Crop Sciences Newsletter #106, December 10, 2004

PEOPLE IN THE NEWS

...Congratulations to Emerson Nafziger, who received the Werner L. Nelson Award for Diagnosis of Yield-Limiting Facts at the recent ASA-SSSACSSA Annual Meetings in Seattle. The W. L. Nelson Award recognizes outstanding performance in the development, acceptance, and/or implementation of diagnostic techniques and approaches in the field. The principal criteria used in the selection process are the creativity and innovation of the nominee.

...Congratulations to Cleo D'Arcy and Darin Eastburn, who received a teaching enhancement grant for PLPA 200. This project is supported by the Karl E. Gardner Enhancement endowment.

...The United Soybean Board awarded grants to Brian Diers, $57,516, for the project "Coordination of Regional Soybean Cyst Nematode Tests"; and, to Terry Niblack, $70,400, for "Application of Biotechnology to Control of the Soybean Cyst Nematode". Aaron Hager received $13,340 from NC-IPM for the project "Influence of Cropping and Management Systems on Weed Communities". Glen Hartman received $60,000 from NSF for "A Comprehensive Threat Management Framework for a Crop Biosecurity National Architecture". The Consortium for Plant Biotechnology Research awarded Vera Lozovaya $110,800 for "Enhancing Soybean Root Resistance to Soilborne Pathogens". Steve Moose and Fred Below received $40,000 from Pioneer for "Genetic and Nitrogen Effects Upon Grain Composition and Gene Expression". Steve also received $69,000 from the Illinois Missouri Biotechnology Alliance for the project "Breeding for Enhanced Molecular Farming in Maize Seeds". Curt Hill received $27,000 from NCSRP for "Managing Frogeye Leaf Spot and Charcoal Rot in the North Central Region". Emerson Nafziger received $152,321 for "Varietal Information Program for Soybeans (VIPS) 2004- 2005". The U. S. State Department granted Torbert Rocheford $19,652 for the project "Enhancing Agricultural Biotechnology at the Latvia University of Agriculture". Kevin Steffey received $65,000 from USDA/ARS for "Contributions to a Framework for Managing Insect Resistance to Transgenic Crops: University of Illinois". NCSARE awarded Ben Tracy $9,995 for "The Agricultural and Ecological Functioning of a System Integrating Pastured Poultry and Raised-Bed Vegetable Production".The Department of Energy, Competitive Program in Ecosystem Research (PER) awarded $2,984,356 to Stephen Clough, Stephen Long, Donald Ort and others for the project "Genomic Regulation of the Response of an Agroecosystem to Elements of Global Change". Stephen Long also received $395,155 from the National Science Foundation, Ecological and Evolutionary Physiology Program for the project "Mechanistic and Dynamic Mathematical Models of Stomatal Behavior & Photosynthesis." Congratulations to all!

...Congratulations to Friedrich Kopisch-Obuch and Hyoun-Sub Lim on the completion of their Ph.D. degree work. Fred has returned to Germany and is a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Göttingen in canola breeding.

...Congratulations to Rita Marvelli, who completed her M.S. degree working with Darin Eastburn.

...Matias Ruffo received the Harry J. Larsen/Yara Memorial Scholarship presented at the 2004 Annual Meetings of the American Society of Agronomy (ASA), Crop Science Society of America (CSSA), and Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) held October 31 to November 4 in Seattle, WA. The Harry J. Larsen/Yara Memorial Scholarship is provided to a meritorious graduate student studying practical soil fertility and crop production

...Congratulations to Mark Muellner, Nathan Wentworth and Amy Wilson, who received Graduate College conference travel grants. Mark will be attending the Environmental Mutagen Society 35 Annual Meeting. Nathan th will travel to the ESA Annual Meeting and Amy is attending the International Symposium on Fusarium Head Blight.

...Field and Furrow Club and Club member awards at the SASES (Students of Agronomy, Soils, and Environmental Sciences) at the national ASA-SSSACSSA meetings in Seattle:
Club poster (tied for 5th place)-presented by Kate Legge
Club Quiz Bowl Team (Regan Joehl, Brian Fisher, Yale Epler, and Nathan Schnettgoecke)-top half of teams participating.
Club Achievement Contest:
Promotional - 1^st place
Financial - 2^nd place
Regional and National Activities - 2^nd place
Nathan Schnettgoecke (5^th place speech contest finals); David Shore (1^st place oral research presentation contest); David Shore, Shaun Schmidt, Amy Wilson (2^nd, 3^rd, and 4^th places, respectively, student manuscript contest); Regan Joehl and Yale Epler (participants, poster research presentation contest). Meeting participants: Kate Legge (delegate), TJ Ruyle (delegate), Nathan Schnettgoecke, Yale Epler, Regan Joehl, David Shore, and Brian Fisher.

