiesel is no panacea in terms of energy self-sufficiency. While biodiesel offers plenty of promise, he says it ultimately will fill only a tiny fraction of these needs. Despite its reputation as a clean fuel, biodiesel has some environmental drawbacks. Users are still burning hydrocarbons—still contributing to greenhouse gases, though at a substantially reduced level. And, just because you have a vehicle equipped to run off biodiesel doesn’t mean you’ll be permitted to drive it. For example, in New York, just buying and registering a biodiesel vehicle is well-nigh impossible because the state adheres to California emission standards, among the most stringent in the nation. Even so, the two Hall cousins are pressing ahead. Their first training session for prospective biodiesel revolutionaries was held March 31 at the Tennessee Valley Research and Extension Center in Belle Mina. Despite its pitfalls, both Halls stress that biodiesel undoubtedly has a role to play in America’s quest toward energy independence.

Construction Under Way on 4-H Environmental Science Education Center
Construction on the Alabama 4-H Environmental Science Education Center in Columbiana is under way for the first sustainable building in Alabama to teach environmental education. The 17,500-square-foot building will be the first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)– commissioned environmental education building in the Southeast and will be an example of sustainable awareness nationally. “Alabama 4-H will be bringing national prominence to the state with this new facility,” says Jack Odle, chairman of the Alabama 4-H Club Foundation Inc., the nonprofit fund-raising arm of Alabama 4-H. The LEED Green Building rating system is the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high-performance green buildings. LEED gives building owners and operators the tools they need to have an immediate and measurable impact on their building’s performance. LEED promotes a wholebuilding approach to sustainability by recognizing performance in five key areas of human and environmental health: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality. To attain gold LEED certification, buildings must achieve a total of 39 points. The Alabama 4-H Environmental Science Education Center will qualify for 45 points. With this new facility, which is expected to open in November 2007, Alabama 4-H’s Natural Resources and Environmental Education program will be better equipped to teach Alabama youth and educators about protecting and enhancing the environment in a facility unlike anything currently in Alabama. The $7-million facility is being constructed with funds raised by the Campaign for Alabama 4-H through the Alabama 4-H Club Foundation Inc. More than 500 corporations, foundations, organizations and individuals have supported the Campaign for Alabama 4-H to date, giving $5.9 million. The campaign also supports 4-H programs statewide.

Alabama 4-H Golf Classic To Be Held June 14 at FarmLinks
The third annual Alabama 4-H Golf Classic will be held Thursday, June 14, once again at FarmLinks Golf Club near Sylacauga. In its first two years, the Classic has raised nearly $40,000 through the generosity of golfers and sponsors to support Alabama 4-H youth programs and activities. FarmLinks Golf Club (www. farmlinksgolfclub.com) is an 18-hole championship course created by Pursell Technologies Inc. The course combines recreation with environmental harmony as it winds through forests, valleys and meadows that were once pastures and crop land. The shotgun start, four-person scramble will tee off at 11 a.m. Cost is $200 for individual players and $750 for a “Health” Clover sponsor, which is one four-person team. A number of sponsorships are available. Cart and greens fee, range balls, snacks and beverages and a brunch and awards reception are included in the fee.

4-H/FFA COLLECTOR’S KNIFE AVAILABLE—Alabama Farmers
Cooperative Inc. has joined with W.R. Case & Sons to make a collectible Alabama 4-H/FFA project knife, with a percentage of the proceeds going to 4H and FFA. The knives, which went on sale in April, are sold at farm cooperative stores in Alabama. Only 1,000 of the specially-designed knives will be made.

Rising Energy Costs Putting Squeeze on Poultry Producers
Alabama’s poultry producers increasingly are being squeezed by rising energy expenses, including both propane and electricity, which amount to more than $100 million annually. But help may be on the way. According to Gene Simpson, a College of Agriculture agricultural economics professor and Alabama Cooperative Extension System economist,
6 AGIllustrated

a 40-cent-per-gallon increase in propane prices reduces net farm income in the state by $25 million. Auburn University researchers and Extension professionals are evaluating a number of ways poultry producers can reduce their energy costs. Retrofitting older houses with spray foam insulation is one option they are evaluating, says Jim Donald, an AU biosystems engineering professor and Extension engineer. Preliminary research shows retrofitting houses with the spray foam insulation resulted in a 35-percent savings in fuel costs. Similar savings have been seen using fiberglass batt insulation.

Another way to reduce heating costs that is being evaluated is the use of alternative fuels, such as reclaimed motor oil, to provide heat. Donald says that studies using motor oil showed this approach saved significantly on fuel costs and increased flock performance. Researchers also are evaluating the use of other alternative fuels, including poultry litter and wood pellets. AU’s National Poultry Technology Center is coordinating these efforts to assist the state’s poultry growers.

CLASSIC GOLF DAY—Players in the 2006 Alabama 4-H Golf Classic enjoyed a beautiful day of play for a good cause.

HEAT-SEEKING CAMERA—Jim Donald, BSEN professor, demonstrates the use of an infrared camera to measure heat losses from older poultry houses on Ken Taylor’s farm during a Poultry Waste Initiative update tour in February.

The Classic is coordinated by a committee of 4-H Regional Extension agents and the Extension Development office. For more information on how to sign up, go online to www. aces.edu/fourh/2007-4-H-Classic. pdf. Or, contact Beth Lawrence at 334-844-2247 (batkins@aces.edu).
Summer 2007 7

depart me n t s n o w
News and information from the College of Agriculture’s academic departments. More information on the departments and their activities is available from:
Agricultural Economics & Rural Sociology Curtis Jolly, Interim Chair 334-844-4800 www.ag.auburn.edu/agec Agronomy & Soils Joe Touchton, Head 334-844-4100 www.ag.auburn.edu/agrn Animal Sciences Wayne Greene, Head 334-844-4160 www.ag.auburn.edu/ansc Biosystems Engineering Steve Taylor, Head 334-844-4180 www.eng.auburn.edu/programs/bsen Entomology & Plant Pathology Art Appel, Chair 334-844-5006 www.ag.auburn.edu/enpl Fisheries & Allied Aquacultures David Rouse, Head 334-844-4786 www.ag.auburn.edu/fish/ Horticulture David Williams, Head 334-844-4862 www.ag.auburn.edu/hort Poultry Science Don Conner, Head 334-844-4133 www.ag.auburn.edu/poul

departm ents now
Faculty and Staff Accomplishments
Carol Johnston, professor of fisheries and allied aquacultures, was featured on National Public Radio’s SoundClips Series. Johnston studies fish acoustics as part of her research on spawning behavior of fishes. Listen to the sound clip at www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6923782&ft=1&f=1057. Jamie Creamer, communication and marketing specialist in the Office of Ag Communications, won a bronze award for writing from the Association for Communication Excellence in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Life and Human Sciences, known also as ACE. The award was given for her story on College of Agriculture alumnus Wade McCollum that ran in the summer 2006 issue of Ag Illustrated. This is the second year that Creamer has been honored with an ACE writing award. A photograph taken by David Cline, Extension specialist in fisheries and allied aquacultures, placed second in the Nactus Award competition, a prestigious photography contest sponsored by Exo Terra, a company specializing in terrariums and landscape materials for pet reptiles and amphibians, to find the best reptile and amphibian photos worldwide. Winners are selected by a worldwide vote and Cline’s photo was a very close second to the winner. His photo will be published on the 2007 Exo Terra calendar. View the results at www. nactusaward.com/. Cline sends his thanks to everyone who voted. Jorge Mosjidis, professor of agronomy and soils, was recently recognized by Mike Johanns, secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, for outstanding service as a member of the Plant Variety Protection Board from 2004 to 2006. Mosjidis also will speak at the XI Symposium on Forage Crops’ “Systems of Sustainable Production and Utilization of Forage Crops” meeting to be held in Serbia in May and June. In addition, he will be included in the 25th anniversary edition of the Marquis Who’s Who in the World book, which will be released in November 2007. Jessica Stanford, a 2006 graduate of Auburn with a double major in accounting and agricultural business and economics and a minor in agricultural leadership has joined the staff of the Business Office, which serves the College of Agriculture and the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station. She will serve as an accountant for the office. A resident of Athens, she has worked with the Alabama Farmers Cooperative and Aviagen of North America. While a student at Auburn, she was an Ag Ambassador officer, a member of Alpha Zeta and Gamma Sigma Delta honoraries and was named to the Who’s Who Among American College Students in 2005-2006. She also was Miss Rodeo Alabama in 2004. Bob Taylor, Alfa eminent scholar of agricultural and public policy and professor of agricultural economics, testified before the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Agriculture/Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy and Poultry in April concerning livestock market concentration and captive supply issues. Captive supply is the ownership or control of cattle by packers more than seven days before slaughter. Legislation is pending in Congress to limit captive supply. Joey Shaw, professor of agronomy and soils, was awarded the Citation of Excellence for Associate Editors by the Soil Science Society of America in appreciation for his work as an associate editor for the Soil Science Society of America Journal. Shaw also was promoted to full professor this year. John Fulton, assistant professor in biosystems engineering, was recognized by BSEN students as the Outstanding Biosystems Engineering Faculty Member. Fulton is a highly acclaimed researcher working in the areas of irrigation management and precision agriculture. He teaches two BSEN courses, volunteers his time to teach other courses for the College of Engineering and School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences and is faculty adviser to the student branch of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers. Fulton was honored at the AU Engineering Honors Reception held in March in Auburn. Steve Taylor, BSEN professor and department head, visited Washington, D.C., several times during January and February for activities related to Auburn’s Bioenergy and Bioproducts Center. Taylor is also serving as Director of the center. These visits included meeting with Assistant Secretary of Energy Alexander Karsner and Undersecretary for Agriculture Gale Buchanan along with staff members of the House and Senate agriculture committees. On Feb.1, Taylor also testified before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources in their Transportation Biofuels Conference. Auburn was one of only two universities to be invited to testify before the committee, with MIT being the other university. The farms of Ken Taylor and Dennis Maze formed the stage for recent visits by AU President Ed Richardson; Executive Director of the AU Natural Resources Management & Development Institute Larry Fillmer and others to observe projects funded by the Alabama Poultry Waste Initiative. The tours were held in February and led by agricultural economics pro- WINNING STUDENTS—Several agronomy and soils students won awards fessor Gene Simpson, BSEN professor Jim Donald and BSEN agricultural at the recent ASA meetings. Among them were, from left, Dexter Watts, program assistant Jess Campbell. The Taylor and Maze farms were just two Michael Mulvaney and Matt Levi. locations that were featured on the February tour.

