contents

Names and Faces Fresh, Fragrant & Flavorful.......1 Running Numbers and Barrels ..............................1 Dairy Barn Becomes a Cooperative Effort ...................3 Essential Ingredients.................7

Roosevelt Street Diary ..................2 Inside the College ..........................4 Research News ..............................8 Alumni and Development..............9 Elsewhere in the AAES .................10 Extension .........................................11 Calendar of Events .........................12

Fresh, Fragrant & Flavorful

College of Ag, Hotel Create Herb Garden for Restaurant

By Jamie Creamer

A NEW SEASON—Cynthia Channell-Butcher, College of Agriculture employee and herb gardener on the side, plants basil in the poolside garden at The Hotel at Auburn University and Dixon Conference Center. The basil and other herbs give Ariccia chefs and diners the freshest herbs possible.

TO MARKET, TO MARKET—The Market at Ag Heritage Park is open each Thursday afternoon this summer. Learn more about what it has to offer on Page 12.

DAIRY RE-DO—The old university dairy barn, an iconic structure on the Auburn campus and a centerpiece of Ag Heritage Park, is gradually being renovated to someday become a meeting, greeting and possibly even retail space. See the story on Page 3.

arsley, sage, rosemary and thyme— they’re all there. So are basil, mint, oregano and chives, and a bit of lavender, too. ’Tis a cornucopia of aromatic herbs, flourishing against a backdrop of muscadine and scuppernong vines in a beautifully landscaped garden filled with the soothing sounds of a flowing fountain. Most every morning from late spring through fall, John Hamme visits the delightful herb garden, scissors in his hand, and starts snipping, not stopping until his large wicker gathering basket is all but overflowing with a medley of fragrant herbs. Close your eyes, breathe in the aroma floating from that basket, and you could declare you’re feasting on authentic Italian cuisine in a ristorante in Roma. You’re not, of course; you’re still in Auburn. But if you’ll simply follow Hamme and his herbs through the gate and around the corner a short distance, you’ll find an Italian trattoria, right in the
(continued on page 6)

P

Running Numbers and Barrels
College of Ag Accountant at Home in the Office and the Arena
By Katie Jackson

AUBIE WADES IN—Aubie, Auburn University’s official costumed Tiger mascot, made a visit to the E.W. Shell Fisheries Center last spring to wet a line and to learn more about projects and programs in the Department of Fisheries and Allied Aquacultures. See more photos of Aubie on his “fishing trip” at www.ag.auburn.edu/fish/image_gallery/search.php.

www.ag.auburn.edu

s the accountant for the College of Ag and the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station, Jessica Stanford spends her days running numbers. When she leaves the office, however, her time is spent running something very different—barrels. Stanford, a 2006 graduate of the College of Agriculture and College of Business (she has a dual degree in agricultural business and accounting), joined the college and AAES business department in 2007 and her job requires great attention to the financial details of the two organizations. During her off-time, however, Stanford’s focus shifts to perfecting 15-second rides on Brownie, the very special little quarter horse that is helping Stanford become a real contender in the barrel racing world. Horses have long been part of Stanford’s MAKING THE TURN—Jessica Stanford, accountant for the Collife. She grew up in a horse family in Athens, Ala., and had her first pony by the time she was lege of Ag and Alabama Ag Experiment Station, and her horse, 3 years old. She competed in her first rodeo at Brownie, lean into a barrel during a recent competition. Stanthe age of 4 and, by the age of 9, was involved in ford is working her way up through the barrel racing ranks with the ultimate goal of becoming a champion-quality barrel racer. the Limestone County 4-H horse club. Stanford’s parents both “rodeo-ed” and her mother ran barrels, so Stanford, too, was running barrels herself by the age of 11. During her teens and early 20s—including while she was in school at Auburn—Stanford shifted her equestrian focus from barrels to showing in Western pleasure. But just after she graduated from Auburn, Stanford went with some friends to a rodeo in Memphis and rediscovered barrel racing. “I decided I wanted to start running barrels again,” she says and she began looking for the right horse with that goal in mind. Barrel racing is a rodeo event that requires the horse and rider to complete a cloverleaf pattern around three 55-gallon barrels (metal or plastic drums). The goal is to make it around the
(continued on page 6)

A

June 2009 1

June 2009 Volume 6, Issue 4

opinions and insights

names and faces

Roosevelt Street diary
NOW AND LATER—The photo below shows the dairy barn in its current condition, while the rendering at the left, created by students in the Auburn University Design-Build Master’s Program, shows what it could look like if renovations are completed. The hope is to turn the old barn into a meeting, retail and greeting spot that will be the gateway to Ag Heritage Park.

attendance just how vital the association is to our college. Sponsoring the graduation breakfast is just one of many contributions its nearly 1,900 members make. The Agricultural Alumni Association of Auburn University was founded in 1981 by alumni and friends of Auburn University’s College of Agriculture and Agribusiness Education programs as well as the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station and Alabama Cooperative Extension System. Its goals are to connect College of Agriculture alumni and friends with Auburn faculty, staff and students and with others interested in agriculture. It also strives to support the college’s teaching, research and outreach missions and works hard to encourage young people to pursue careers in agriculture.
Richard Guthrie Dean, College of Agriculture Director, Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station

When I welcomed graduates and their friends and relatives during the spring semester graduation breakfast back in May, I noted that we were celebrating the 85th breakfast. That’s a very large number of omelets and cups of coffee. Rick Holladay, the new president of the AU Agricultural Alumni Association, presided over the event just like his predecessors have done and reminded those in

To reach those goals, the association sponsors a variety of events and programs, the graduation breakfast being just one example. It also hosts the Fall Roundup/ Taste of Alabama Agriculture event each fall at homecoming, the annual Agricultural Hall of Honor Banquet in the winter and Ag Ambassador and student recruitment events at Auburn and across the state. What’s more, the association funds 4-H and FFA awards and several College of Ag scholarships, and it supports the Contemporary Ag Program through the college’s Ag Student Council. This kind of support is priceless and we thank all of you who are members. If you’re not a member, we welcome your active participation. Just go to www.ag.auburn.edu/adm/alumni/.

Making Contact
Want to get in contact with the College of Agriculture, Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station or Alabama Cooperative Extension System? See below!
College of Agriculture: Dean’s Office 334-844-2345 www.ag.auburn.edu Academic Departments: Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology 334-844-4800 www.ag.auburn.edu/agec Agronomy and Soils 334-844-4100 www.ag.auburn.edu/agrn Animal Sciences 334-844-4160 www.ag.auburn.edu/ansc Biosystems Engineering 334-844-4180 www.eng.auburn.edu/ programs/bsen Entomology and Plant Pathology 334-844-5006 www.ag.auburn.edu/enpl Fisheries and Allied Aquacultures 334-844-4786 www.ag.auburn.edu/fish Horticulture 334-844-4862 www.ag.auburn.edu/hort Poultry Science 334-844-4133 www.ag.auburn.edu/poul Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station: Director 334-844-2345 www.aaes.auburn.edu Assistant Director 334-844-8727 Director of Outlying Units 334-844-5611 AAES-affiliated Schools and Colleges: College of Human Sciences 334-844-3790 www.humsci.auburn.edu College of Sciences and Mathematics 334-844-5737 www.auburn.edu/cosam College of Veterinary Medicine 334-844-4546 www.vetmed.auburn.edu School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences 334-844-1007 www.sfws.auburn.edu Alabama Cooperative Extension System: Director's Office 334-844-4444 www.aces.edu
Editors/Writers Jamie Creamer Leigh Hinton Katie Jackson Designer Hannah Dixon Photographers Zach Benson Jessica Chesnut Jamie Creamer Hannah Dixon Leigh Hinton Katie Jackson Deborah Solie Loren Willis

Ag Illustrated Details
Ag Illustrated is a bi-monthly publication of the Auburn University College of Agriculture and the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station. It is compiled and published through Ag Communications and Marketing, the College and AAES information office. This publication is printed on Mohawk 50/10 paper, which is 15 percent recycled and is Green Seal certified. Subscriptions to Ag Illustrated are free. To subscribe, fill out the form below 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; 334844-5887; or agcomm@auburn.edu.