...Congratulations to the newly elected Field & Furrow officers: President: Regan Joehl Vice President: Kate Legge Treasurer: Jared Walter Secretary: Matt Murray ACES Council: Daniel Lundeen & Brandon Laue Social: Krista Ubbenga P.R.: Nathan Karplus & Mike Meyer Philanthopy: Ryan Avenath Convention: TJ Ruyl

DATES TO REMEMBER

Dec. 10, Jonathan Baldwin Turner Banquet

March 11-12, 2005, ExplorACES

Apr. 26, 2005 ACES and Paul A. Funk Recognition Awards Program, Illini Union

May 15, 2005, U of I Commencement

UPCOMING CONFERENCES, SYMPOSIA & WORKSHOPS

...The 13th Annual National No-Tillage Conference is January 12-15 in Cincinnati, OH.

...Meet Me In St. Louis for the IPSA 16th Annual Conference January 19-21, 2005.

...The 2005 NAICC Annual Meeting will be January 19-22 at the Sheraton Universal Hotel in Universal City, CA.

...The 5th National Conference on Science, Policy and the Environment "Forecasting Environmental Changes" will be held February 3-4, 2005 at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, Washington, DC.

...Ag Genome Sciences & Public Policy Program's Spring Forum is geared towards educating the public about the role biotechnology currently plays in our food market and what role it may play in the future. The event is titled Food for Thought: Biotechnology and the Consumer on April 2, 2005, 8:30AM - 5PM with lunch included in the Illini Union Ballroom A

GRANTS/FELLOWSHIPS

The North Central Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (NCR-SARE) Program's current call for graduate student poposals. The call for proposals is available on the NCR-SARE website (go to www.sare.org/ncrsare , click on "calls for proposals," and scroll down to "graduate student program.") If you have trouble accessing the call via the web, you can contact the NCR-SARE office in Lincoln (ncrsare@unl.edu or 402-472-7081) and ask to have the call sent as an e-mail attachment. Graduate students enrolled at colleges or universities in the North Central Region can submit proposals for up to $10,000 to fund sustainable ag projects that will be part of their graduate programs. We expect to be able to fund 15 to 16 projects in the twelve-state North Central Region. Proposals are due in the NCR-SARE office in Lincoln, Nebraska by February 2, 2005. If you or potential applicants have questions about the program, feel free to contact Bill Wilcke at wilck001@umn.edu or 612- 625-8205 or Deborah Cavanaugh-Grant, Illinois SARE Coordinator, 217-968-5512, cvnghgrn@uiuc.edu.

GRAD STUDENT BULLETIN BOARD

...Thanks to the application sent by Federico Trucco, CSGO treasurer, CSGO obtained $1600 to support conference travel for 8 graduate students for the 2004-2005 academic year. This represents quite a success story, considering it is the first time they have applied for anything like this.

...The Office of Business and Financial Services, is implementing a new refund policy subjecting all student refunds to Mandatory Direct Deposit effective January 3, 2005. Direct deposit is the electronic transfer of money into an individual's checking or savings account. Beginning January 3, 2005, all student refunds will either be deposited to a domestic bank account designated by the student, or deposited to a paycard. All students are required to enroll in the University's direct deposit program on-line at http://www.oba.uiuc.edu/osac/. An Enterprise ID and password, bank account number and bank routing number are required to complete the on-line enrollment for direct deposit. Graduate students are strongly encouraged to enroll early to avoid delays of their student refunds.

...The Graduate College Executive Committee approved an increase in fees for thesis deposit effective for the December 2004 Graduate. The fee for doctoral deposits has increased to $75.00, and a new fee of $15.00 has been implemented for master's deposits. These fees are reflected in the new Handbook for Graduate Students Preparing to Deposit (September 2004 version)that is now available.

PERSONALS

I would like to thank everyone for the lovely flowers and all the good thoughts for me during the past few weeks after my surgery. Penny Cole

My wife and I wish to thank the Department of Crop Sciences for the nice flowers and kind comments regarding the birth of our son. Gage Thomas was born October 11 and is doing quite well. His older brothers, Garret (4 yrs) and Gaven (2 yrs), are very fond of him. Marty Williams

Dear friends in the Department of Crop Sciences, Thank you all very much for the pink azalea! It brightened up our great room where we spend most of our time caring for Grace. Grace is wonderful and we are so happy to have her. Thanks for your thoughtfulness, Sheila, Steve & Grace Lyons- Sobaski

German and Petra Bollero are the proud parents of a daughter, Amalia, born November 1st.

I want to thank the faculty and staff of the Department who sent the lovely flowers and plant after the death of my father, Casimir Plewa. Your kind thoughts and prayers are very much appreciated. Michael Plewa and Elizabeth Wagner