Student Accomplishments
The Auburn University Livestock Judging Team participated in the Dixie National Beef Cattle Judging Contest held in Jackson, Miss., in April. A total of 14 universities participated in the contest, and Auburn’s team finished third in the Continental Breeds Division, ninth in Oral Reasons and 11th overall. Team members Chris Britton, Hope Burge, David Daniel, Clair Jones, Katie McMurtrie, Jessica Peacock and Molly Riddell—all animal science majors—spent some 70 hours practicing for the event by judging 39 classes and giving 24 sets of oral reasons. Several graduate students in the Department of Agronomy and Soils won awards in the soils poster division of the Agronomy Society of America Southern Branch 2007 annual meeting held in Mobile during February. Fernando Ducamp and Matthew Levi won first place and second place, respectively, in the Soils Division poster competition. Mike Mulvaney, Dexter Watts and Ellen Knight won first, second and third place, respectively, in the Soils Division oral competition, and Monica Saini and Leonard Githinji won first and second place, respectively, in the Crops Division oral competition. Levi, who is working on his thesis with agronomy and soils professors Wes Wood and Joey Shaw, also received second place for a poster at the Graduate Student Research Forum 2007 here at Auburn. There were 40 posters submitted from master’s and Ph.D. students campus-wide. Two fisheries and allied aquacultures students—Evan Durland and Alison Hutson—won awards at the recent 2007 aquaculture meeting. Durland won first place for his oral presentation on egg quality and fry production in catfish hybrids and Hutson won second place for her oral presentation on evaluation of LHRHa on male channel catfish hybrid fry. Fang Zhu, a graduate student in entomology and plant pathology, won second place and David Stormer, a fisheries and allied aquacultures graduate student, won third place in the science division of the 2007 AU Graduate Student Research Forum Committee competition. Leah Rigdon, a graduate student in agricultural economics and rural sociology, won second place in the humanities division of the competition. Clay Campbell, a student in biosystems engineering, was recognized as the Outstanding Biosystems Engineering Student at the AU Engineering Honors Reception held in March in Auburn. The winner of this award is chosen by faculty. The award recognizes outstanding scholarship among BSEN students. BSEN hosted the 2007 American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers Southern Region Student Rally during March. This event drew more than 120 biosystems engineering students and faculty from nine universities including Texas A&M, Oklahoma State, LSU, Florida A&M, Auburn, Georgia, North Carolina State, Kentucky and Virginia Tech. BSEN students also participated in a springtime ritual—the annual lawnmower clinic conducted by BSEN students. On a Saturday in March, the students serviced 110 lawnmowers to help Auburn residents prepare for the upcoming grass-cutting season. The funds raised from this event—more than $2,500—were used to help underwrite the cost of the regional ASABE student rally. BSEN students and faculty participated in the College of Engineering’s annual E-Day recruiting event. Billed as the largest single college recruiting event in the state, E-Day attracted more than 1,500 middle and high school students to the Auburn campus in February.

POULTRY WASTE UPDATE—A group of Auburn administrators and scientists visited poultry farms involved in the Alabama Poultry Waste Initiative tour in February. Pictured, from left, are Executive Director of the AU Natural Resources Management & Development Institute Larry Fillmer, AU Professor of Agricultural Economics Gene Simpson and AU President Ed Richardson.

FOREST HARVESTING DEMO—Students at the ASABE Student Rally watch the latest in forest harvesting equipment operate at Caterpillar’s Forest Pro Training Center.

SHELL CENTER DEDICATED—The Auburn University Department of Fisheries and Allied Aquacultures’ 1,600-acre North Auburn Upper Fisheries Research Station has been renamed the E.W. Shell Fisheries Center in honor of the long-time department head who was highly instrumental in building AU fisheries into a world-class program. Shown at the unveiling of the sign, which was done in a dedication ceremony held in April, are Shell (second from left) with his family.

WINNING LOOKS—This photo, taken by AU faculty member David Cline, won second place in the prestigious Nactus Award international photography contest.

3JENSEN

RETIRES…SORT OF—Former College of Ag Dean and Alabama

Agricultural Experiment Station Director John Jensen retired in April after more than 30 years of service to Auburn, but he is far from leaving the scene. Jensen, who spent much of his career in the Department of Fisheries and Allied Aquacultures, was head of the department from 1996 to 2002 and then served as interim dean and director for the College and AAES from 2002 to 2004. Though he is officially retired, he is still working for the department. In one capacity, he will be leading a task force to look at strengthening the region’s aquaculture industry to compete in the global fish market. In another capacity, he will be working to increase scholarship funds for fisheries students and is helping write the department’s newsletter. In his “spare” time, Jensen will also be hiking the Appalachian Trail this summer. Pictured at a retirement fish fry, during which he was named a professor emeritus, is Jensen (right) and fisheries and allied aquacultures department head David Rouse.

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Summer 2007 9

ASK|agriculture • science • knowledge
News from the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station’s affiliated school and colleges.

ASK|agriculture • science • knowledge
for special projects at the college, followed by an Exhibit Hall reception that evening with special guest Coach Tommy Tuberville. On Friday, Back-to-College Night included a centennial historical program and video, in addition to special performances by the University Singers and Auburn Knights Orchestra. Educational sessions ran the entire weekend, from Thursday evening through Sunday morning. For more information, visit www.vetmed.auburn.edu or contact the College of Veterinary Medicine at 334-844-3699. confines of the garden. Invasive plants are a serious economic burden to taxpayers and understanding the mystery of how introduced plants become invasive is a major research priority. In collaboration with the Auburn Center for Forest Sustainability they began studying naturalized wisteria plants in Auburn and Columbus, Ga. Almost immediately they encountered a problem over what to call plants in the wild. “There are certain characteristics of the flowers or vines that will easily tell Japanese and Chinese wisteria apart,” explains Jennifer Trusty. “The successful escapees—what we see on the roadsides every day—were not clear-cut members of either species.” To determine the identity of the escaped wisteria, the scientists turned to a type of DNA fingerprinting called restriction site analysis that can exactly identify each species. They examined the plants in their native countries of Japan and China and then tracked them to plant nurseries, residential neighborhoods, old churchyards, urban greenspace corridors and finally into native habitats throughout the southeastern U.S. To their surprise they learned that nearly all the invasive wisteria, as high as 96 percent in some areas, were hybrids between the Chinese and Japanese species. Amazingly, the same pattern appeared in each area they examined. The plants that people planted in their yards and parks in Charleston, S.C., Tallahassee, Fla., and Columbus, Ga., were cultivars of one or the other species, but the ones that actually escaped and survived in the wild were hybrids. “Clearly, in this case, an invasive species was not born but made,” says Goertzen. Hybridization between Chinese and Japanese cultivars, taking place each spring in parks and gardens all over the Southeast, may hold the key to the invasive success of wisteria. Hybrid plants often encompass the morphological and ecological traits of both parental species, which is likely increasing wisteria’s ability to occupy new habitats. In addition, hybrids may have different susceptibilities to herbivores or disease than their parent species. The Auburn researchers have found that nearly all wisterias naturalized in the Southeast are hybrids and they believe this hybridization has been a significant step in the evolution of this invasive species. Their research is published in a forthcoming issue of the journal Weed Research.

College of Human Sciences
June Henton, Dean 334-844-4790 www.humsci.auburn.edu

Lamke Named Distinguished Alumnae at Texas Tech
Leanne Lamke, professor and head of the College of Human Sciences Department of Human Development and Family Studies, was honored recently by her alma mater, Texas Tech University, as a distinguished alumnae for family studies. Lamke earned her master’s degree in 1978 and the Ph.D. in 1979 from Texas Tech’s College of Human Sciences and was described by Texas Tech as “the rarest of professionals within higher academia” for her exceptional research and teaching accomplishments. Lamke, who joined the Auburn faculty in 1985, was a faculty member at Arizona State University for three years and then a faculty member at the University of Arizona for three and a half years before coming to Auburn. Her research has examined dynamics and decision making in abusive relationships, the link between interparental violence and wife battering, relationship stability, effective teaching strategies in higher education and, most notably, the myriad factors that influence adolescent identity development and sex role orientation. Lamke, who is known for her exceptional teaching program and for being a strong mentor to her students, has won numerous prestigious professional awards, including the Gerald and Emily Leischuck Endowed Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching. She became head of HDFS in August 2006.