Contributing Writers Zach Benson Tara Lanier Maggie Lawrence Tim Meeks Sidney Nakhjavan Amanda Schumaker Deborah Solie

Auburn University is an equal opportunity educational institution/employer.

www.auburn.edu

Ag Illustrated Subscriptions
Ag Alumni Association members 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: _____________________________________________

he old dairy barn on the Auburn University campus is getting a facelift and possibly a new life as a retail outlet and gateway to Heritage Park. The College of Agriculture and the Auburn Agricultural Alumni Association, along with Auburn’s College of Architecture, Design and Construction and Robin Fellers, an associate professor from Auburn’s Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences, have been collaborating to make the project possible, making this a truly Auburn community effort. Auburn’s dairy barn has been an iconic and architecturally historic part of Auburn’s culture since the early 1900s and once even delivered jars of milk to Auburn residents. The dairy officially closed in 1985, but the barn continued to be used as a teaching facility and also was used by tailgaters in the early 2000s. While the barn had been on the books for renovation, no work had begun until Fellers saw the potential in the historical building and helped jump-start a collaboration that is making the renovation happen. “The idea originally started when I was working with the Alabama Rural Heritage Center in Thomaston, Ala. I helped them make recipes for jams, jellies and pickles that could be locally grown. The idea was great, but there were not a lot of customers,” Fellers says. “A professor in agronomy and soils, Dr. Charles Mitchell, grew up in Thomaston and has always been interested in the jelly project. We brainstormed one day, and he told me about the old dairy barn in Ag Heritage Park. We thought that would be a great place for opening a retail center that would feature the types of products that Alabama Rural Heritage Center sold in its gift shop, along with the jellies and pickles made in Thomaston. One thing led to another, and here we are today,” Fellers says. “Robin Fellers was the main person who came up with the idea to move forward with the Design-Build group in the College of Architecture, Design and Construction, which makes this project more affordable by having the work done in-house,” says Robert Hensarling, director of Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station Agricultural Land and Resource Management unit which manages Ag Heritage Park. The Design-Build group is a master’s program for the College of Architecture, Design and Construction. The goal for the dairy barn renovation is to make the facility into an entry to Ag Heritage Park, which hosts an annual summer farmers’ market—The Market at Ag Heritage Park—and is a gateway to many other agricultural events at Auburn University. This project is to also further establish the park’s presence on the Auburn University campus, and to provide a venue for agriculture at Auburn University and throughout the state of Alabama. The left wing of the barn will be transformed into a meeting space and will house a multimedia area to illustrate the past, present and future of agriculture; meeting space for classes, interviews and industry meetings; and meeting space for the Agricultural Alumni Association.

T

Dairy Barn Becomes a Cooperative Effort
by Amanda Schumaker Auburn Journalism Student
RETAINING PAST BEAUTY—Design ideas put forward by the Design-Build student team incorporated the dairy barn’s unique elements, such as this lovely window, into the new plan, thus retaining the building’s historical integrity while showcasing its architectural beauty.

The other wing can someday be used as retail space for Showcase Rural Alabama, a store featuring Alabama products. Those products may include foods, art, crafts, furniture, soaps and many more items. The store will complement The Market at Ag Heritage Park. “The project currently lacks full funding, so the end date is fluid. It may take one to two years depending on the flow of funds for the project,” Hensarling says. He adds that help from the Design-Build students was extremely valuable and, though the class that began work on the project has now graduated and it is unsure whether another class will continue the effort, Hensarling hopes further collaboration will occur. Cost of the project is an estimated $1.5 million, which is much lower due to the in-house work by the Design-Build group. In addition to the DesignBuild program, College of Agriculture Dean Richard Guthrie has committed funds that were raised at the 2008 Ag Classic toward the project, an estimated $25,000. Most of the funds from the 2009 Ag Classic will also go toward the dairy barn project. The Ag Alumni board of directors has asked that every board member make a gift to the dairy barn project, and the College of Agriculture is asking alumni or friends to contribute as well. Pledge forms are available from Mark Wilton, development director for the College of Agriculture. Contact him at 334-844-1198 or wiltom@auburn.edu.

2 AGIllustrated

June 2009 3

inside the college
News about the College of Agriculture’s students, faculty, staff and programs

inside the college
Faculty Accomplishments
Omar Oyarzabal, poultry science associate professor, has been awarded a Fulbright grant to work at the Institute of Clinical Microbiology at Austral University in Valdivia, Chile, for fall semester 2009.

EGG-STRAVAGANT EFFORT—More than 250 people showed up to eat and compete in the first-ever EggStravaganza, an event held in midMay hosted by the Poultry Science Club for the entire College of Agriculture. Egg-Stravaganza was held at Ag Heritage Park and featured the “EggStravagant Olympics.” Eight teams, ranging from undergraduate students to faculty and staff, competed in a series of competitive relay games such as a blindfolded egg hunt, hole in the bucket, orange pass and a sack race.

Three teams of students in rural sociology assistant professor Michelle Worosz’s sociology of natural resources and the environment class hosted a poster session in May to present their findings from semester-long research projects examining the quality of life in Baldwin County. Abstracts of the three teams’ projects are available online at www.ag.auburn.edu/agec/agrifood/ teaching/MobileProject/abstracts.php. Henry Thompson, professor of agricultural economics and rural sociology, traveled to Croatia in May to present seminars and discuss issues in agricultural and resource economics with the staff of the Economics Research Institute. Thompson’s trip is funded in part by a grant from the Office of International Agriculture in the College of Agriculture. Skip Bartol, animal sciences professor and director of the AU Cellular and Molecular Biosciences Program, and agricultural economics and rural sociology professor and chair, Curtis Jolly, were awarded Alumni Professorships for the 2009-2010 academic year. The Auburn Alumni Association funds the five-year, non-renewable Alumni Professorships to reward faculty who have been recognized by their peers and colleagues as making outstanding and exceptional contributions to the university’s academic programs. Bartol has been with the college since 1983; Jolly, since 1980. Bill Hardy, professor of agricultural economics and rural sociology, was chosen as the 2009 recipient of the prestigious North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture Association’s Teacher Fellow Award in recognition of his excellence in post-secondary ag education. Hardy, who served as the College of Ag’s associate dean for instruction from 2001 to 2008, was selected for the honor based on his teaching philosophy; evaluations submitted by current students, alumni and administrators; and a self-evaluation in the areas of availability to students, teaching innovations and department/institutional activity.

Patterson Named Associate Dean for Instruction
Paul Patterson, an Auburn native and a 1985 College of Ag alumnus, was named the college’s new Associate Dean for Instruction, effective June 8. Patterson is the son of R.M. Patterson, a long-time College of Ag faculty member who served as head of the Research Data Analysis department until he retired in 1985. Patterson’s mother, Jean, was the librarian at Auburn High School for many years. They still reside in Auburn. When the younger Patterson chose a major at Auburn, he found a perfect fit in agricultural economics. “When I started college, I was interested in biology, forestry and business,” he says. “Agricultural economics was a major that brought all of my diverse interests together.” As an undergraduate, he also developed an interest in international issues, which eventually led Patterson to go on to graduate school, earning his master’s in agricultural economics from Purdue University in 1987. Patterson then went to work as a cotton analyst for the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, and, after two years with the FAS, returned to Purdue as a USDA National Needs Fellow in International Marketing to work on his doctorate, graduating in 1995. That same year, Patterson joined the faculty at Arizona State University’s Morrison School of Management and Agribusiness where he taught courses in agricultural marketing, marketing, food and agricultural policy and management science and conducted research on issues ranging from food marketing and industrial organization to international trade, food and agricultural policy. In 2006 he moved into an administrative role at ASU, serving first as interim and, since January 2007, as permanent dean of the ASU’s Morrison School of Management and Agribusiness. He relishes the chance to return to Auburn to be closer to his parents and reunite with the College of Ag “family.”

