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IN THIS NEWSLINE:
1 CALS COMMENCEMENT MAY 17
2 SANDER RETURNS AS CALS DEAN, HAY BECOMES
UA PROVOST
3 WATER SUSTAINABILITY PROGRAM: CALS GRANT
PROJECTS FY09
4 GROW CITRUS TREES IN POTS
5 RETURN ON INVESTMENT BROCHURE
6 10 EASY SOIL TESTS
7 MORE ACCESS TO BIOTECH CROP DATA
8 NEW PUBLICATION: CHOOSING HEALTHY FATS
9 MINIMIZING BARK BEETLE COLONIES IN PONDEROSA
PINE
10 CALS IN THE NEWS
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1 CALS COMMENCEMENT MAY 17
The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and its Schools of
Family and
Consumer Sciences and Natural Resources will honor graduating seniors
and
graduate students on Saturday, May 17, 2008 at Centennial Hall preceding
the
University Commencement ceremony. Degrees will be conferred upon
391
undergraduates, 50 master's students and 18 Ph.D. students.
Student registration and guest seating begin at 8:30 a.m.; the
program
starts with a processional at 9:30 a.m. The duration of the ceremony
is
approximately 1.5 hours. Refreshments will be served immediately
following
the reception.
PLEASE NOTE: Seating for this event is very limited. All guests
of students
must have a ticket for admittance. Faculty and staff do not need
tickets to
attend; but must rsvp before the event to request a space. See the
link
below.
For a list of CALS honors students, see
http://cals.arizona.edu/oap/graduation/CALSgrads2008.pdf
The commencement program is at
http://cals.arizona.edu/oap/graduation/CALSGradProgrMay08.pdf
Cecilia Mazon, Office of Academic
Programs,
To learn more: http://cals.arizona.edu/oap/Grad%20Info.htm
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2 SANDER RETURNS AS CALS DEAN, HAY BECOMES UA PROVOST
Eugene Sander and UA President Robert Shelton made a deal last
year when
Shelton asked Sander to take over provost duties at the UA. "Now
look here!
We're really going to get some things done," Sander said to
Shelton. "None
of this interim stuff." The moment defined Sander's tenure
as provost, a
position responsible for overseeing all of the university's academic
programs and units.
Holding the position for only a year, Sander set up relationships
in the
community crucial to the university's growth as an academic institution,
Shelton said. That tenure officially ended yesterday as another
began.
Sander passed the responsibilities of the Office of the Provost
onto
Meredith Hay in a tribute to Sander's service and in a welcome to
the new
provost.
Read the rest of this article that appeared in the May 9 Arizona
Daily
Wildcat at the link below.
To learn more:
http://media.wildcat.arizona.edu/media/storage/paper997/news/2008/05/07/News
/Sander.Departs.Hay.Enters.As.Provost-3366514.shtml
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3 WATER SUSTAINABILITY PROGRAM: CALS GRANT PROJECTS
FY09
Ten of 16 projects funded through the UA Water Sustainability Program,
Competitive Grant Program are led by investigators in CALS:
Kelly Bright and Chuck Gerba, SWES, Impact of Temperature and Precipitation
Events on Recreational Water Quality in the State of Arizona.
Theresa Crimmins and Katherine Waser, OALS, Simple Techniques for
Backyard
Water Harvesting: An Online Instruction Module.
Joel Cuello, ABE, Use of Secondarily Treated Wastewater and Ground
Water in
Algae Photobioreactors for Biofuel Production.
Cado Daily, Cochise County, Candice Rupprecht, Master Watershed
Stewards and
Cynthia Warzecha, Coconino County, Cooperative Extension, Rainwater
Harvesting Certificate Program and Demonstration Project.
Ian Pepper, SWES, Detection and Intervention of Vulnerable Tap
Water Via
Customer Surveillance and Enhanced Water Quality Monitoring.
Channah Rock and James Walworth, SWES, Seasonal Reclaimed Water
Quality: An
Assessment of Nutrient, Chemical and Biological Variability.
Charles Sanchez, Yuma Ag Center, Preliminary Evaluation of Antibiotic
and
Illicit Drug Contaminants in the Colorado River and Their Potential
for Food
Chain Transfer.
Ursula Schuch, Plant Science, Ed Martin, Maricopa Ag Center and
Rick Gibson,
Pinal County, Cooperative Extension, Optimum and Minimum Irrigation
Requirements of Landscape Trees.
Kerry Schwartz, WRRC, Science Education That Makes a Difference
- through
Inspired Teacher Leaders.
Kristine Uhlman, WRRC and Steve Campbell, Navajo County, Cooperative
Extension, Ground Water Age Dating for Water Budget Development
in the Show
Low Watershed, Navajo County, AZ.
For project descriptions, see the link below.