Henton Honored by Girl Scout Council
June Henton, dean of the College of Human Sciences, was one of five local women honored in March as a Woman of Achievement by the Concharty Girl Scout Council. The council honored Henton and her four fellow award recipients for their service to family, career and community and for setting an example of excellence. Henton, who joined the Auburn faculty in 1985, earned her June Henton Ph.D. in family social science from Minnesota in 1970. She has also served as an associate dean and professor at Oregon State and an associate professor at Texas Tech. “Dr. Henton is known for a visionary approach to leadership that has created a profoundly positive legacy at Auburn,” said a council spokeswoman of her selection. Among her many accomplishments that were highlighted at the awards ceremony, Henton was commended for her leadership in founding the Auburn University/World Food Programme War on Hunger Campaign, which has led to more than 50 universities joining together in an alliance know as Universities Fighting World Hunger. She also was cited for initiating the International Quality of Life Awards, begun in 1994 and held each year at the United Nations, to honor people and partnerships who have made significant contributions to individual, family and community well-being locally and around the globe, and for starting the CHS@AU in Italy program, Auburn’s only permanent overseas campus for study abroad. Also noted was Henton’s leadership in establishing the Women’s Philanthropy Board, which encourages women to reach their full leadership potential, become independent financial decision-makers and donors and serve as mentors for future generations of philanthropists. In addition, Henton was cited for her ability to develop valuable collaborations with other public- and private- sector entities, which have expanded opportunities for students. “June Henton is an accomplished woman whose entire professional career has been characterized by creativity and vision, hard work, passion and high ethical standards,” said the spokeswoman, “– a real Woman of Achievement.”

Stewart W. Schneller, Dean 334-844-5737 www.auburn.edu/cosam

College of Sciences & Mathematics

College of Veterinary Medicine
Tim Boosinger, Dean 334-844-4546 www.vetmed.auburn.edu

CVM Celebrates 100 Years of Annual Conference, DVM Degree
The Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine hosted its 100th Annual Conference April 12-15, with about 2,000 veterinarians, faculty, students, exhibitors, special guests and spouses gathered for seminars, entertainment and alumni class reunions. The conference, labeled the biggest non-football weekend of the year in Auburn, was held at The Hotel at Auburn University and Dixon Conference Center and at CVM’s Wire Road campus. Not only does 2007 mark the 100th Annual Conference, but also the 100th year of the DVM program at Auburn. “The teaching of veterinary medicine at Auburn actually dates back to 1892,” says Gary Beard, assistant dean of AU’s veterinary college, “making it the oldest veterinary program in the South and the sixth oldest in the country. “Established as a college in 1907, more than 5,700 doctors of veterinary medicine have graduated since the first degrees were officially awarded in 1909,” he adds. “The year 1907 also marked the beginning of the college’s first Annual Conference, so the 2007 event was an extraordinary time for all alumni and students. It’s the largest educational conference held each year in Auburn.” Conference participants earned up to 21 credit hours of continuing education and gained valuable insight from a wide variety of experts during general sessions, labs, master classes, and in four specialty tracks—small animal, equine, dental and large animal reproduction. This year’s keynote speakers included Jim Fowler and AU Veterinary Dean Emeritus J. Thomas Vaughan. Fowler, one of the world’s best known naturalists, presented information about wildlife to the American public on television for more than 40 years. He first served with Marlin Perkins as cohost and later became host of Mutual of Omaha’s “Wild Kingdom,” and also hosted Mutual of Omaha’s “Spirit of Adventure.” Fowler’s 10 a.m. presentation, “Where the Wild Things Are,” in the conference center auditorium, was part of Friday morning’s opening session. Vaughan, who earned his DVM from Auburn in 1955 and served as CVM dean from 1977 to 1995, launched the opening session with a special rendition of the history of Auburn’s College of Veterinary Medicine. One unique aspect of this year’s 100th Annual Conference was that all of the 50 speakers are connected to Auburn as either DVM graduates or former or present faculty, residents or interns. “The college has produced some of the finest veterinary professionals in the country, so we brought several back to be a part of the 100th celebration,” Beard says. A charity golf tournament was held during the conference to raise funds

Arboretum Namesake Dies
In Memorium: Donald E. Davis

Donald E. Davis

Donald E. Davis of Auburn passed away Feb. 21, 2007, at the age of 91. A distinguished professor of ecology at Auburn, Davis earned his bachelor of education degree from Eastern Illinois State University in 1938 (and an honorary Ph.D. in 1956), his master’s from Ohio State University in 1940 and the Ph.D. from Ohio State in 1947 before coming to Auburn. He was named Outstanding Teacher at Auburn University in 1954, having received a similar honor at Ohio State University in 1947. Davis was an alumni professor from 1968 to 1974, and was named the Auburn University Distinguished Graduate Lecturer in 1977. He received the Weed Science Society of America Outstanding Teacher Award for 1978 and was also named a Fellow in the American Academy for Advancement of Science that same year. Davis led the efforts to establish the Arboretum in 1963. He first proposed the idea of an arboretum during a School of Agriculture seminar in 1959. In recognition of his 35 years of dedicated service to the university, the garden was named the Donald E. Davis Arboretum of Auburn University at a rededication ceremony in May 1982. In 2004, Davis was on hand to dedicate the Founders’ Oak Historical Marker during the annual Arbor Day Celebration. His devotion to the arboretum and enthusiasm for nature continued over the years through constant support and frequent visits to the Arboretum. “Few people have the local name recognition that was accorded Dr. Davis,” said COSAM Dean Stewart Schneller. “He was consistently warmly received by all when he visited the arboretum. To have his name associated with COSAM and its arboretum is truly a lasting honor.”

School of Forestry & Wildlife Sciences
Richard Brinker, Dean 334-844-1007 www.sfws.auburn.edu

OUTSTANDING GRAD STUDENTS— The School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences held their annual awards banquet in April. Among those honored were Ph.D. student Ram Pandit (left) and master’s student Jackie Crim, both of whom won Drummond Fellowship Awards and were named among AU’s Top Ten Outstanding Graduate Students.

AWARDS APLENTY—Several School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences graduate students recently were honored for their academic accomplishments. Pictured, from left, are Diane Styers, who won first prize for the best AU Earth Day poster; Chi Zhang, winner of a John Miller Bradley III Fellowship and who was named the SFWS Outstanding International Graduate Student; Jennifer Mitchell, winner of a James Floyd Goggans Graduate Fellowship; Rob Holtfreter, winner of the James Henderson Dukes Fellowship; and Eve Brantley, who also won a Bradley Fellowship. Not pictured is Lauren Billodeaux who also won a Dukes Fellowship.

COSAM Scientists Unwinding the Wysteria Mystery
By Tim Meeks

MCDONALD PRESENTS LECTURE—Mackey McDonald (center, standing), president, CEO and chairman of the VF Corp. was the Science of Design Key Executive-in-Residence for the Department of Consumer Affairs in March. He made a presentation entitled Innovation and Marketing Excellence. The VF Corp is the largest apparel manufacturer in the world with 2005 revenue of $6.5 billion. VF brands include Wrangler, Lee, Riders, Rustler, Vans, Reef, Napapijri, Kipling, Nautica, The North Face, JanSport and Eastpak.

A drive on a spring day in the southern United States will be filled with the sight and scent of wisteria blossoms. Although a favorite floral emblem of the South, most of the wisteria seen in the southern U.S. is actually from Asia—Chinese and Japanese wisterias that were introduced to the United States in the early 1800s as ornamental plants and became naturalized along forest edges and riparian areas. AU post-doctorate researcher Jennifer Trusty and Assistant Professor Leslie Goertzen, both in COSAM’s Department of Biological Sciences, were interested in learning how these horticultural plants were able to escape the

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resea rc h n e w s
News from the AAES and other Alabama land-grant-related entities.
(AALGA, from page 12)

Master Gardeners—
By Charles Mitchell

Master Gardeners Contributing to Scientific Knowledge
The Alabama Master Gardener volunteer training program has been around for almost 25 years but it has really taken off in the last 10 years, and it is becoming more and more valuable to Alabama’s research and extension programs. Through Master Gardener programs, folks who love to garden have an opportunity to learn the science behind their hobby, develop new skills and share this information with others. In return, county Extension offices get welltrained volunteers to help answer thousands of gardening questions that keep the phones ringing. These knowledgeable volunteers are also helping conduct research projects on outlying units of the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station. Over the years in my role as an AAES researcher and Extension specialist, I have recruited a number of Master Gardeners to help conduct applied research at E.V. Smith Research Center in Shorter, the North Alabama Horticultural Research Center in Cullman and at the Sand Mountain Research and Extension Center in Crossville. The first big project was a garden tillage study to measure the effects of different garden tillage effects on soil properties and vegetable crop yields. Master Gardeners in Lee and Cullman counties conducted three years of research and learned that fast-spinning rear-tined garden tillers, disks behind tractors and tractor-mounted tillers destroy soil structure and create severe hardpans in sandy, Coastal Plain soils. They had no negative effect on the deep, loamy soils of the Appalachian Plateau. After harvesting vegetable crops at E.V. Smith Research Center, Lee County Master Gardener Gita Smith concluded, “Double-dig, double yield.” Double-digging is a gardening technique to break through hardpans with minimal soil disturbance. It is very labor-intensive but it works! Last year, Master Gardeners in Cullman and Marshall counties became interested in the effect of all those high phosphorus-containing fertilizers on blooming plants. All fertilizers sold for “blooming plants” have a high middle number in the fertilizer grade such as 15-30-15, 10-52-10 and 4-12-8. Some have names such as “bloom booster,” “colorburst,” “super bloom,” “flowering plant food.” Soil test records indicate that 60 percent of the gardens, lawns and shrubs in Cullman and Marshall counties have soils that test “high,” “very

Master Scientists?