SOMETHING TO CROW ABOUT—Rusty Rooster, the official mascot of the Department of Poultry Science, was on hand for the Egg-Stravaganza, an event held to promote social interaction between everyone in the College of Ag in a fun setting outside of work or the classroom. The event was intended to give everyone—from faculty and staff to students and their families—an opportunity to relax and have fun before the end of the semester. To see more photos of the event go to www.photoshow.com/watch/xc6Cd3zK. PHI KAPPA PHI INDUCTEES NAMED—Numerous College of Ag students were inducted into Phi Kappa Phi honorary society at the spring graduation breakfast held in May. They are pictured above and include (not in order of appearance): Jessica L. Braswell, Christi L. Chesnut, Jeremy R. Deaton, Thomas R. Farrior, Amanda C. Ferguson, Sarah M. Graham, Emily S. Hung, Bradley A. Johnson, John C. Lee, Sarah M. Merk, Whitlyn R. Miller, Ashley R. North, Caleb J. Palmer, Samuel J. Rochell, Clint J. Shumate, Timothy Z. Thompson and Emily N. Tice. Congratulations to them all! Bill Hardy

Admission Deadlines Are A-Changin’
Be aware: New deadlines have been put in place for students seeking admission to Auburn! Applications for admission are accepted beginning Aug. 1 preceding a student’s senior year in high school. The first admissions decisions are made during the fall and continue through February. Auburn University primarily bases admissions decisions on academic factors including high school GPA and the applicant’s best composite score from a single test date on standardized academic tests. (Auburn accepts both the SAT and ACT.) The university recognizes the importance of other factors in addition to academic achievement. Thus, for many applicants, after the initial academic review a more comprehensive review of the entire application will occur. Factors included in this more comprehensive review include rigor of high school course selection, school and community activities, work experience, Alabama residency status, legacy status, leadership and service positions, answers to essay questions, first-generation status and performance of previous students from the applicant’s high school. Once students have been accepted, they must pay a $200 tuition deposit to confirm their spot in the freshman class. This deposit must be paid by May 1 prior to students enrolling at Auburn University and is nonrefundable. Once the deposit is received, students will receive their student identification numbers along with instructions for the online housing application. On-campus housing is not required at Auburn University for incoming or currently enrolled students and housing is not guaranteed for all freshmen. Housing works on a first-come, first-served basis and students for whom oncampus housing is a high priority are encouraged to pay their deposits soon after being accepted for admission. For more information go to www.auburn.edu/admissions.

Alan Wilson, assistant professor of fisheries and allied aquacultures, has been named a primary investigator for a $399,761 National Science Foundation grant entitled “Collaborative Research: Consequences of consumer adaptation for ecosystem responses to fertilization and food-web perturbations.” The four-year project is in collaboration with the lab of Orlando Sarnelle from Michigan State University. To learn more about this project or other current projects in the Wilson Lab, visit http://wilsonlab.com/ or contact Wilson at wilson@auburn.edu or 334-844-9321.

New Crop of Ag Ambassadors Announced
The latest members of the prestigious Ag Ambassadors group, members of wh serve as the official hosts of the College of Ag, have been named. They include: James Paul Bailey, Jennifer Barbero, Emily Brennan, Mason Chandler, Christopher Cunningham, Mark Durham, Bailey Dymond, Meredith Jedlicka, Audrey Johnson, Rachel Knotts, Laura Macedonia, Haley Pena, Shane Plyler, Margaret Salter, John Sexton, Matt Szatkowski, Margaret Trione, Austen Vollenweider, Salora Wright and Johanna Young.

Student Accomplishments
Doctoral candidate Sumit Sen has been named the College of Agriculture’s 2009 Outstanding International Graduate Student Award winner. Sen is officially enrolled at Auburn in civil engineering, but he pursued and, in March, completed his Ph.D. in biosystems engineering under the supervision of associate professor Puneet Srivastava.

Paul Patterson

Sumit Sen

Jessica Chapman and Steven Geyer, rising juniors majoring in animal sciences, recently were awarded competitive undergraduate research monies. Chapman received a semester-long University Undergraduate Research Fellowship through the Office of the Vice President for Research; Geyer was awarded an AU Cellular and Molecular Biosciences Undergraduate Summer Research Scholarship. Both will be working with animal sciences assistant professor Terry Brandebourg whose research focuses on the growth and development of fat tissue. Three agronomy and soils students are interning this summer at golf courses around the U.S. Daniel Dorrough has a summer internship at Pinehurst Resort, N.C., host of nine USGA championships including the 2005 US Open. Kimberly Pope is off to Kierland Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz., while Caleb Bristow will be interning at the Country Club of Birmingham. Bristow will also spend one week visiting golf courses in the Charlotte, N.C., area as part of his USGA internship. The Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology has presented its 2009 outstanding departmental graduate student awards to Alicia Phillips and Clement Akotsen-Mensah in entomology and to Scott Moore and Camilo Ramirez in plant pathology. Phillips is entomology professor and department head Art Appel’s master’s student; Akotsen-Mensah is a Ph.D. student of associate professor Henry Fadamiro; Moore is a master’s student of associate professor Kathy Lawrence; and Ramirez, who already is on the faculty at the Institute of Biology at the University of Antioquia in Colombia, is working under the direction of professor Joe Kloepper.
4 AGIllustrated

“Paul Patterson is an AU graduate from our college and is an excellent fit with our programs,” says College of Ag Dean Richard Guthrie of Patterson. “He comes from a comparable position in Arizona State University, which has built one of the largest agribusiness programs in the U.S. The College of Agriculture is excited about the appointment of Dr. Patterson.”

“Discover Your World: Auburn Edition” Offered in July for High School Students
This summer is the perfect time for high school students to explore new opportunities through an interactive, hands-on experience the College of Agriculture will offer July 17 on Auburn University’s campus. “Discover Your World: Auburn Edition” encourages students to learn more about agriculture through a fast-paced leadership and science workshop that focuses on environmental quality, food science, developing as a leader, preserving our natural resources and more. While students are having the time of their lives, parents can learn about navigating the college selection process—from understanding scholarships to grasping the admissions policy. For more information or to register go to www.ag.auburn.edu/goplaces/ events and click on “Discover Your World: Auburn Edition.”

Who’s Who Students Named
This year, seven students in the College of Agriculture were selected as 2008-2009 Who’s Who recipients at Auburn University. Who’s Who is a prestigious national honor given to junior, senior and graduate students who are outstanding campus student leaders. These students have excelled in academics, student leadership and community involvement. Recipients of this highly regarded award are nominated by faculty and staff from their college. Congratulations to them all: Jason Abernathy, Hope Burge, Rejeana Gvillo, Jennifer Himburg, Leah Mitchell, Anna-Marie Murphy and Martin Smith.
INTO THE WORLD—Several Ag Ambassadors made a big transition recently, when they graduated from the College of Ag in May and went out into the world. They were honored at the spring 2009 graduation breakfast and are pictured above at that ceremony. Those who have flown the coop include, (front row, from left) Elizabeth Jones, Rejeana Gvillo, Amanda Ferguson, Kelly McCay and Jeffrey DeFoor; (back row, from left) Margaret Jordan, Jeremy Deaton, Christi Chesnut, Hope Burge, Patrick Sullivan and Zane Thompson.