Jackie Moxley, Water
Resources Research Center,
To learn more: http://www.uawater.arizona.edu/grants/grants08.html
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4 GROW CITRUS TREES IN POTS
You can add beauty and interest to your patio with citrus trees
grown in
containers.
There are several types of these miniature trees that can be grown
in
containers--trees that have all the appeal of their full-grown counterparts:
glossy green leaves, fragrant flowers, colorful and, yes, even edible
fruit.
Mexican limes, calamondins, kumquats and limequats are the most
popular
citrus for growing in containers. But, you also can grow other varieties
of
citrus in pots on the patio if you purchase them on a dwarfing root
stock
that keeps them small.
To read the rest of this article that appeared in the April 27
Arizona Daily
Star, see the link below.
John P. Begeman, Pima
County Cooperative Extension,
To learn more: http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/235880.php
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5 RETURN ON INVESTMENT BROCHURE
As the land-grant institution in the state, the University of Arizona
has a
three-pronged mission: teaching, research and outreach. One of the
most
effective ways to fulfill this mission is through Cooperative Extension
educational programs, designed to make science useful for people
in their
everyday lives.
Arizona Cooperative Extension programs are grounded in county and
community
needs, and developed based on feedback from the county board of
supervisors
and appointed advisory boards. These extension-driven programs leverage
over
one dollar of outside funding for every state dollar. In addition,
extension
educational programs save dollars to consumers and clientele and
promote
healthy environments and lifestyles.
A new guide titled "Return on Investment" describes Extension
programs that
are making a difference in health and nutrition, agriculture and
natural
resources, 4-H Youth Development, community leadership, agricultural
literacy and other areas.
Jim Christenson, Arizona
Cooperative Extension,
To learn more:
http://cals.arizona.edu/delivers/featured_programs/returninvstbrochure081.pd
f
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6 10 EASY SOIL TESTS
What's the secret to raising healthy, carefree vegetables and flowers?
Great
soil. How can you tell if your soil has what plants need? A soil
test. When
you send a soil sample to a lab, you get a detailed analysis of
soil
nutrients and you find out about deficiencies. That's valuable information.
Now you can also assess your soil for even more critical qualities,
using a
system developed by a team of farmers and soil scientists in Oregon.
The
methods are quite simple and the only supplies you need are a few
items
commonly found around the house.
The system, called Willamette Valley Soil Quality Guide, was designed
with
farmers in mind. But it can be used by gardeners in most zones across
the
country, says Richard Dick, Ph.D., codeveloper of the system and
a professor
of soil science at Oregon State University. "The general principles
of the
test are applicable anywhere," concurs James Walworth, Ph.D.,
soil scientist
with the University of Arizona's Cooperative Extension in Tucson,
"but the
specifics will differ."
To read more from this article from Organic Gardening magazine,
see the link
below.
James Walworth, Department
of Soil, Water and Environmental Science,
To learn more:
http://www.organicgardening.com/feature/0,7518,s1-3-78-314,00.html
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7 MORE ACCESS TO BIOTECH CROP DATA
Biologists call for making available more detailed maps of the
locations of
biotech crops. Access to maps of biotech crops on a county and township
level will give researchers greater ability to analyze the effects
of
biotech crops on wildlife, water quality and on pest and beneficial
insects.
"Since 1996 more than a billion acres have been planted with
biotech crops
in the U.S.," said lead author Michelle Marvier of Santa Clara
University in
Calif. "We don't really know what are the pros and cons of
this important
new agricultural technology."
"People on both sides of the debate about genetically engineered
crops have
been making a lot of claims," said Marvier, an associate professor
of
biology and environmental studies. "One side has been saying
that biotech
crops reduce insecticide use, reduce tillage and therefore the erosion
of
top soil. People on the other side say that biotech crops could
hurt native
species."
The scientists' article, Harvesting Data from Genetically Engineered
Crops,
has a map showing the distribution of crop fields in Arizona township
by
township. The article will be published as a Policy Forum in the
April 25,
2008, issue of the journal Science.
Read the rest of this article that appeared April 28 in UANews
at the link
below.
Bruce Tabashnik, Department
of Entomology,
To learn more: http://uanews.org/node/19467
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8 NEW PUBLICATION: CHOOSING HEALTHY FATS
Everyone needs fats in a diet and "good" fats are essential
to our health.
Fats provide and store energy in the body, keep our skin soft, insulate
our
body and transport fat soluble vitamins through the blood. Too much
fat,
however, or the wrong kind, can lead to obesity, heart disease and
various
cancers.
A new extension bulletin titled "Healthy Fats: A Guide for
Improving the
Quality of Fat Intake" explains the different kinds of fat:
saturated vs.
unsaturated, mono- and polyunsaturated, and trans fats. The publication
also
includes specific suggestions for adding the right fats to your
meals, and
lists serving sizes for mayonnaise, butter, avocado, nuts and a
variety of
vegetable oils.
