Main Articles Listing: General College News 11. New Yuma Agricultural Center Research Building Yuma Sun April 23, 2006 The main campus of the University of Arizona in Tucson is about 250 miles away. However, each arm of the UA College of Agriculture and Life Sciences is represented in Yuma, with research, teaching and outreach integrated within the Yuma community. And that presence is to get a boost with construction of a new research laboratory. A groundbreaking for the Glen G. Curtis Agricultural Research Building in Yuma will be held at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday at the Yuma Valley Experiment Farm, 6425 W. 8th St. The 20,000-square-foot steel building honors Glen G. Curtis for all the contributions he has made to the Yuma area. The Curtis family has pledged $250,000 to start the fundraising campaign. "Agriculture is a big part of Yuma. My father has been in Yuma for a long time and has done quite a bit for the community," said Rocky Curtis. "As a family, we are extremely proud of our father and we are honored to put his name on the building." The elder Curtis moved to the Yuma area in 1950 to become involved in the citrus industry, and later became a developer. He has also been a generous member of the community. Over the years, he has donated to Yuma Catholic High School to build an athletic complex, contributed millions of dollars to the area's social-service organizations and charities and lent a hand to fundraising for the new science and agriculture complex at Arizona Western College. To date, about a million dollars has been raised locally for the new facility. The university will match the amount for a total of about $4 million to complete the project, said Jim Davis, director of development and alumni affairs for CALS. Rocky Curtis and Robert Barkley are chairmen of the local fundraising campaign. The metal building was received through the federal surplus reserve and already is in place. However, it needs to be finished and equipped, Davis said, adding that "laboratories are very expensive." Upon completion, expected in 2007, the building will consist of labs for citrus and vegetable research, offices and a multimedia conference room, he said. It will be used by CALS faculty at both the Yuma Valley Experiment Farm and the Yuma Mesa Experiment Farm. "We have a desperate need to update the antiquated facility," said Davis. "We have outstanding faculty researchers there ... this will give them state-of-the-art technology to do their work." The importance of UA research in Yuma benefits the community, the university and the state by keeping agricultural production economically competitive and by minimizing adverse impacts on the environment, said Charles Sanchez, director of the UA's two experimental farms in Yuma. "Part of the university's mission is to take research and make it useful to the community, and to find out what are the critical needs in the community and bring it back to the university," said Jim Christenson, director of Cooperative Extension and associate dean of CALS. "It's a two-way street," he said. "I think Yuma is very, very important to the growth of the state; it's growth in agriculture is critical." In 1906, the original valley experimental station was 40 acres at the corner of Avenue B and 8th Street. "We're 100 years old, but we've changed locations for the valley station on three occasions," Sanchez said. Now the valley and mesa stations total 514 acres. Among the research and outreach projects provided by the UA faculty at the centers are the biology and management of insects, crop diseases and weeds; the physiology of seeds and crop plants; nonpoint source pollution; food safety; and soil, water and nutrient management. UA faculty at the Mesa Station, 2186 W. County 15th St., include a plant pathologist, a weed specialist and a citrus specialist, who focus primarily focused on the citrus industry. An entomologist, a soil scientist, an agronomist, a post-harvest physiologist and a wheat specialist are among the UA faculty at the Valley Station. They are among 13 UA faculty members at four locations throughout the Yuma area. Four of them are at the Yuma County Cooperative Extension office, located at 2800 W. 22nd St. Started in 1917, it began its mission of broadening the scope of the university into serving the immediate needs of Yuma County residents. It has a long history of bringing educational programming in family and consumer sciences, 4-H and agriculture to the citizens of Yuma, with practical applications for their daily lives. In 1994, the UA began a local dedicated academic program in Yuma consisting of a bachelor's of science degree in agricultural systems management, offered in conjunction with Arizona Western College and Northern Arizona University in Yuma, at the AWC main campus. Lower division classes are taught by Ian Watkinson, while UA professor Steve Poe teaches upper division classes. Other UA faculty in Yuma also teach classes. An average of four to six students have graduated annually from the program for the past few years, and "many are involved in direct agriculture, such as crops, crop production, seeds, seed sales and growing and testing different varieties of crops," Poe said. - Updated: April 25, 2006 [e-Mail me the articles]    -     [Search our articles]    -     [contact us ]     return to media home