June 2009 5

names and faces
(Herbs, from page 1)

names and faces
As for Channell-Butcher’s herbs—and she has just about every kind under the sun—they grow vigorously in raised beds in her backyard. Nearly everything she cooks has a handful of fresh herbs thrown in. Van der Reijden recalled Channell-Butcher’s interest in herb gardening and gave her a call to run his Ariccia herb garden idea, and his interest in partnering with the College of Ag, past her. She said to count her in, pending the approval of Ag Dean Richard Guthrie. Guthrie gave the project his blessings, as did horticulture department head Dave Williams, and the college pledged to go 50-50 with the The Hotel’s project budget. Channell-Butcher’s first, and only, recruit to the project was Jane Hoehaver, director of the college’s Plant Science Research Center. It would work like this: Hamme would specify the herbs to be grown, Hoehaver would get the plants started in a greenhouse at the center and Channell-Butcher would take things from there. In spring 2007, Channell-Butcher planted the first crop of herbs, arranging them in large pots that sat a safe distance from the shallow end of the hotel pool. But even as those herbs were thriving and producing a plethora of herbs, plans for the garden IN THE GARDEN—Cynthia Channell-Butchwere moving to a higher level.
er, left, and Jane Hoehaver pose beside the fountain that made the Ariccia herb garden complete.

heart of the Loveliest Village, inside The Hotel at Auburn University and Dixon Conference Center. Arricia is its name, and Hamme is its executive chef—the chef in charge of the restaurant’s 30 or so other chefs. In Italy, it’s a culinary custom to use the freshest ingredients, and at Ariccia—named after the ancient town of Ariccia, Italy—Hamme honors that tradition, purchasing as many farm-fresh fruits, vegetables, meats and other ingredients as possible from producers across the state through communitysupported-agriculture partnerships. About four years ago, it dawned on Hans van der Reijden, managing director of operations at the Auburn University–owned hotel and conference facility, that, given the restaurant’s focus on freshness, Ariccia should have an on-site container herb garden, located in the luxury hotel’s pool area, where the chefs could gather herbs one minute and have them in the kitchen the next. There was just one problem. “Of course, the garden must be extremely attractive and healthy and well maintained at all times,” van der Reijden says, “but we have no gardeners on staff.” This is where, in late 2006, the College of Agriculture entered the scene.

Essential Ingredients
Fresh Herbs Can Make a Meal
By Jamie Creamer

A New Partnership

To set the stage, van der Reijden’s first task when he arrived in Auburn in 2003 was to work with the College of Human Sciences to incorporate the hotel is operating with the college’s academic program for hotel and restaurant management majors. The tremendous success of that joint venture inspired him to keep an eye open for opportunities to get involved with other colleges and schools across campus. The obvious prospective collaborator on the herb garden project was the College of Ag’s horticulture department, and in fact, van der Reijden knew a horticulture department staff member who’s an avid gardener and grows, among other things, herbs. That would be Cynthia Channell-Butcher, an academic program administrator in the department and long-time right-hand woman to horticulture professor James Brown. A few years back, van der Reijden met with a group of horticulture department faculty and staff to talk over the feasibility of establishing a completely student-managed vegetable garden that would grow seasonal produce for Ariccia. (Who would tend the garden during long semester breaks and other issues threw too many kinks into that plan.) Anyway, Channell-Butcher was in that group. Channell-Butcher and husband Brad Butcher have a 50-acre Notasulga farm that includes an acre and a half of blueberries and five full acres of muscadine and scuppernong vines. Apparently, she inherited her great-grandmother’s grapevine-growing gene. “She had a row of muscadine vines in her yard, and as soon as they started ripening, we’d pick them and she would make us a muscadine cobbler,” she says. “I always wanted to have my own vines one day.”

J

Green Thumbs She and Butcher have been tending their vines since 1996. Muscadines and scuppernongs are high-maintenance, labor-intensive crops, but it’s always been just the two of them doing all the work: the tedious hand-pruning, the constant upkeep of the orchard grounds and the hand-cramping, timeconsuming handpicking—and these vines are prolific with a capital P. They handle the marketing, too, peddling the umpteen dozen crates of grapes to independent grocery stores in Lee, Macon, Tallapoosa and Montgomery counties.

That fall, van der Reijden brought in a landscape architect who designed a beauty of garden space, running the length of the brick wall parallel to the pool, filled with raised beds and enclosed by a knee-high wooden fence. When the garden was built, it was perfect. Well, almost perfect. The finishing touch, Channell-Butcher said, would be a beautiful fountain. That’s not in the budget, she was told. But it must have a fountain, she said. And where there’s a will, there’s a way. Channell-Butcher lost her father, retired NASA engineer and 1963 Auburn alum Dewey Bowes Channell of Huntsville, in 2005. “My two brothers and I had been looking for something really special we could do to honor Dad’s memory, so the three of us gave the garden its fountain,” she says. A plaque at the fountain’s base identifies it as a memorial to Channell, given by his three children. Now, Channell-Butcher says, the garden is perfect. Another plaque, displayed by the wrought-iron gate to the pool area, notes that the herb garden is a collaborative project of the hotel and conference center, the College of Ag, the horticulture department and the plant research center. In mid-April, Channell-Butcher and Hoehaver planted this year’s garden, and Hamme is harvesting fresh, fragrant herbs once again. The garden does bear Channell-Butcher’s signature mark. The herbs grow against a backdrop of trellises, on which grow the vines—muscadine and scuppernong, of course. Whether muscadine pie and scuppernong wine will appear on Aricca’s menu remains to be seen.

The Finishing Touch

ohn Hamme, executive chef at Ariccia Italian Trattoria and Bar in Auburn, uses fresh basil, parsley and oregano from the restaurant’s herb garden to make a couple of items he considers essentials at Ariccia, and he has been so kind as to share those recipes here. By the way, as unlikely as it may seem when you read them, Hamme insists these are “household size” versions. Ariccia uses the Embellishment Oil, which Hamme developed and perfected through the years, “on almost everything,” he says, most often as a marinade for grilled steaks, vegetables and chicken and as an ingredient in the restaurant’s oven-roasted tomatoes and roast fish. His Balsamic Vinaigrette has been the restaurant’s house dressing since 2007. In addition to Hamme’s recipes, Cynthia Channell-Butcher offers one of her many herb-filled originals. It’s a breeze to make, and it is superb.

Embellishment Oil
1 cup peeled garlic 1 cup peeled shallot 1 quart vegetable oil 1 quart olive oil 4 packed cups fresh basil 1 bunch flat-leaf parsley, heavy stems removed Coat garlic with oil and roast in oven at 350 degrees for 11 minutes; cool. In a large plastic container, combine garlic, shallot, vegetable oil, olive oil and about half of the basil and parsley. Blend with an immersion blender or a regular household blender* until the oil is a rich green color and only tiny flakes of the herbs are visible. Add remaining herbs and continue blending, again until the mixture is a rich green and only tiny flakes are visible. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes before using to prevent the herbs from turning brown and to help emulsify the oil. (* If using a household blender, place garlic, shallot and herbs in blender container along with enough of the vegetable and olive oils, in equal parts, to blend. Transfer blended mixture to a large container and whisk in the remaining oils.)

AS FRESH AS IT GETS—Right photo, Ariccia executive chef John Hamme snips chives from the herb garden outside the restaurant to add to the basketful of other herbs, top photo, he has gathered to pre-

(barrels, from page 1)

Balsamic Vinaigrette
¼ cup whole-grain mustard ¼ cup Dijon mustard ½ cup oregano, cleaned 1 cup basil leaves, cleaned 2 cups balsamic vinegar 1 pasteurized egg yolk 1 cup sliced shallot ½ cup garlic 8 cups blended oil* Salt and white pepper to taste In a large container, combine the mustards, oregano, basil leaves, vinegar, egg yolk, shallot and garlic. Blend with an immersion blender or regular household blender** to combine ingredients, slowly drizzling in the blended oil and the seasonings. (* Blended oil is a mix of olive oil and vegetable oil. Use 1 part olive oil to 2 parts vegetable oil.) (** If using a household blender, place all ingredients except the oil and seasonings in blender container to combine. Transfer to a large container and slowly whisk in the oil and seasonings.)