Marshall County Master Gardeners, from left, Jerry Kirby and Jerry Wenker look over the plots at Sand Mountain with Urban Extension Regional Agent Eddie Wheeler, right.

high” or “extremely high” in phosphorus. No additional P (phosphorous) is recommended. Master Gardeners were curious: Will additional P really increase blooms on flowering plants if the soil is already high in P? Tests at Cullman and at Sand Mountain on summer annual flowering plants such as zinnia, marigold, celosia and petunia answered this question. In fact, additional P had absolutely no effect on blooming plants in soils testing “very high” in P. Plant growth was controlled totally by how much nitrogen was applied. Excessive P only adds to environmental concerns. Gardeners also included an organic treatment in the test which was no better or worse than the other treatments. This test is being continued in 2007 at Cullman and Sand Mountain. Without the help of Master Gardeners, these types of tests would not be conducted. In addition to helping the AAES conduct good, applied research, the Master Gardeners learned that conducting replicated field research is not easy. Plots have to be hand weeded, watered and mulched. Fertilizers have to be weighed and applied precisely to each plot at the correct time. Counting blooms and rating 40 plots every week is not an easy job but if good research is to be done, someone has to do it. Results of the garden tillage experiments and the phosphorus for blooming plants experiments can be viewed as Extension Timely Information sheets at: www.aces.edu/timelyinfo/Ag%20Soil/2003/November/s-03-03-TILLAGE.pdf and http://www.aces.edu/timelyinfo/Ag%20Soil/2007/March/s01-07.pdf
Mitchell is a professor of agronomy and soils and the Extension agronomist for soils for Alabama and also one of several AU professors and Extension employees who help train Master Gardeners in the state.

AALGA: How It All Began
By Jim Allen

of such an organization. Thus, the Alabama Agricultural Land Grant Alliance was formed in June 2000 by the signing of a memorandum of understanding by the presidents of the three universities and by the agricultural research directors of the three institutions, reflecting their Congressionally mandated responsibility for administration of landgrant funds. AALGA functions through the agricultural research directors of the three universities working as a committee, and through working faculty task groups. At the outset, there was no guarantee that AALGA would secure outside funding, and AALGA administrators agreed to carry on the joint project regardless of whether such funding was received. However, Alabama’s legislature has proven very supportive in providing an annual appropriation, with the Alabama Commission on Higher Education serving as the fiscal agent. AALGA program funds are used solely to support joint projects drawing on the combined expertise of scientists at the three universities. The AALGA mission is to unite agricultural research faculty of Alabama A&M, Auburn and Tuskegee universities in a common cause of sustaining and furthering Alabama agriculture and the agriculture-related economic, environmental and food interests of all Alabamians. As part of this mission, agricultural researchers and administrators of Alabama A&M, Auburn and Tuskegee universities and their agricultural research/experiment stations pledge to work together to:
• help Alabama producers develop new products, find new markets, and enhance their income by valueadded processes; • safeguard the health and well-being of Alabama citizens by developing better ways to ensure the safety and quality of their food, air and drinking water; • protect our environment and create new economic opportunities by developing new ways to recycle and utilize agricultural wastes; • jointly look for innovative ways to further address the concerns and improve prospects of our rural and urban communities and both small and large farm operators.

SCIENCE BRIEFS
Playing Up the “Good” Bacteria
There are “bad” bacteria and there are “good” bacteria, and it’s that latter category that AAES plant pathologist Joe Kloepper has spent the past three decades studying, particularly as it relates to crop health. In his work at Auburn, Kloepper has led the way in identifying, and naming, a group of naturally occurring soil microorganisms that are highly beneficial to plants. They’re known as plant growthpromoting rhizobacteria, or PGPR, a now-widely used acronym that Kloepper coined nearly 30 years ago to describe the root-colonizing bacteria. The research has shown that not only do PGPR enhance plant growth and hardiness, as the name implies, but they also protect agricultural and horticultural crops against many diseases. In the U.S., some commercial products containing PGPR—they may be labeled as containing “biocontrol agents”—are already available to farmers and homeowners, but Kloepper says with increased concern over the environment and pesticide use, more should reach the market in the next five years. These studies have concentrated on removing expensive fish meal from shrimp feed and replacing it with high-quality plant proteins, namely U.S.-grown soybean and corn gluten meal. Results to date have been excellent, showing that plant proteins can effectively replace fish meal in commercial shrimp feeds without compromising production performance at all. Besides helping shrimp farmers, such findings should benefit U.S. grain producers by boosting demand for their products. The research Davis and others have done over the past five years to help producers improve feed management and nutrition has yielded dramatic results in shrimp ponds. Alabama producers have gone from annual average harvests of 4,000 pounds per acre of 17-gram shrimp to 7,000 pounds per acre of 20-gram shrimp.

research news
Early study results show that, during their first semester at school, the students gained an average of 2 pounds and had significant increases in body fat—from 14.2 percent to 15.1 percent for males and from 22.2 percent 23.2 percent for females. The students will return for their third and final weigh-in of the year in late April. Study results will be used to develop intervention strategies aimed at helping freshmen avoid changes in weight and body fat content, the researchers say.

Zeroing In on Grape Genes
Muscadine vines grow fine in Alabama, and Les Goertzen is out to track down why. In a two-year AAES study that could have major implications for Alabama’s burgeoning wine and grape industry, the AU plant evolutionary geneticist aims to pinpoint the genes responsible for the drought resistance, heat tolerance and disease resistance that are characteristic of muscadines and other wild native grapevine species. Ultimately, the genes underlying these hardier traits could then be used to improve the grape cultivars that Alabama wineries attempt to grow now, often with limited success. The result could be a boon to a grape, wine and related tourism industry that, despite less-than-ideal conditions, is growing in the state, Goertzen says. According to the 25-member Alabama Wineries and Grape Growers Association, the number of wineries here stands at seven.

The Freshman 15: Fact or Fiction?
It’s known as the “freshman 15”—the 15 pounds college students supposedly pack on in their first year at school. But is the phenomenon for real? And if it is, what causes it? Those are questions at the heart of an AAES study by Auburn University nutrition scientists Sareen Gropper and Claire Zizza. They’re monitoring the weight and body-fat composition of 25 female and 10 male freshmen at Auburn and asking the subjects to track what and how often they eat, who they eat with, where they eat, how often they consume alcohol, how much they exercise and how much sleep they get.
NOW AT WHOLE FOODS— Auburn University shrimp nutrition research, conducted primarily in small coastal ponds and in tanks in greenhouses at Gulf Shores, yields about 22,000 pounds of shrimp annually. These shrimp are now sold at Whole Foods Market in Mountain Brook. Whole Foods is the world’s largest organic grocer. Revenue from the shrimp sales is plunged back into research.

Helping Growers Net More Profit
Over in west Alabama in recent years, about a dozen farmers have been raising saltwater shrimp in ponds filled with low-salinity groundwater. To help reduce production costs and help the farmers improve their production, AAES aquatic animal nutritionist Allen Davis and others at Auburn have been conducting a number of research studies.

Saving Water in the Process(ing)
Nine billion gallons of water. Based on national averages, that’s how much Alabama’s poultry processing companies are estimated to use every year as they go about the business of processing broilers into products for human consumption. Getting more accurate water-use data from these processors and garnering information that can be used to help them find ways to reduce water use and wastewater discharge are goals of a new AAES-funded study by AU poultry scientists Pat Curtis and Sarge Bilgili. The study should result in significant conservation of a valuable natural resource, less pollution and cost savings for processors. The volume of water that processors nationwide use rose sharply in 1998 when new federal food safety regulations mandated that the companies increase the number of washers in their plants in order to ensure that poultry carcasses are clean.

Editor’s Note: This summer will mark the seventh anniversary of the founding of the Alabama Agricultural Land Grant Alliance, the historic partnership of Alabama’s three land-grant universities—Alabama A&M, Auburn and Tuskegee universities. To commemorate AALGA’s success, we asked Jim Allen, editor of AALGA’s newsletter—AALGA Report—to share some history of the organization. Here’s his article.

With solid support from the Alabama Legislature over these six years, AALGA has sponsored a significant and growing number of research and outreach projects focusing on problems and issues important for Alabama agriculture, for its rural communities and for the overall economy of the state. All AALGA-facilitated projects draw on the combined expertise of scientists from all three universities, including faculty of the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station. The origins of AALGA are intimately intertwined with the framing and passage of a statewide bond issue. In November 1998, the citizens of Alabama voted 2-to-1 to approve a

$52 million agricultural development bond initiative aimed at building new and updating existing agricultural research, diagnostic and educational facilities for the state. The bond issue had near-unanimous support from agricultural organizations throughout the state, a historic first in the state. Bonds were issued starting in 2000. In the process of meetings aimed at shaping the agricultural bond issue, top agricultural administrators of Alabama A&M, Auburn and Tuskegee universities also began to envision another history-making step. Their goal became the formation of a partnership organization that, without affecting the autonomy of the three universities, would recognize their

AALGA LEADERS—The leadership of the Alabama Agricultural Land Grant Alliance includes, from left, research directors McArthur Floyd from Alabama A&M, Richard Guthrie from Auburn University and Walter Hill from Tuskegee University. Standing at right is Ron Shumack, executive secretary of AALGA.

shared responsibilities and enable them to work more effectively together on a continuing basis to meet Alabama’s agricultural- and natural resource-related needs. While some joint research projects were already under way, it was felt that a more formal alliance could facilitate more effective joint efforts, synergistically focusing the individual faculty and institutional strengths of the three universities in multi-faculty teams to identify and promptly

respond to the most critical needs of Alabama. In addition, such a partnership organization would provide new opportunities for leveraging additional federal and other funds for Alabama. The agricultural research directors at the three universities, in a series of meetings over a two-year period, hammered out an agreement spelling out the purposes, guiding principles and general operating procedures
(continued on page 13)

In carrying out this mission, AALGA member institutions also pledge to achieve efficiencies through cooperative work on projects, to consult on research decisions that affect Alabama and to jointly seek innovative research funding opportunities. For more information on AALGA, visit its Web site at www.aalga. org or to get our newsletter, The AALGA Report, contact me at aalgareport@aalga.org.

