Feature Story from 2012

STONEVILLE -- A Mississippi State University researcher has been selected for a national leadership training program.

MSU research professor Tim Walker, an agronomist and rice breeder at the Delta Research and Extension Center in Stoneville, will participate in Leadership for the 21st Century, or Lead21.

Each year, Lead21 trains 80 participants from land-grant institutions and their associates, such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Not many 17-year-olds spend their free time doing stem cell research, but an interest in helping special-needs children brought Brenna Nye to Mississippi State University to do just that.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – A handful of Mississippi State University entomology students spent their spring semester learning how to be crime scene investigators or expert witnesses in a courtroom.

Their teacher, Jerome Goddard, has been an expert witness on both sides of court cases and understands the importance of knowing details to defend or challenge crime scene findings.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Mississippi State University is “beating the bushes” for high school students with horticultural interests for a June 3-6 camp on campus.

Designed for students age 15 to 17, the 43rd annual Horticulture and Landscape Architecture Summer Camp will offer a variety of educational and fun activities.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics selected a Mississippi State University student to serve as a delegate to the national organization.

Jesse Pace, a senior from Flowood majoring in Food Science, Nutrition and Health Promotion with a concentration in nutrition, was elected to serve a one-year term on the academy’s advisory committee. The committee consists of seven elected positions and one appointed position and includes students from universities across the United States.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Plastic storage crates in a sunny lab at Mississippi State University are the new homes of 52 endangered Boreal toads, native to the Colorado Rockies.

Boreal toad numbers have dwindled to dangerous levels in recent years, and MSU has partnered with the Memphis Zoo to find a way to increase the population.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Technology may have changed in the 114 years since the national soil survey started, but the dedication of soil scientists engaged in the project has not wavered.

On May 8, partners from Mississippi State University’s Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, and other natural resources agencies met in Jackson to celebrate the completion of an ambitious project: to map Mississippi’s soils on the acre level.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – With specialized training and equipment and several years of experience behind them, a team of Mississippi State University veterinarians are ready to use interventional radiology to aid patients suffering from some difficult-to-treat conditions.

MISSISSIPPI STATE –Mississippi State University officials will attempt to remove sweltering heat from the discussion topics at the Agronomic Crops Field Day on July 19, allowing participants to focus on the crop information.

MSU is providing air-conditioned shuttle buses for field tours in place of the open wagons typically used for these educational events. The tours will stop at cotton, corn, soybean, and other research and demonstration plots.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – A date has been added to the free Mississippi Market Ready training series to help food producers learn how to sell their products directly to restaurant chefs and retail managers.

On July 19 in Biloxi, Mississippi State University Extension Service experts will discuss current food policy legislation, building relationships with restaurant managers and chefs, proper packaging and labeling, marketing strategies, pricing structures and regulatory concerns.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Campers looking for a little education along with their recreation this summer should check out camps offered by Mississippi State University.

Various camps are available on campus as well as in individual counties.

Bug Camp, a four-day, interactive opportunity to learn about entomology and plants, has been attracting children and adults to MSU’s campus since 1994. It is the only camp of its kind in the world and attracts participants from across the United States.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Mississippi State University’s BuckScore software is now the official scoring system for the Outdoor Channel.

BuckScore is a software package that uses digital images to estimate the age and antler score of white-tailed deer. Developed by scientists in the university’s Forest and Wildlife Research Center and Extension Service, MSU licensed the product in 2010 to NBFog, a Texas-based company focused on outdoor business.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- John Guyton enjoys digging up secrets and passing them along to others.

“I like to use little-known facts about nature to give people a different way to think about their environment and the ways they interact with that environment,” said Guyton, entomology specialist with Mississippi State University’s Extension Service.
His approach is especially helpful when it comes to teaching kids.

MISSISSIPPI STATE –4-H programs in Mississippi and Tennessee received a donation from North American energy infrastructure company TransCanada to fund training for community leaders.

The $30,000 contribution will be divided between the two states’ programs to finance a social media training program taught by trained 4-H members. 4-H’ers train county government officials, emergency responders and business leaders to use a variety of methods to communicate with constituents and community members.

HATTIESBURG -- Mississippi’s Extension agents are not being deployed to Afghanistan, but their agricultural and food preservation information is.

Mississippi State University Extension Director Gary Jackson said agricultural specialists recently trained an elite group of military personnel preparing to assist the Afghan Ministry of Agriculture. After they are deployed, these men and women will maintain their contact with MSU specialists for ongoing needs and questions as they assist Afghan agricultural agents with demonstration food plots and similar responsibilities.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Two Mississippi State University scientists have been selected for a national leadership training program.

MSU Forest and Wildlife Research Center professors Robert Kroger and David Jones will be in the Leadership for the 21st Century, or Lead21, class of 2012-2013.

Lead21’s purpose is to develop leaders within land-grant universities and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The year-long Lead21 course includes three sessions and an individual learning component.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Robotics is a gateway to engineering careers and the focus of one track at the 2012 4-H Tech Camp in Starkville.

Mississippi high school students in 4-H can learn how to apply their technical skills to college success in the senior robotics track at Tech Camp. The residential program is offered through the Mississippi State University Extension Service 4-H youth program.

NEWTON – Spending the day fishing, searching pond water for insects, and hiking nature trails might not be a traditional middle school field trip, but organizers of the first Youth Fishing Day hope the May 11 event sparked an appreciation for the outdoors in participating sixth graders.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Members of the inaugural team of 4-H shooting sports ambassadors hit the bull’s eye in their first year of service, said their Mississippi State University leader.

“We selected four experienced 4-H shooting sports competitors who are enthusiastic about the sport to represent Mississippi at local, state and national events, and this team has exemplified good sportsmanship, patience, respect and self-discipline,” said John Long, assistant Extension professor and state shooting sports coordinator.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Catfish and toads drew two British Broadcasting Corporation film crews and host to spend three days with Mississippi State University experts.

The crew was shooting an upcoming BBC documentary called Wonders of Life with host Brian Cox. It will follow Cox’s successful Wonders of the Solar System and Wonders of the Universe, viewed by millions of people in the United Kingdom and around the world last year.