barrels without knocking them over in the fastest possible time: typical times are in the 15-second range. While it’s open to both males and females, barrel racing is primarily a women’s event at the college and professional levels. It is truly a team effort, the “team” being the horse and rider working in perfect synchronicity with one another, and it requires exceptional athleticism on the part of both animal and human. Though these horse-and-human teams may make barrel racing look easy, every run presents a new and different challenge. The speed at which a barrel BOOKS AND BARRELS—Jessica course is completed depends not only Stanford spends her week days in on a horse’s natural speed and ability, but Comer Hall running the numbers for also on the conditions of the sand or dirt the College of Ag and Ag Experiment in an arena. And the rider must be able Station. Her off-time, however, is spent to read her horse and control its speed running barrels. and cadence with finely tuned precision. While its origins are a bit murky, barrel racing first became a competitive sport in Texas around 1948 when a group of women formed an association to give them access to professional

rodeo events. What began with only 60 approved tour events for women has now grown into a national association—the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association—with several levels of competition and some 800 sanctioned tour events with an annual payout of more than $3 million dollars. Stanford is competing in events through the National Barrel Horse Association and, while she is far from getting rich from her hobby, she feels blessed to be involved. Her horse, Brownie (her full name is Silver Bow Brownie) is still training to learn the “ropes” of barrel racing, as is Stanford, but they are competing in events across the Southeast and are working their way up through the ranks. “When I got Brownie, it was one of the happiest days of my life,” says Stanford, who takes care of not only Brownie, but her dog, Tuff. Those critters require Stanford’s constant attention, but that’s relatively easy for Stanford because she lives in an apartment attached to the barn she built on the outskirts of Auburn. Many weekends she is on the road competing in NBHA events and she has done well in those events thus far, but Stanford says she has lots of work to do to really make the big time. However, she does have time on her side—many female barrel racers compete well into their 50s and beyond—and the pleasure of a fast run, a great horse and the community of other riders is beyond compare. “I have made so many friends,” she says of her barrel racing “family,” and that’s just one of the many reasons she remains focused on her ultimate goal— to become an even more accomplished contender in the barrel racing world. Who knows, we may soon be seeing her on ESPN!

pare the many dishes on the day’s menus. The herb garden, pictured above, is as pretty as a picture.

Herb-Roasted Fingerling Potatoes
1 stem fresh rosemary 3 fresh sage leaves 1 tablespoon olive oil Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste 12 fingerling potatoes Remove leaves from rosemary stem and finely chop both the rosemary and sage leaves. Combine herbs with olive oil and salt and pepper. Place potatoes in a baking dish and coat with herb mixture. Roast at 350 degrees until potatoes are tender. Potatoes also can be wrapped in aluminum foil and grilled.

6 AGIllustrated

June 2009 7

research news
Demo Shows Meat Goat Producers Ways to Cut Costs
A demonstration project at the Sand Mountain Research and Extension Center in Crossville gives Alabama meat goat producers a firsthand look at practical and sustainable production and management strategies that can help them meet a growing demand for their product more efficiently and cost effectively. The project, designed by SMREC director Tony Dawkins and Alabama Cooperative Extension System specialist Robert Spencer, focuses on rotational grazing. The traditional practice of keeping goats in one pasture leads to overgrazing, and when goats graze down to ground level, they risk picking up soil-dwelling gastrointestinal parasites. With the rotational system, a pasture is subdivided, and when the ruminants graze forage in one area to a height of no less than six inches from the ground, they are moved to another area. Rotational grazing and quality forages are considered keys to increasing the efficiency of meat goat operations by reducing the costs of supplemental feeding and health care. The Sand Mountain project is set up in a fenced, 10-acre pasture that is divided into paddocks by movable cross fences that facilitate movement of the goats from paddock to paddock. Each paddock is planted in one of six quality forage varieties. The 20 goats in the project are Boers, Kikos or Boer/Kiko crosses. In addition to illustrating the rotational grazing system to producers, the project also has research components. The project leaders are evaluating the forage varieties to see how well the animals grow while grazing on them and which the goats find most palatable. They also are assessing the goats to determine each breed’s vigor, growth and ability to thrive on a forage-based diet.

alumni and development
News about the College of Agriculture’s alumni, friends, donors and events at Ag Heritage Park

Mr. McGraw’s Typewriter Comes Home
By Katie Jackson

Father & Sons

BENT OVER BENTGRASS—Mark Foshee, research technician at Auburn’s Plant Science Research Center, examines one of dozens of creeping bentgrass cores collected from a golf course putting green in Auburn. Turfgrass management professor Beth Guertal is using the cores to compare different brands of foliar fertilizers, determining how well grass leaves take up nitrogen from each fertilizer and how well the fertilizers adhere to the leaf after irrigation. The independent study will give golf course superintendents unbiased brand-performance information they can use when evaluating their maintenance programs, Guertal says.

Project Yields New Clues to Nematode Control
For Alabama cotton producers, reniform nematodes are very bad news. The microscopic, soil-dwelling worms feed on the roots of cotton plants, stunting plant growth and slashing yields by 60 percent or more. Reniform nematodes spread from field to field on farm equipment, and once they move into a field, nothing can be done to eradicate them. A few nematicides on the market offer some degree of control, but they are expensive, toxic and short-lived. Research has shown that crop rotation has potential as an effective nematode management tool, and Auburn University plant pathologist Kathy Lawrence and her four graduTOO LATE—By the time the first cotton plant ate research assistants are working to starts showing symptoms, nematodes will identify practices, strategies and patalready have taken over the field. terns that will help growers maximize crop rotation’s benefits in cotton fields infested with both root-knot and reniform nematodes. And in that research, Lawrence and team have come upon some preliminary findings and developments that could have significant impacts on nematode management and research. Graduate research assistant Scott Moore, for instance, has determined that, even under the dry conditions Alabama has experienced the last few years, reniform nematodes move in, spread horizontally and vertically and overtake a production field much faster than long has been assumed. From an initial inoculation level of 250 reniform eggs, nematode numbers soared to above the economic threshold of 5,000 per100 cc of soil in two years. Then, using soil samples from cotton fields at Alabama Ag Experiment Station research centers around the state, Juan David Castillo pinpointed six naturally occurring soil fungi that attack reniform nematodes and that could be effective as biological controls. Castillo is the first to report that these fungi assail nematodes in cotton crops. In his assigned area of research, graduate research assistant Dustin Herring worked with Extension agronomist Charlie Burmester to determine that post-harvest cotton regrowth can support another generation of reniform nematodes. They found that applying the herbicides 2,4- D or Clarity killed the cotton as well as the winter weeds, and at cotton planting in April, reniform nematode populations in the treated locations were significantly lower than in the untreated. Finally, Lawrence’s graduate assistant Nick Sekora has developed a process that, once refined, could allow soil diagnostic labs to identify reniform and root-knot nematodes in one day, as opposed to the week now required. Sekora’s FAME analysis technique could be specific enough to separate out the cotton root-knot nematodes from the ones that attack peanuts.

Researchers Probe Ozone’s Impact on Grass, Livestock
Ground-level ozone has long been considered a major air pollutant that, among its many effects, limits the growth and lowers the nutritive quality of plants and grasses in pasturelands and grasslands where livestock and wildlife graze. Now, Auburn professors Russ Muntifering in animal sciences and Art Chappelka in forestry, two veteran researchers who focus on air pollution’s impact on vegetation—and on the animals that ingest that vegetation—have kicked off a two-year study to determine how nutrients in ozone-damaged plants and grasses

Leon McGraw, former head of Research Information (now known as the College of Ag/AAES Office of Communications and Marketing) spent many hours at his typewriter in Comer Hall. Now that very same Underwood Golden Touch manual machine, along with fond memories of McGraw (who retired in 1982 and died in 1987) have come home. McGraw’s daughter, Barbara McGraw Moser of Florida, recently donated her father’s typewriter to be ensconced in the Herdsman’s House at Ag Heritage Park, a fitting location based on Moser’s childhood memories as the daughter of an Ag Hill employee. “When I was a child, I spent many an hour playing (and even hunting Easter eggs) in (and around) the original red barn and in the brick dairy barn,” she recalls. “They milked cows there then. My friend’s father was in charge of the barns and lived in one of the little white houses. I have a picture of the original red barn on my den wall.” The idea of donating her father’s typewriter to Auburn came to her when she heard about Ag Heritage Park and its mission. “The stated goal of the park is to show how Auburn, as a landgrant college, had contributed to agriculture in Alabama,” she says. “I thought that perhaps this would be a place which would also show how the Research InLeon McGraw formation office had contributed to Auburn’s role. I know the office (Research Information) has helped farmers around the world by dissemination of agricultural information from Auburn.” And she even helped her father in that effort. “When I was still living at home, Daddy would bring home requests for information written in French. I would translate them for him. I’ve often wondered what this person did when he received a bulletin in English. Maybe he had a daughter who could translate for him?” Moser has many more memories of Auburn—so many of them, in fact, that she says her own children “roll their eyes when I tell stories.” But we love hearing them and welcome stories from other alumni and Auburn friends and family. Send yours to us at agcomm@auburn.edu or to Comer Hall Room 3, Auburn, AL 36849. In the meantime, thank you Mrs. Moser, for bringing your father’s typewriter and your memories home to us. They are deeply appreciated.