12 AGIllustrated

Summer 2007 13

purely a c a d e m i c
News from the College of Agriculture’s Student Services program. For more information on these stories or on educational opportunities in the College, contact Don Mulvaney, coordinator of leadership and student development, or Bill Hardy, associate dean, at 334-844-2345 or visit www.ag.auburn.edu/.

purely academ ic
ties. While working in the dean’s office, he became the “go to” person for anything that required a creative mind and touch. That high level of productivity served as the basis for his selection as the Auburn University Student Employee of the Year in 2005. Donald Mulvaney was honored by the College of Agriculture students through his receipt of the SGA Outstanding Faculty Member Award. Mulvaney has been a member of the Auburn faculty since 1983, coming here from graduate school at Michigan State University and undergraduate study at the University of Illinois. Over the years, he has taught several courses in animal sciences and, more recently, has developed an emphasis on leadership development. His efforts in this area have led to the implementation of a leadership minor in the college that is serving as a model for other programs across campus. He is a member of the AU Center for Leadership Connections Council and Executive Board, which recently established a ropes course for student leadership development and designed extracurricular leadership development programs and a faculty-staff leadership development program. For the past three years, Mulvaney has served as faculty fellow associate director for the Biggio Center for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning. He serves on the University Educational Technology Advisory Committee and the College of Education Dean’s Council for the Teaching Profession. He is a member of several professional organizations and serves on teaching committees for the American Society of Animal Science and the North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture. He is also a two-time recipient of the College of Ag Dean’s Award for Teaching Excellence. In addition to advising animal science majors, Mulvaney has also taken on additional responsibilities in the past year as adviser for agricultural communications students. Mulvaney is known for his sincere concern that students learn and become successful in life.

Student, Faculty Awards Announced
By Bill Hardy Associate Dean

The Next Generation
By Deborah Solie
College of Agriculture Student Recruiter

Agriculture:
Be a Part of the

Six of the top students graduating from the College of Agriculture were honored during recognition programs at the conclusion of spring semester. In addition, the SGA Award for Outstanding Faculty Member was awarded to a senior member of the faculty. Rebecca Bearden was the recipient of the President’s Award, while Jill Ward received the Comer Award. Josh Smitherman was recognized with the AU Student Government Association’s Outstanding Student Award, and the Dean’s Award for Academic and Professional Excellence was presented to two exceptional students—Rachel Bearden and Lauren Littleton. The Claude Hardee Memorial Award was received by Devin Dotson. Don Mulvaney, an associate professor of animal sciences and coordinator of the College’s Leadership and Student Development program received the AU Student Government Association’s Outstanding Faculty Member Award. The President’s Award is presented each academic year to a graduating senior who has excelled both academically and in extracurricular activities. Rebecca Bearden, from Maplesville, was selected to receive this award as the College of Agriculture representative. Bearden graduated summa cum laude with two bachelor’s degrees–one from the College of Agriculture in agricultural communications and the second in wildlife sciences from the School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences. She will also complete a minor in English. After graduation Bearden will work as a wrangler/guide for Yellowstone Wilderness Outfitters in Gardiner, Mont. In September she will return to the family ranch in Maplesville to assist in management of that operation. In addition, she will work as a freelance writer for Southeast Farm Press and begin to study for the LSAT exam in preparation for her entrance into law school. Bearden was also selected to be the College of Agriculture marshal at spring semester commencement exercises. Jill Ward was honored through receipt of the Comer Award for Excellence in Agricultural Sciences. This award, which was established in 1923 by former Gov. B.B. Comer, annually recognizes three outstanding graduates–one in agriculture, one in natural sciences and one in the
14 AGIllustrated

JillWard

DevinDotson

JoshSmitherman

RebeccaBearden
physical sciences. To be eligible for the award, students must have exceptional academic records in an area of study that places heavy emphasis on the sciences. Ward’s exemplary record in such courses as chemistry, biology, organic chemistry, anatomy and cell biology helped her earn the Comer Medal recognition. Ward, a native of Woodland, graduated summa cum laude with her bachelor’s degree in animal sciences pre-vet. She will move to Louisville, Ky., upon graduation to pursue a Ph.D. in anatomical science and neurobiology at the University of Louisville Medical School. Throughout Ward’s career as an Auburn University student she has excelled in all areas of her academic work. Her exceptional grasp of coursework impressed several of her professors enough that she was awarded a fellowship and invited to work with them in their cellular microbiology research. She became so involved in this research that, as a junior, she turned down her admission to the Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine so that she could complete her research work. She has worked as an editorial assistant for the Journal of Veterinary Pathologists and as an undergraduate teaching assistant for anatomy and physiology labs. Josh Smitherman, from Clanton, graduated summa cum laude with a degree in Horticulture and was rec-

LaurenLittleton
ognized with the SGA Outstanding Student Award. This recognition was earned because of his exceptional academic achievements and because of the outstanding contributions that he made to the programs of the College of Agriculture and Auburn University. After graduation, Smitherman will likely return home to help manage a family owned peach operation. The Dean’s Award for Academic and Professional Excellence was established in December 2004 to recognize a graduating student each semester who has excelled in all areas, including academic performance, professional activities and service to the College. There were so many outstanding students who graduated spring semester that two were designated to receive the award. First is Lauren Littleton. Littleton is from Fairhope and graduated summa cum laude in fisheries and allied aquacultures. After graduation, Littleton will go to Uganda to take a course in aquaculture production. Upon returning home, she will take classes at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab in preparation for entering graduate school in the fall. As an undergraduate, Littleton was one of a select few Auburn University students who were chosen to receive an Undergraduate Research Fellowship. In addition, she worked as a research assistant at the Auburn University Claude Peteet Mariculture Lab in Gulf Shores.

RachelBearden
Rachel Bearden was also selected to receive the spring semester Dean’s Award for Academic and Professional Excellence. Bearden, a native of Maplesville, graduated summa cum laude with her degree in animal sciences with an emphasis in production management. After graduating, Bearden will travel to Guthrie, Texas, where she will work in a management position at the Four Sixes Ranch. She will remain there until October and then return to Alabama to help manage the family ranch in Maplesville. Devin Dotson, a native of Red Bay who graduated spring semester summa cum laude with a double major in agricultural communications and Spanish, was selected to receive the Claude Hardee Memorial Award. This award, based on scholarship, leadership and character, was established by the Hardee family to honor the memory of Claude Hardee, a 1936 Auburn graduate. Hardee taught vocational agriculture for more than 30 years. His encouragement, instruction and enthusiasm won the love of his students and respect of his peers. Dotson was an active Ag Ambassador whose creative capabilities and computer skills enabled him to serve the organization and his College at an exceptional level. For the past few years, a significant number of publications and recruitment brochures from the College of Agriculture were produced as a result of Dotson’s abili-

Students take classes, participate in clubs and start upon the path eventually leading to their future career. In the College of Agriculture, the student services team helps students in their journey and is now offering donors the unique opportunity to do the same. “Our students can go anywhere, do anything with a major in agriculture,” says Bill Hardy, associate dean for the College of Agriculture. “We’ve developed successful programs for our students, like our learning community and leadership minor, but we are limited in what we can do with our current budget. We can do so much more.” The proven success of the College of Agriculture’s current programming will provide a solid foundation for future growth. This vision of the future will benefit prospective students and current students by enhancing their academic careers with leadership opportunities, educational programming, and fun-filled activities encouraging the family feeling for which the college is known. “You often hear people refer to the Auburn family, the College of Agriculture is the close-knit part of that family,” says Hardy. “We would like to encourage this feeling by recognizing our students at a scholarship banquet, providing further support to our organizations like Ag Ambassadors and Ag Council and by educating prospective students about all of the opportunities we offer.” To reach prospective students, the student services team would like to design new promotional materials that feature current students and alumni, bring prospective students on-campus for a chance to observe first-hand the opportunities available in agriculture and increase the college’s support of its student recruiters—the Ag Ambassadors. For current students, the learning community has been a proven success, but with additional funding the scope of the community could include more speakers and travel. Donald Mulvaney, professor of animal sciences and leadership minor coordinator, is continuing to develop learning experiences and teach leadership skills that will help students become more effective citizens and employees. This will be accomplished through a leadership continuum, which will include courses, workshops and conferences. “Sometimes it’s just a luncheon, other times a dinner, and even sometimes just a party, because we want them to feel like they are a part of our family,” says Suzanne Shaw, academic adviser and learning community coordinator. “With help from outside monetary support we could develop exciting new programs to further our students’ development.” With activities like Ag Week, career fairs, alumni panels, etiquette dinners, summer conferences, leadership development seminars and learning community activities, the possibilities for student involvement will be endless and their impact everlasting with donor support. “Wouldn’t it be great,” says Shaw, “for every student to be able to say to their friends that they are busy doing something with their College of Agriculture family?” Anyone interested in donating to this worthy cause can contact Chris Gary at 334-844-1136, Mark Wilton at 334-844-1198 or the College’s Development Office 334-844-1475.