The concise, two-page guide, available online as a pdf, can be
printed from
the link below and kept in the kitchen.
Noboku (Kay) Hongu,
Department of Nutritional Sciences,
To learn more: http://cals.arizona.edu/pubs/health/az1452.pdf
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9 MINIMIZING BARK BEETLE COLONIES IN PONDEROSA PINE
Due to high fire hazard and perceived reductions in forest health,
thinning
of small diameter trees has become a prevalent management activity
particularly in dense stands. Creation of large amounts of logging
slash,
however, has created large quantities of habitat for bark beetles
primarily
in the Ips genus.
Bark beetles are a large and diverse subfamily of insects commonly
recognized as the most important biotic mortality agent in western
coniferous forests. Attacks reduce tree growth and hasten decline,
mortality
and subsequent replacement by other tree species.
In the southwestern U.S., thinning is advocated by land managers
as a means
of reducing fuel loads, improving residual tree growth, and as a
preventive
measure for reducing subsequent amounts of bark beetle-caused tree
mortality.
A new UA Cooperative Extension publication presents treatment options
and
guidelines for managing slash that minimize bark beetle activity
in response
to thinning treatments. The 12-page, full-color guide can be downloaded
from
the link below.
Tom DeGomez, School
of Natural Resources,
To learn more: http://cals.arizona.edu/pubs/natresources/az1449.pdf
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10 CALS IN THE NEWS
THE FRESH FISH MYTH: FISH FARMING IN THE DESERT Kevin Fitzsimmons'
passion
for aquaculture is evident, right down to the blue fish swimming
on his tan
collared dress shirt. The University of Arizona professor has devoted
his
career to correcting what he believes is a stigma placed on fish
farms based
on misconceptions that have been amplified by environmental groups.
"We can no more feed the world by hunting and gathering fish
out of the
ocean than we can by hunting and gathering on land. I mean if we
were all
out there hunting deer and buffalo we'd be in pretty bad shape,"
he said
laughing at the notion.
Fish farming and aquaculture, the method of harvesting fish in
farms for
commercial sale, is quickly taking over the seafood market and replacing
commercial fishermen. Though it has been practiced in Asia for hundreds
of
year, American aquaculturists have struggled to convince environmentalists,
health experts, and the general public that farmed fish is equal
in quality
and health to wild fish.
Arizona alone is home to more than 30 fish farms that produce an
average of
500,000 pounds of fish a year, according to the Arizona Aquaculture
Association. Arizonan fish farms produce mainly catfish, tilapia
and trout.
Read the rest of this story that appeared in the April 28 edition
of Inside
Tucson Business:
http://www.azbiz.com/articles/2008/04/28/news/profiles/doc481213548543938486
6088.txt
Kevin Fitzimmons, Environmental Research Laboratory,
MORE UNIVERSITIES HASTEN BIOINFORMATICS DISCOVERIES USING HIGH-PERFORMANCE
SGI SOLUTIONS SGI shared-memory servers can be found in university
research
facilities throughout the world, but a new trend is prompting universities
to migrate from smaller systems that serve individual departments
to larger
clusters and shared-memory systems capable of meeting the needs
of many
departments and disciplines. This trend is saving IT administrators
the cost
and time of managing multiple small systems, and it offers a new
generation
of researchers the kind of HPC resources they need to tackle ever-larger
bioinformatics problems.
Research Professor Cari Soderlund heads the Arizona Genomics Computational
Laboratory (AGCoL) that is currently working on the computational
aspects of
sequencing 30,000 genes for maize. In order to determine the sequence
of
genes, subsequences of about 800 base pairs (bp) are generated.
To
reconstruct the original gene sequence, the sub sequences are analyzed
to
determine the overlapping sub-sequences. For the 700,000 sequences,
the
global shared memory of the SGI Altix system will accelerate data
generation
and analysis.
"As our lab is often processing large datasets, the speedup
from the SGI
Altix system should increase the turn-around time between the generation
of
biological data and computational analysis," said Soderlund,
who recently
began porting her project to the SGI Altix system. "It would
also allow for
more experimentation of parameters and algorithms for larger datasets."
See the rest of this article from the April 29 issue of PR Newswire:
http://sev.prnewswire.com/computer-electronics/20080429/AQTU11629042008-1.ht
ml
Cari Soderlund, Arizona BIO5 Institute,
______________________________________________________________________________
To find out about available CALS publications and upcoming events,
go to http://cals.arizona.edu
If you have questions or comments about NewsLine, email newseditor@ag.arizona.edu.
Previous issues can be viewed at http://cals.arizona.edu/pubs/newsline/previous-issues.html