Hajek “Boys” Endow Scholarship in Honor of Dad
Right around Father’s Day of 2008, the four sons of Ben Hajek of Auburn, professor emeritus of agronomy and soils and a much-loved professor by many College of Ag alumni, found a Ben Hajek truly special way to honor their father. They established a scholarship in his name that will benefit other people’s daughters and sons for years to come. The Dr. Ben F. Hajek Endowed Scholarship in the College of Agriculture was officially established in June 2008 with a $28,000 gift that has already provided $1,000 in academic awards to College of Ag students for the 20082009 school year. Though the scholarship is open to any student in the college with a GPA of 2.5 or above, preference is given to students majoring in agronomy and soils, the department in which Hajek has taught, conducted research and mentored students for more than 30 years. While a faculty member at Auburn, Hajek specialized in the areas of soil classification, clay mineralogy and waste disposal and also coached for many years the award-winning AU Soils Judging Team. Though he retired in 1995, Hajek has continued to work with College of Ag faculty on a variety of projects. He and his wife, Rosalie, live in Auburn. The scholarship was established by Hajek’s sons—Michael, who lives in Colorado, and Philip, Mark and Paul, all of whom live in Georgia. To contribute to the scholarship fund or learn more about possibly honoring someone in your life with a similar donation, contact the College of Ag Development Office at 334-844-1475 or coagdev@auburn.edu.
GOING FOR THE BIG BUCKS— Horticulture professor Jeff Sibley is ready to get hold of the giant check Mary Lou Matthews has just revealed—one made out to the Department of Horticulture in the amount of $40,000. That’s how much the Auburn University Campus Club’s huge, ninth annual A-Day weekend plant sale generated for its horticulture scholarship endowment. The remainder of the $46,000 in plant sale earnings went to the student landscape design organization known as PLANET, which this year merged its annual spring fundraising plant sale with the Campus Club’s. That merger resulted in the largest inventory of plants and trees ever, and shoppers swarmed the plant-packed parking lot on South College in record numbers. Matthews, Campus Club scholarship chair, attributes the whopping success of this year’s sale not only to the extensive collection of plants available but also to beautiful weather, a big A-Day game crowd and the sale’s growing reputation as a place to find high-quality plants at good prices. Every year, all plant sale proceeds go to the club’s First Ladies’ Endowed Scholarships program, which it established in 2005 to award scholarships in the names of past, present and future Auburn University first ladies to deserving students majoring in horticulture. With this year’s $40,000 in sale proceeds added in, the endowment now stands at $211,000, and Sibley, scholarship chairman for the horticulture department, says that will provide $1,000 first lady scholarships for 15 Auburn horticulture students in the 2009-10 academic year. The Campus Club aims to grow the endowment to the point where full-tuition scholarships can be awarded in honor of every first lady in Auburn’s history. Matthews announced the 2009 sale results during a picnic luncheon the club sponsored in the Funchess Hall courtyard.

Ag Alum Follows Ag Alum at NRCS

IN THE O ZONE—Pasture grasses damaged by ozone provide cattle fewer nutrients.

cycle through the food web: from the plants to the animals that consume them and back to the soil as waste products. To facilitate the study, the scientists will use rabbits in their research instead of large animals. Muntifering says rabbits’ foraging habits and digestive systems have a number of similarities to those of deer, cattle and sheep. In the study, which will be conducted at the School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences atmospheric deposition site in north Auburn, the rabbits will be fed forage harvested from two different environments, one with elevated ozone levels and the other where the levels are lower. The food will be served in cube form in the study’s first phase and in loose form in the second. The researchers’ theory is that the rabbits given forage grown in an environment with elevated ozone levels will have lower digestible dry matter intake in the cube phase, altered diet-selection behavior loose-form phase and slower growth rates than those fed on forage harvested from an environment with lower levels of ozone. The study’s findings could lead to improved management practices for ozoneexposed pastures and grasslands that provide grazing for livestock and wildlife as well as for those used for biomass production. The results also could provide data needed in the development of air-quality standards that would minimize the ecological impact of ozone on grasslands, in the U.S. and in Europe.

News from Alums
Gary Kobylski Bill Puckett

College of Ag alumnus Gary Kobylski retired as Alabama’s state conservationist on April 3. Ten days later, College of Ag alumnus William Puckett picked up the reins, becoming Alabama’s seventh state conservationist since the 1935 creation of what was then the Soil Conservation Service. Kobylski, who received his bachelor’s degree in agronomy and soils from Auburn in 1977, already had 30 years in with the Natural Resources Conservation Service before being appointed Alabama’s top federal conservation officer in 2007. In those three decades, he worked for NRCS in four states and Washington, D.C. Shortly before he retired, the American Forest Foundation recognized Kobylski’s outstanding contributions to natural resource conservation by presenting him its Forest Stewardship Award for the east region. Like his predecessor, Puckett is a career conservationist with NRCS. He has served at the local, state, regional and national levels, most recently as the agency’s deputy chief for science and technology in D.C. He holds both a bachelor’s degree in agronomy and a master’s in soil physics and mineralogy from Auburn.

Abra Lee was placed on academic suspension for a couple of semesters as a horticulture major at Auburn, but she re-enrolled, buckled down and, in December 2002, received her bachelor’s degree in horticulture. Four years later, she was hired as aviation landscape manager at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and assigned the monumental task of transforming the airport’s long-neglected, highly unattractive grounds at the world’s busiest airport into a masterpiece. A video segment that aired on CNN May 9 is proof that the ever-upbeat Lee has succeeded. Check out the feature on Lee and her landscaping magic at www.cnn.com/video/?/video/bestoftv/2009/05/09/seg.beautifying.cnn. In an e-mail alerting her Auburn professors and friends to the online video, Lee wrote, “I was not always the best student, but I am definitely trying to do right by Auburn in my professional life. Hope you enjoy, and thanks to each of you for being so good to me.” Lisa Ann McKinley of the Atlanta area, a 1987 poultry science graduate who was cited in a recent issue of Ag Illustrated for her promotion at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, has added another feather to her cap. She is the recent recipient of a Bronze Medal for EPA Region 3 for her work with the Perdue Clean Bays Environment Management Initiative Team.

8 AGIllustrated

April 2009 9

elsewhere in the AAES
News from the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station’s partners

extension
News from the Alabama Cooperative Extension System

School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences

Named Top Teacher, Grad Student
The School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences has awarded Tom Gallagher, assistant professor of forest harvesting and forest operations, and Suman Majumdar, a Ph.D. candidate in forest economics, two of its top honors. Gallagher’s fellow faculty members have selected him the recipient of the SFWS Harold E. Christen Award for Service to Teaching, an honor the school presents every odd-numbered year to a faculty member who is an exceptional educator. The Christen Award recognizes a teacher who is directly involved with students, who goes the extra mile to provide students the highest-quality classroom learning experiences and whose teaching effectiveness is evidenced by the knowledge levels of current and former students and by those individuals’ evaluations of the teacher. Gallagher came to Auburn University in June 2003, bringing with him 16 years’ experience in the forest industry as a technical forester, wood procurement forester and procurement analyst. He holds an associate of applied science degree in forest technology from the New York State Ranger School, a bachelor’s in forPERFORMANCE AWARDS—The AU estry from the University of Maine at School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences Orono and a master’s and his Ph.D. in presented two of its highest honors to Tom forestry from Virginia Tech. Gallagher, left, and Suman Majumdar. In addition to teaching responsibilities, Gallagher conducts research, primarily in the harvesting and transportation of biomass to alternative-fuels plants. This is Gallagher’s second award for teaching excellence. In 2006, the AU Forestry Club, which is Auburn’s student chapter of the Society of American Foresters, named him Teacher of the Year. Majumdar has won the SFWS’s 2009 Outstanding International Graduate Student of the Year Award in recognition of his excellent academic performance, his enthusiastic involvement in activities within the SFWS and campus-wide and his role in representing the school on the AU campus and within the community. Majumdar, who was born in Canada but grew up in India, is pursuing his doctorate in forest economics under Yaoqi Zhang, associate professor of forest economics, management and policy. His research focus is the demand-side management of residential water use.