BLACK-AMERICAN LEGACY PROGRAM—Haven Fields, development officer for the AU Athletic Department, outlines his responsibilities in his job of cultivating donors during a panel discussion that was held as part of the College of Agriculture Cultural Diversity Committee’s annual Black-American Legacy Program recently. In addition to Fields, the panel of role models for students in the audience included, from left, Sheila Walton of Knoxville, Tenn., civil engineer with the U.S. Department of Interior; Howard Clayton, associate professor of management at AU; Gwen Lewis, district conservationist with the Natural Resource Conservation Service in Tuskegee; Vertrina Grubbs, director of Greater Peace Child Development Center in Opelika; Larry Sankey, student unit manager with BF Goodrich in Opelika; and Hilliard Gibbs Jr., physical scientist with the U.S. Forest Service in Auburn. Also during the program, the committee presented Johnny Green, AU dean of students, with its 2007 Humanitarian Award, in recognition of his strong involvement in and contributions to his community. In addition to his role at AU, Green is vice chair of the Northern Auburn Housing Corporation, has served as pastor of White Street Baptist Church since 1995 and is founder and president of White Street Community Ministries. The Black-American Legacy Program was coordinated by James Brown, AU horticulture professor and Cultural Diversity Committee chairman.

New Ag Ambassadors Chosen
The newest members of the Ag Ambassadors program have been chosen and include: Hope Burge, Laura Calhoun, Jeremy Deaton, Whitney Griffin, Nic Hilyer, Sharon Lim, Anna-Marie Murphy, Kimberly Triplett, Christine Weaver and Loren Willis. Congratulations to them all!

Summer 2007 15

new developments, old friends
News from the College of Agriculture’s alumni and development programs.
PIONEER AWARD WINNERS NAMED— Two outstanding Alabama agriculturists—Thomas F. Burnside Jr. and Hanchey Logue Sr.—were honored posthumously with AU Agricultural Alumni Association 2007 Pioneer Awards, which recognize them for their past contributions to the state’s agricultural sector. Pictured at the awards ceremony are: College of Ag Dean Richard Guthrie, inductee family members John Logue and Mrs. Tom Burnside, and outgoing Ag Alumni Association President Jeff Helms.

new developments, old friends
Ag Heritage Park Update
By Robert Hensarling Director of Ag Heritage Park

Think Tailgate…It’s Not Too Early!
Football season may still be a few months away, but it’s not too early to start making plans for tailgating this fall. This year’s corporate tailgate package for the Alabama Farmers Pavilion, which will be available for all games (including Homecoming), has been announced and the package offers an easy way for businesses to make Ag Heritage Park THE location for game day activities. Exclusive packages are available for $3,000 and include restroom facilities, complimentary tables and chairs, a large screen television and adjacent parking for up to 60 vehicles. Joint participation packages are also available allowing two or more businesses to share the facilities. Ag Heritage Park is a self-funded project and receives its financial support through private donations. Revenues received from tailgate packages will support the Ag Heritage Park Legacy fund for ongoing construction, development and maintenance efforts. For more information on reservations or to check availability of a given game, please contact Elaine Rollo (334-844-3204 or rollome@auburn.edu) or Robert Hensarling (334-844-3596 or hensara@auburn.edu) or go to www. ag.auburn.edu/adm/heritagepark/events.html.

EARTH-FRIENDLY SHOPPING—The Market at Ag Heritage Park kicked off its 2007 season in April with a special Auburn Spring event that focused on sustainable consumption and helped celebrate AU’s annual Earth Day event. The Market will be open every Thursday from 3 to 6 p.m. from June 7 to Aug. 30. market days in May and will be open every Thursday from 3 to 6 p.m. from June through August. Everyone is welcome to come out and buy fresh, local produce and locally prepared foods and enjoy an afternoon of music, cooking and gardening demonstrations, educational displays and much more. On a final note, we have begun a working partnership with a volunteer service group on campus. Alpha Phi Omega, once the keepers of War Eagle VI (Tiger), was founded on campus in 1927 and is a national service fraternity. Their major function on campus has been to support the Merit Badge University for Boy Scouts of America. Our relationship with them revolves around their support and leadership for scouts to achieve their Eagle Scout honors. We hope to utilize Eagle Scout candidates to complete several phases of the wetlands experience, the farm tool collection project and the future construction of the AU Challenge Course, a ropes course now installed at a site on Auburn’s north campus. We are extremely grateful for APO’s interest and look forward to many successful projects in support of both Ag Heritage Park and the Boy Scouts of America. As always, please stop by and visit the park whenever you can!

HALL OF HONOR INDUCTEES— Three distinguished Alabamians were honored in February during the AU Agricultural Alumni Association’s 2007 Hall This of Honor banquet.

year’s inductees for the Hall of Honor are James T. Pursell of Sylacauga, Dale L. Huffman of Auburn and James E. Brady Jr. of Marion. The Hall of Honor recognizes three living Alabamians for their contributions to the state’s agricultural sector. Pictured at the awards ceremony are: College of Ag Dean Richard Guthrie, Huffman, Purcell, Brady and outgoing Ag Alumni Association President Jeff Helms.

BSEN Scholarship Funded
Students majoring in biosystems engineering at Auburn will soon benefit from new scholarship funds. The Alabama Section of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers recently established a $25,000 scholarship endowment to be used for biosystems engineering students. “The Section has been working toward this goal for several years,” says Alabama Section Chair Tim McDonald. “This is our way of ensuring the future of the agricultural and biological engineering profession.” Additional contributions to the endowment are welcome. Contact BSEN Department Head Steve Taylor or College of Agriculture Development Director Mark Wilton for information on making donations to the endowment.
BSEN SCHOLARSHIP FUNDED—Tim McDonald, Alabama Section ASABE chair and associate professor of BSEN, presents a check for $25,000 to Mark Wilton, College of Agriculture development director, and Steve Taylor, BSEN department head.

Ag Heritage Park, a 30-acre site on the Auburn campus dedicated to Alabama agriculture, has reached a midway point in both its construction phase and fund-raising efforts and many exciting projects are well under way. One project we are particularly excited about is the completion of the demonstration pond. The Department of Fisheries and Allied Aquacultures has managed to secure fingerlings for the initial population of the pond. If all goes well, we should experience a healthy fish population by the spring of 2009. This pond is the first phase of a planned wetlands experience for the park. The pond will serve as the water source for the constructed wetlands. Design and construction phases for the wetlands are to begin in January 2007. This project was supported by a generous $25,000 donation from Susan and David Housel. Another project involves additional plans for updates to the Herdsman’s House. Farmer and Betty Meadows, already $50,000 donors to the house, have donated an additional $20,000 to furnish the house with early 20thcentury furniture pieces that match the era in which the house was first built. This addition to the house will give visitors and donors an indoor place to relax as they attend meals or pre-game festivities for the fall football season. Also, the furniture will add to the character of the building by highlighting the heritage of the house. John and Marianne Jensen will provide the research and purchase of this furniture as well as the layout and placement within the house. Yet another exciting event for the year is the opening of the third season of The Market at Ag Heritage Park. The Market will feature several pre-season

recipe

Ragan Receives National Farm Broadcasting Award
Gene Ragan, longtime farm broadcaster and a member of AU’s Alabama Agricultural Hall of Honor, was recently inducted into the National Association of Farm Broadcasters Hall of Fame. Ragan was presented the award during the association’s annual convention held in Kansas City, Mo., in 2006. NAFB historian Dix Harper noted that Ragan’s 40-plus years of broadcast work are believed to be the longest running farm television shows in a single station in the United States. Ragan began his farm broadcasting career in radio in 1953 and his farm television shows ran on WTVYTV in Dothan from 1958 to 1998. In his early years, Ragan also broadcast farm television shows in Albany, Ga., and Tallahassee, Fla. A graduate of the University of Georgia College of Agriculture with a major in animal husbandry, Ragan worked with the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Service and sold farm equipment before starting his broadcasting career. He also wrote the farm page and farm columns for the Dothan Eagle for a number of years. Born on a small southwest Georgia farm in 1924, Ragan was an active 4-H’er who won numerous awards for his champion steers. As an adult, he became a Charolais breeder and was president of the Alabama Charolais Association, among many other farm organization leadership positions he has held through the years. Ragan was a longtime member of the NAFB and served as past NAFB Southeast Regional vice president. He also was retained by SouthTrust Bank for several years as a farm consultant and the bank sponsored his farm programs. In addition to this award and the AU Hall of Honor award, Ragan is in the University of Florida Research and Education Center, Alabama Cattlemen’s Association Livestock and Opp, Ala., Jaycee Rattlesnake Rodeo halls of fame. He also is the recipient of many other awards including Progressive Farmer magazine’s Man of the Year in Alabama Agriculture, for which Ala. Congressman Terry Everett wrote a commendation for Ragan into the 1997 Congressional Record. He and his wife of 48 years, the former Marilyn Middleton, have two sons, Russ and Middleton Ragan. Russ continues to run the Ragan Farm Report, which was the radio show Ragan started in 1953 and is broadcast still on WTVY-FM in Dothan.

ALFA/Federation Funding Improvements at Tennessee Valley REC
By Katie Jackson

The Tennessee Valley Research and Extension Center in Belle Mina, one of 12 active research facilities operated throughout the state by the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station, will be getting a much-needed facelift thanks to a financial pledge from the Alabama Farmers Federation and Alfa Insurance. Jerry Newby, president of the Federation and Alfa, has announced that his organization has committed $1 million, to be paid over a five-year term, toward a $1.8 million facility upgrade at TVREC. “The Alabama Farmers Federation and Alfa Insurance are glad to support farming by renovating and upgrading the Tennessee Valley Research and Extension Center in Belle Mina,” he says. Their contribution is part of Auburn University’s “It Begins at Auburn” campaign and will count toward the College of Agriculture’s $27.7 million goal of the $500 million overall campaign. “When the College of Agriculture approached us about making a contribution to its campaign, we looked for a project that would benefit Alabama farmers both now and in the future,” Newby continues. “Improving the facilities at the Tennessee Valley center will meet this goal by providing researchers and Extension personnel the tools they need to serve rural Alabama.” “The TVREC is involved in research that benefits farmers throughout the state,” he adds. “Not only is it our state’s premier cotton research facility, but it also is home to projects that focus on livestock, horticulture, grain crops and much more. “In the short term, the work being done at Belle Mina benefits farmers through variety trials, demonstration plots and by housing regional Extension specialists,” Newby says. “In years to come, research being done there on irrigation, pest management and cropping practices should improve the profitability of agriculture. The facility also houses diagnostic tools to help

farmers and homeowners get timely answers to questions about plant diseases and pests. “The TVREC is a major center of agricultural research and extension in the Tennessee Valley and the farmers and scientists who utilize the center deserve to have a state of the art facility,” says Richard Guthrie, director of the AAES and dean of the AU College of Agriculture. “The significant generosity of Alfa will make that possible and we are extremely grateful.” The remaining $800,000 needed for project completion will be sought through state and federal funding sources. The total $1.8 million renovation will result in a new auditorium and 150-seat meeting room at TVREC and also add office space for Extension employees and provide laboratories for AAES scientists working at Belle Mina. “I would like to thank the Alabama Farmers Federation and Alfa Insurance for their contribution toward building improvements at the Tennessee Valley Research and Extension Center,” says Chet Norris, superintendent at TVREC. “These renovations will allow us to conduct research and disseminate the results to growers efficiently for years to come.” According to Chris Gary, development officer for the College of Agriculture, it is one of several Alfa/Federation donations that are continuing to benefit the college in many positive ways. Recently, Alfa donated $500,000 to construct the new Alabama Farmers Pavilion at Ag Heritage Park, a 30-acre site on the Auburn campus that honors Alabama agriculture. The pavilion is now open for use and is serving as a meeting place for many groups, both from the Auburn campus and from the community and state. In late 2006, a plaque was placed at the pavilion honoring Alfa’s contribution to the facility. “Auburn University and the farmers of the state of Alabama will reap benefits for generations to come stemming from Alfa’s generosity and foresight,” states Gary.

A College of Agriculture education never really ends. For proof, just ask those who have participated in our graduation breakfast and left with an important life skill—how to make the perfect omelet. The omelet-making tradition was first hatched fromo a Virginia Tech University tradition of holding a breakfast for their agriculture graduates featuring hard-boiled eggs. “We thought the breakfast was a great idea, but hard-cooked eggs were just not a good breakfast option,” recalls Bob Voitle, former dean AU College of Ag and now a professor in poultry science. Voitle talked the Alabama Poultry & Egg Association into sponsoring the breakfast and providing the omeletmaking equipment. Using eggs from the AU poultry farm, as well as adding grits, biscuits, sausage, juice and coffee to the menu, graduates and their guests can curb their hunger AND bond with one another at the breakfast, which is held at AU’s Ham Wilson Livestock Arena. There is one caveat to this free breakfast—if you eat an omelet, you must make it with your own hands. Though some find the idea of public cooking a bit intimidating, Voitle says almost everyone will give it a try. Voitle begins the event with a short lesson on how to blend the

perfect omelet mix (use water, not milk, to make sure the omelet is fluffy). He then does a step-by-step demonstration of omelet making. Here is his recipe for the perfect omelet. Ingredients/Supplies
7-to 9-inch, nonstick skillet with sloping sides (preferably made of thick aluminum) 2 large eggs 2 tablespoons water (if you don’t have a measuring spoon, half of one broken egg shell is about the equivalent of 2 tablespoons) 1 tablespoon of butter Salt and pepper to taste 1/2 cup filling ingredients (diced meats, cheeses, vegetables, fruits, pie fillings, whatever strikes your fancy)

Whisk together eggs, water, salt and pepper. Heat skillet till a drop of water skates over the surface. Add butter. Hold skillet over burner with the handle facing “your belly button,” says Voitle. Pour egg mixture into skillet. Using a plastic spatula, gently drag cooked egg mixture toward the center, working around the perimeter of the pan while simultaneously tilting the pan so the raw egg flows out to the pan’s edges. Continue this until the entire egg mixture has set-up, then sprinkle _ cup of filling on the opposite side of the omelet from your dominant hand (on the left-hand side if you are right-handed or on the right-hand side if you are left-handed). Fold the uncovered half over the top of the ingredient-covered half. Holding the skillet with the dominate hand, hold a plate with the other hand and tilt skillet so it touches the lip of the plate. Flip the omelet onto the plate so the pretty side of the omelet is facing upward.

Eat immediately!
Summer 2007 17

16 AGIllustrated

cal end a r o f e v e n t s
May 28 June 5
Memorial Day Holiday
of Homeland Security, Centers for Disease Control and Global Water Policy Project, among many others.
ContaCt: Leslie Parsons 334-844-1317 parsola@auburn.edu
www.nrmdi.auburn.edu/water/conference/2007

Meat Lab Dedicates Rooms to Huffman, Jones
E-mail List Available to Sales Room Customers For some 46 years,
ing on the development of the AU Porchetta product. With the official opening of both the kitchen and conference areas, the Lambert-Powell facility now offers a full complement of facilities to support teaching, research and extension activities related to meat processing. When Auburn built its first meat laboratory in 1961—then named the Lambert Meats Laboratory—the goal was to incorporate classroom experience and hands-on training for students as they learned about processing livestock and poultry for human consumption. The facility was expanded 1978, at which time a public sales area was added, then expanded again in 1987. However, the facilities became outdated in the 1990s and, after many years of fundraising, a new $6plus million facility was constructed that includes the meat laboratory and a beef teaching unit. Those new facilities—the Lambert-Powell laboratory and the Stanley P. Wilson Beef Teaching Unit—were officially dedicated and named in 2005. In addition to the test kitchen, conference room and a 120-seat stadium-style classroom, the new Lambert-Powell lab provides a stateof-the-art meat processing line that

State FFA Poultry Judging Competition
Top-placing teams from district FFA poultry judging events will compete at the state FFA convention. Ham Wilson Livestock Arena Auburn, AL
ContaCt: Vanessa Kretzschmar 334-844-2881 kretzvk@auburn.edu

June 14

Alabama 4-H Golf Classic
11 a.m. FarmLinks Golf Club Sylacauga, AL This third annual Alabama 4-H Golf Classic is held to raise money for the support Alabama 4-H youth programs and activities. Held at FarmLinks Golf Club (www.farmlinksgolfclub.com), an 18-hole championship, cost is $200 for individual players and $750 for a “Health” Clover sponsor, which is one fourperson team. Sponsorships also are available. www.aces.edu/fourh/2007-4-H-Classic. pdf.
ContaCt: Beth Lawrence 334-844-2247 batkins@aces.edu

June 7–Aug. 30
The Market at Ag Heritage Park
Thursdays

a chance to sample produce, such as peaches, tomatoes, figs and apples along with other commodities grown in the area.
ContaCt: Jim Pitts 205-646-3610 pittsja@auburn.edu

3–6 p.m.
Ag Heritage Park Auburn, AL The Market at Ag Heritage Park is a grower-only farmers’ market featuring fresh local produce, goat cheese, honey, stone-ground grains, plants, baked goods, educational exhibits, cooking and gardening demonstrations and much more. It is open to the entire community and is held weekly from throughout June, July and August. Special market days also are held in May, September and October.
ContaCt: Dani Carroll 334-749-3353 carrodl@auburn.edu.

Aug. 4

Summer Graduation Breakfast Ham Wilson Arena
Auburn, AL Summer 2007 College of Agriculture graduates and their families are honored at this breakfast hosted by the AU Agricultural Alumni Association and sponsored by the Alabama Poultry and Egg Association.
ContaCt: Ann Gulatte 334-844-2345 gulatam@auburn.edu

June 18–20

Alabama’s Ag in the Classroom Summer Institute 2007
Tuscaloosa, AL This event helps teachers integrate agriculture into Alabama’s teaching standards. Participants take part in workshops and farm tours, learning innovative ways to teach agriculture to their students.
ContaCt: Amy Belcher Alabama AITC P Box 3336 .O. Montgomery, AL 36109 334-240-7126 www.alabamaaitc.org aitc@agi.alabama.gov

July 19

Choose Your Adventure!
8:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m. Auburn, AL Science begins with a question. What’s yours? Have your questions answered at a fast-paced leadership and science conference for high school students to be held in Comer Hall and the Forestry and Wildlife Sciences Building on the Auburn campus. Attendees will perform hands-on experiments from a variety of pre-selected tracks, such as preveterinary, environmental quality, science, global positioning systems and more. For information and an on-line application, visit our Web site. All applications must be submitted by July 12.
ContaCt: http://www.sfws.auburn.edu/sso/summerprogram/

June 14–15

2007 Water Resources Conference
“Bridging the Gap Between Science, People and Policies” The Hotel and Dixon Conference Center Auburn, AL This meeting is the first event in a spectrum of activity under way through the AU Water Resources Center, a division of Auburn’s Natural Resources Management & Development Institute. The event will feature keynote speakers from the U.S. Departments

College of Agriculture students with an interest in meat and food science have had access to hands-on experience in meat processing through an on-campus meats laboratory, and for many of those years the community has had access to fresh, locally grown meat products through that same facility. Recently that learning environment was further enhanced with the official opening—and naming—of a test kitchen and conference room at AU’s Lambert-Powell Meat Lab. During a special event held in March at the Lambert-Powell facility, located on Shug Jordan Parkway in Auburn, the kitchen and conference areas were officially named the William R. Jones Demonstration Kitchen and the Dale L. Huffman Conference Room. Huffman and Jones, both of whom are retired from Auburn but have remained active in the meat and food science field, were animal sciences professors at Auburn for many years. Huffman gained international fame as the creator of lean ground beef and sausage products, including AU Lean and McDonald’s McLean Deluxe. Jones, who coached the AU Meats Judging Team for many years, also gained international fame work-

The AU Lambert-Powell Meat Laboratory offers a sales room open to the public each Monday through Thursday from 2 to 5 p.m. and each Friday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

ensures products sold in the sales room are safe and healthful. The sales room features passthrough type glass coolers, similar to those found in grocery store dairy sections where products are placed on display shelves from the cooler side and the customer removes items from the sales room side. The Lambert-Powell Meat Laboratory sells chicken, beef, pork and

lamb products as well as eggs and some produce. It is open Mondays through Thursdays from 2 to 5 p.m. and Fridays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The sales room now offers an e-mail notification service for customers. Customers can subscribe to the list by sending a message to majordomo@ag.auburn. edu. The message should contain only this one line: “subscribe aumeatsales.”