Program a Resource for Grandparents Raising Grandchildren
Grandparents raising grandchildren is a growing trend in both Alabama and the nation as a whole. According to the 2000 Census, more than 2.4 million grandparents are responsible for about 4.5 million grandchildren. In Alabama, more than 10 percent of children are raised by a grandparent or other relatives. In some counties, that rate swells to as high as 20 percent. These skipped-generation families face tough enough challenges when the economy is strong, but today’s recession is placing extreme financial burdens on these families, says Wilma Ruffin, a family and child development expert with the Alabama Cooperative Extension System in Auburn. “Imagine you are retired and living on a small pension and your Social Security benefits,” Ruffin says. “Now imagine you are caring for a 12-year-old grandson and an infant granddaughter. Your monthly budget must include additional food for a growing preteen as well as formula and diapers for the baby. Plus, you will need to buy clothes and shoes for these growing youngsters.” Other expenses may increase, too, she says. Trips to and from school, doctor visits and other activities, for instance, mean the vehicle’s gas tank needs filling more frequently. Because of the financial demands, many grandparents are re-entering the job market, searching for ways to boost income. But with millions of people losing their jobs across the nation, older individuals may face an even harder time finding employment. When grandparents take on the job of raising their grandchildren, it is a lifechanging experience for the adults and the children. Ruffin says the adults have to confront not only the financial stress but also their own conflicting emotions. “You find your own dreams and plans put on hold,” she says. “You may be angry with your adult child for putting you in the situation, and you may become depressed over the enormity of the situation.” “Your life is far different from your friends’ lives, too,” she says. “You are worrying about homework and teacher conferences, but your friends don’t face the same demands.” Since 2001, Extension has worked to address the needs of these families with Alabama RAPP Grandparents and Relatives as Parents program. Alabama RAPP’s two primary goals are to provide grandparents and relatives with information and resources to improve their parenting and to develop forums where grandparents and relative caregivers exchange ideas and information. The program, which operates under the guidance of Extension’s Urban Affairs and New Nontraditional Programs unit, uses research-based curricula to address a number of topics grandparents face when raising a grandchild. The Alabama departments of Senior Services (Area Agency on Aging) and Human Resources and the American Association of Retired Persons comprise the coalition at the state level. Due to the success of the statewide network, a number of local networks have been established using the same structure. For more about the program, contact Ruffin at 256-372-4970 or ruffiwj@auburn.edu.

ANIMAL ART—Youngsters who attended the College of Veterinary Medicine’s 32nd annual Open House April 18 finish up their sketches in an animal-drawing activity the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art’s Saturday Art Club sponsored for the event. The class was a new feature of open house this year, as were opportunities for Boy Scouts to earn Merit Badges in veterinary medicine and dog care and for Cub Scouts to earn certificates in wildlife conservation. About 3,500 visitors attended the 2009 student-organized open house, which also featured such traditional activities as a petting zoo, a dog agility course, canine and equine parades of breeds, teddy bear surgery, scientific exhibits and birds of prey from the Southeastern Raptor Center.

College of Veterinary Medicine

Legend’s Son Standing Stud at CV
Biduino, one of the last living sons of legendary racehorse Beduino, is alive and well and standing stud in Auburn. The 1990 gray stallion by Beduino and out of Barbara Bid, by Double Bid, is standing at the James W. Goodwin and Joy Goodwin Adams Equine Reproduction Center and is one of only a few such non-university-owned stallions there. David Clyde of Oneonta, Biduino’s owner, originally brought the horse to Auburn for collection of semen for frozen storage, but he has allowed Biduino to stand at the center and has provided that half of all stud fees go the center. Horse-owning Auburn alumni and faculty who wish to take advantage of Biduino’s unique standing receive discounts on fees. Robyn Wilborn, a CVM assistant professor who specializes in animal reproduction, says Biduino’s foals have combined earnings of $135,000-plus. “The foals have great temperament and are good for all types of riding,” she says. For more information, contact Wilborn or Equine Reproduction Center director Aime Johnson at 334-844-4490. The center handles all shipping arrangements.

Program Teaches Unemployed Timber Workers Job-Hunting Skills
The sharp decline in new construction nationwide has dealt a harsh blow to four southwest Alabama counties whose economies long have depended on the timber industry and has left thousands of the residents of Clarke, Monroe, Conecuh and Escambia counties jobless and searching for work. To help meet the employment needs of displaced workers who were long-time timber industry employees and who had limited job-hunting skills, Rick Zapata, a regional Extension agent serving those counties, developed a three-session returning-to-work training program. Before he started designing the program, Zapata met with Jim Kellen, executive director of Southwest Alabama Workforce Development Council, and Al Etheridge, AWDC workforce coordinator, and both told him that employers they were dealing with valued workers’ skills more than workers’ experience. “Students come to us with the mindset that they need to look for work in the same industry they left,” says Zapata. “The truth is that those jobs no longer exist and it is likely that their new employers will not be in the timberrelated industries.” The first training session was at Reid State College in Evergreen. None of those attending had a resume, so the first class was spent helping students identify acquired job skills. All of the students were able to come up with six or more marketable skills. These job skills formed the basis of their resumes. Once students finished their skill set worksheet, they began writing their resumes and cover letters targeting their job search to businesses and industries that required those skills. One student said no one would hire him because of his age. During the class, that student came up with more than 50 acquired job skills. According to Kellen, this is the kind of employee today’s industries and businesses are looking for. In the second session, Zapata covered Internet-based job searches, something that 99 percent of attendees had never done. By session’s end, every trainee had developed a job-search network and how to use social media to enlarge the network. The Alabama Career Job Center also did a presentation on receiving jobless benefits and free educational opportunities. The third class focused on the importance of getting and preparing for an interview. Students learned how to fill out an application correctly, how employers use drug tests and background checks and how to dress for an interview. In addition, Zapata introduced them to the ACES money-management calendar. Zapata now has consolidated the topics into two sessions and has conducted it in Grove Hill, Atmore, a second time in Evergreen and twice in Monroeville. Feedback from the participants has been positive, with the vast majority saying the training program especially prepared them for going on job interviews. Zapata will conduct a follow-up survey at six months to determine how many participants have found jobs.

IPM Group Earns ‘Bright Idea’ Award
A regional working group of Extension specialists who focus on integrated pest management in schools has won the BEST AND BRIGHTEST—Auburn University entoSouthern Region IPM Center’s mology research fellow Fudd Graham, fourth from 2009 IPM Bright Idea Award, left, holds the IPM Bright Idea Award that the Southan honor that recognizes an ern Region IPM Center presented his Southern Reinnovative concept or breakgion School IPM Working Group at a recent conferthrough that makes implementence. Graham, co-leader of the working group, is the ing IPM programs in schools Alabama Cooperative Extension System’s pesticide easier or more effective. safety specialist and heads the Alabama School InThe regional IPM centegrated Pest Management Program. Other group ter said the Southern Region members are, from left, Godfrey Nalyanya of North School IPM Working Group Carolina State; Steve Toth of North Carolina, who earned the award for organizpresented the award from the Southern Region IPM ing the first school working Center; Vicky Bertagnolli-Heller, who received her group in the southern region. master’s in entomology at Auburn under Graham’s The working group’s co-leaders direction and now is with Clemson University Coopare Lawrence “Fudd” Graham, erative Extension; Graham; Janet Hurley with Texas Alabama Cooperative ExtenAgriLife Extension Service and Graham’s co-leader sion System pesticide safety of the working group; Karen Vail, University of Tenspecialist and Auburn entomolnessee; Dale Pollet, LSU AgCenter; and, kneeling, ogy research fellow, and Janet Mike Merchant, Texas AgriLife Extension Service. Hurley from the Texas Extension system at Texas A&M. The group, which includes school IPM specialists at each of the southern region land-grant universities, met for the first time in May 2007 to share resources and ideas and to discuss each state’s challenges. By the end of the twoday meeting, they had established the working group, created a mission statement and priorities, elected a chair and secretary and begun planning a logo. Graham says the group has two main goals: to enhance the existing programs in each state and to assist programs that were struggling to change school pest management practices in their states. A new strategic plan from the IPM Institute of North America calls for IPM to be implemented in all U.S. public schools by 2015. IPM is a sustainable approach to managing pests by combining biological, cultural, physical and chemical tools in a way that minimizes economic, health and environmental risks. Alabama’s school IPM program began in May 2000, when, as part of a national pilot project, Graham put it into practice in three schools in the Auburn City School System. By December, city school officials had taken the program systemwide. Three years later, pesticide use in Auburn City Schools was down 90 percent. Since then, Graham has launched IPM programs in seven more school systems around the state. They include Boaz City, Geneva County, Mobile County, Saraland City, Shelby County and Sylacauga City. Two other systems are seriously considering going the IPM route. For more information, contact Graham at grahalc@auburn.edu.

College of Human Sciences

Navigating Economic Challenges Focus of WPB Spring Symposium
The Women’s Philanthropy Board in Auburn University’s College of Human Sciences held its seventh annual Spring Symposium in April with a focus on “Navigating the Challenges in Today’s Economy: Preserving Wealth and Pursuing Philanthropy.” During the day-long event, which drew some 500 attendees, business and government leaders discussed financial and economic issues. Speakers included Gene L. Dodaro, acting comptroller general for the United States and head of the Government Accountability Office; David Altig, senior vice president and director of research for the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta; Burt White, managing director of research for LPL Financial; and Leura Canary, U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Alabama. “This year’s focus on financial and economic issues reflects the Women’s Philanthropy Board’s commitment to A WEALTH OF KNOWLEDGE—The seventh providing educational activities supannual WPB Spring Symposium brought sevporting financial and philanthropic eral high-level financial experts to Auburn in responsibility,” says June Henton, April to talk about philanthropy and preserving CHS dean. wealth in these tough economic times. Among The event was underwritten by the speakers was Gene Dodaro, acting compWPB’s corporate partners Alabama troller general and head of the U.S. GovernPower, Moore Wealth Management, ment Accountability Office. Pictured with him the Auburn University Office of Outare, at left, WPB Director Sidney James Nakhreach, The Hotel at Auburn Universijavan and CHS Dean June Henton. (Photo proty and Dixon Conference Center, Citi vided courtesy of Village Photographers.) Smith Barney, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama and The Flower Store. For more information on WPB activities, visit www.humsci.auburn.edu/ wpb/ or contact Sidney James Nakhjavan, WPB director, at 334-844-9199 or wpbchs1@auburn.edu.

College of Sciences and Mathematics

Mercy Medical Clinic Inspiring COSAM Students to Serve
Faced with staggering numbers related to the current economic crisis, Americans clearly are also worried about the affordability and availability of health care. According to the Kaiser Foundation’s first tracking survey of 2009, the unemployed or individuals without health insurance are the groups most profoundly impacted and are more likely than other groups to put off medical treatment. Fortunately, for some of the most marginalized citizens of Lee County, Ala., there is mercy from often overHAVE MERCY—Volunteer Jackson Giwhelming medical challenges: Mercy rardeau, a junior majoring in biomedical sciMedical Clinic. This non-profit, interences, gets real world medical experience denominational Christian-based operaby “shadowing” doctors at Mercy Medical tion provides family medicine and denCenter to see how an illness or a disease is tistry to citizens who have no medical treated. In this case, Girardeau helps out by insurance and have an income less than taking a patient’s blood pressure. 200 percent of the federal poverty line. Due to its proximity to Auburn University, this predominately volunteer organization provides COSAM students an opportunity to learn while serving a worthy cause. As volunteers, COSAM students are exposed to all aspects of the clinic, from administration, answering the phones and pulling charts to the real practice of medicine says, Michelle Mullin, a senior in biomedical sciences. These students—most of whom plan to attend medical school—have an opportunity to “shadow” the doctors and see how an illness or disease is treated. Auburn University’s connection to the Mercy Medical Clinic does not end when student volunteers graduate. The current rotation of physicians and dentists includes COSAM alumni, many with active practices in the Lee County area.

10 AGIllustrated

April 2009 11

calendar of events
Now through Aug. 27
The Market at Ag Heritage Park - Auburn Thursdays 3:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. The Market at Ag Heritage Park is a growers-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 through Aug 27. Contact: Dani Carroll at 334-749-3353 or carrodl@auburn.edu or visit www.ag.auburn.edu/themarket

Aug. 15

Alabama Medicinal Plant Growers Association Annual Meeting Goodwin Hall - Auburn University-Montgomery - Montgomery 8:30 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. This event will include the election of officers, a key speaker, vendor exhibits and various presentations to educate growers about production, management, harvesting and marketing methods for medicinal plants. Contact: Rick Arnold at the.referee@charter.net or 205-515-2026 or visit www.ampga.org

July 17

Discover Your World: Auburn Edition - Auburn This one-day program highlights opportunities in agriculture for students in grades 10 through 12. Through hands-on programming students learn about Auburn’s pre-veterinary program and career options in such areas as environmental quality, science, global positioning systems and much more. Contact: Deborah Solie at das0002@auburn.edu or www.ag.auburn.edu/goplaces/events and click on “Summer Program”

Aug. 17 Aug. 29

Fall Classes Begin at Auburn

Scholarship Recognition Program Ham Wilson Arena - Auburn University - Auburn 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. Contact: Ann Gulatte at 334-844-2345 or gulatam@auburn.edu

Aug. 1

Farm, Home and Wildlife Expo Chilton Research and Extension Center - Clanton 12:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.; dinner at 5:00 p.m. This event features programs and tours ranging from fruit production (peaches, satsumas, kiwifruit, blackberries, blueberry, pecans, muscadines and grapes), fruit tasting ( peaches, figs, pears, apples, watermelons and heirloom tomatoes), dessert tasting (various fruit ice creams and desserts), caged fish production, wildlife control, skeet shooting, field trial demonstrations, a petting zoo and cooking demonstrations. Contact: Jim Pitts at 205-646-3610 or pittsja@auburn.edu

Sept. 7

Labor Day Holiday

Women’s Philanthropy Board Fall Luncheon The Hotel at Auburn University - Ballroom A - Auburn Noon This event will feature Kirsty Coventry, a College of Human Sciences alumna and Olympic Gold Medalist. Contact: Sidney James Nakhjavan at 334-844-9199 or wpbchs1@auburn.edu

Sept. 11

Aug. 10

Summer Graduation Breakfast Ham Wilson Arena - Auburn University - Auburn Summer 2009 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 at 334-844-2345 or gulatam@auburn.edu

Get fresh at the Market!

The Market at Ag Heritage Park, a community farmers’ market located on the AU campus, has kicked off its 2009 season in a slightly different location, but still within Ag Heritage Park. The Market, which was established in 2004, is held on Thursday afternoons from 3 to 6 p.m. in greenspace near the intersection of Donahue Drive and Lem Morrison Drive. It features locally grown and made produce and products for a fresh-from-the-farm shopping opportunity. Each week’s market offers a variety of fresh, in-season fruits and vegetables, goat cheese and soaps, honey, plants, baked goods and often educational displays and sometimes live music and cooking and gardening demonstrations. For more information on The Market, contact Dani Carroll at 334-7493353 or carrodl@auburn.edu or visit www.ag.auburn.edu/themarket. The Market is hosted by the AU College of Agriculture and cosponsored by the Alabama Cooperative Extension System and the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station.

COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE 107 COMER HALL AUBURN, AL 36849-5401 www.auburn.edu www.ag.auburn.edu

Non Profit Org. U.S. Postage PA ID Auburn, AL Permit No. 9