Cutline

June 25–27

Bransby Advises Bush on Alternative Fuel
address, President George W. Bush called for the U.S. to cut gasoline consumption by 20 percent in 10 years. Naysayers immediately attacked the so-called “20 in 10” plan, saying such a goal is unattainable. Is it? Bush called in the experts to get their educated opinions. Among the group of nine summoned to the White House: Auburn University agronomy and energy crops professor David Bransby. “We all said unequivocally that, yes, it can definitely be done,” Bransby says in recounting the briefing. “We acknowledged that it will take hard work, but it is entirely possible.” That late-February meeting in the Roosevelt Room of the White House was Bransby’s second face-to-

4-H State Congress and Leadership Conference
Alabama A&M University Normal, AL This three-day event is a culmination of 4-H competitive events for senior-level 4-H youth (age 14-19).
ContaCt: Shannon Andress 334-844-2232 andresh@auburn.edu

In his 2007 State of the Union

Fall 2007

YIPs Leadership Sessions
Auburn, AL Youth in Praxis (YIPs), a leadership development program for high school students interested in gaining leadership skills, learning about science and opportunities in agriculture and gaining an understanding of issues surrounding agriculture, will offer training sessions on selected home football Saturday’s. The sessions typically begin four hours before and finish one hour prior to kick-off. Tentative dates for fall 2007 are: Sept. 15, Sept. 22, Oct. 6 and Nov. 3.
ContaCt: Don Mulvaney mulvadr@auburn.edu 334-844-3200

July 4

Independence Day Holiday

Aug. 11

Farm, Home and Wildlife Expo
12-5 p.m.; dinner at 5 p.m. Chilton Research and Extension Center Clanton, AL This event, which is open to the public, features information on a wide variety of subjects ranging from farm pond management to home gardening to commercial fruit and vegetable production. Participants will also have

face alternative-energy briefing with Bush in five months. Last September, Bransby met with the president in Hoover, during a Bush stop to observe that city’s fleet of ethanol-powered vehicles. Present at this most recent briefing with Bush and Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman were Bransby and four other authorities from the biofuels sector along with four representatives of the hybrid-car sector. The 20-percent reduction in fuel consumption would equal about 36 billion gallons of gasoline annually. In his comments to the president, Bransby cited a government report which indicated that the U.S. already has available every year enough surplus woody biomass such that, when converted to fuel, it would equal or surpass that 36 billion gallons.

Auburn University agronomist professor David Bransby, the country’s foremost expert on switchgrass and its use as an energy crop, stands in a field of swichgrass located at the E.V. Smith Research Center in Shorter.

“We have the technology to convert this material into biofuel as well, and we’re very close to getting that technology commercialized,” Bransby says he told Bush. “Once that happens, it will just be a matter of how fast these plants can be built.” Following the 45-minute briefing, Bush took the nine guests on a tour of the Oval Office, after which they walked through the Rose Garden to the front of the White House and to a display of hybrid cars and a gathering of media. Addressing the press, Bush called those who briefed him “people on the leading edge of change” and said they presented him with solid information that “20 by 10” is realistic. “My question is, as a practical goal, can we achieve that goal?” Bush said in his statement to the press. “And the answer is, absolutely.”

18 AGIllustrated

Summer 2007 19

Gifts Fund Scholarships Honoring First Ladies Martin, Bailey
By Jamie Creamer
Family members of Ann Martin and Cratus Bailey have honored the two former Auburn University first Ladies’ by establishing in their names scholarships that will help deserving horticulture majors pay their way through Auburn. As part of the AU Campus Club’s First Ladies’’ Award Program, James E. Martin, who served as AU president from 1984 to 1992, has given $25,000 to the “It Begins at Auburn” fundraising campaign to create the Ann Freeman Martin Award. Likewise, the children of the late Wilford S. Bailey have paid tribute to their mother by establishing the Cratus Hester Bailey scholarship. Bailey led the university from 1983 to 1984. Under the First Ladies’’ program, the Campus Club annually presents scholarships in the names of wives of Auburn’s past presidents in the amount of $1000. For the current school year, six horticulture students received First Ladies’ scholarships. The Martin and Bailey gifts, along with another gift of $25,000 the Campus Club has just contributed to the endowment, will bring the number of First Ladies’ awards to be handed out for the 2007-08 school year to nine. Former AU President Martin said he made the decision to honor his wife with a scholarship when Department of Horticulture and Campus Club representatives informed him of the First Ladies’ Award program. “Ann and I are always interested in scholarship programs, because we firmly believe a good university should be able to recruit outstanding academic students just like it does good athletes,” Martin says. Martin’s scholarship legacy at Auburn was the establishment of the university’s collegiate vanity license plate program. To date, that program has generated $19 million for general AU achievement scholarships to instate residents. The Martins met at Auburn in the 1950s when he played basketball and she was a cheerleader. He earned his bachelor’s degree in ag administration in 1954, she a home economics degree in 1957. Now married for 48 years, the Martins live in Morgan County. Martin was preceded in office at Auburn by Bailey, an AU veterinary professor whom the Board of Trustees in 1983 named interim president while a committee conducted a search for a new president. Before he left the post in 1984, the board officially named Bailey the school’s 13th president in recognition of his outstanding service. “He didn’t ask for the job, but he did a good job, as was true with everything he did,” a spry Mrs. Bailey says. The couple met at church during her one quarter at what was then Alabama Polytechnic Institute. She went on to earn her degrees in home economics from Nashville’s David Lipscomb and Peabody colleges.

Cratus Bailey poses with AU horticulture senior Laureanne Bond of Huntsville, first recipient of the Cratus Hester Bailey Scholarship. Caitlin O’Neal of Boaz is the first recipient of the Ann Freeman Martin Award.

At the time of Bailey’s death in 2000, the couple had been married 58 years. Mrs. Bailey lives in Auburn. Making the $25,000 donation to establish the Cratus Hester Bailey Award were the Baileys’ four children: Ed Bailey of Rye, N.Y.; Joe Bailey of Auburn; Margaret Bailey Newcomb of Palmyra, Va.; and Sarah Bailey of Acworth, Ga. As for the AU Campus Club’s most recent $25,000 donation to the First Ladies’’ endowment fund, twothirds of it was raised through the organization’s annual spring plant sale. “We raised $6,000 the first year, $12,500 at last year’s sale and $17,000 this year,” club scholarship chair Mary Lou Matthews says. “Next year, we’re going to hit $20,000.” Many plants for the sale are donated by private nurseries, while others are healthy plants left over from research projects conducted by AU horticulture faculty. The organically grown herbs that have been offered for the last two plant sales have come courtesy of Jane Hoehaver. Today, Hoehaver is director of the AU Plant Science Research Center, but in 2004, as a senior in horti-

culture at Auburn, she was the recipient of the first $1,000 First Ladies’ Award from the Campus Club. “When I got a call last year from (horticulture professor) Dr. (Jeff) Sibley, asking me if I had anything in the greenhouses that I could donate to the plant sale, I was determined to help, because that scholarship meant so much to me,” Hoehaver says. She donated five flats of organic herbs to last year’s sale—“they sold out right off the bat,” she says—and upped it to 10 flats at the 2007 sale. “And I’m going to increase it next year and every year,” she says. With these three latest gifts from Martin, the Baileys and the Campus Club, the First Ladies’ Endowed Scholarship fund, established in 2001, now stands at $175,500. The club’s goal is to bring the endowment to $500,000, a level at which scholarships could be awarded in the names of each of Auburn’s past, current and future first Ladies’. For information on contributing to the endowment, contact Mark Wilton in the College of Agriculture at 334-844-1198 or wiltomt@auburn.edu

Editors/Writers Jamie Creamer Leigh Hinton Katie Jackson Designer Stacy Wood Photographers Jamie Creamer Jeff Etheridge Katie Jackson Charles Martin Steve Taylor Stacy Wood

Contributing Writers Jim Allen Gary Beard Harriet Giles Bill Hardy Jim Langcuster Maggie Lawrence Tim Meeks Janet McCoy Carol Nelson Deborah Solie Steve Taylor

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Ag Illustrated is a quarterly publication of the Auburn University College of Agriculture and the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station (AAES). It is compiled and published through Ag Communications, the College and AAES information office. This publication is printed on Mohawk 50/10 paper, which is 15% recycled and is Green Seal certified. Subscriptions to Ag Illustrated are free. To subscribe, fill out the form on page 2 of this publication or visit our Web site at www.ag.auburn. edu/agillustrated. You may also contact us about subscriptions or other editorial issues at Room 3 Comer Hall, Auburn, AL 36849; 334.844.4877; or smithcl@auburn.edu.

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