College of Ag & Home Ec Honors Faculty, Staff

PULLMAN, Wash. — Nine staff and faculty of the College of Agriculture and Home Economics at Washington State University were honored Saturday (April 18) at the college’s 39th annual awards banquet.

Gaylon S. Campbell, professor of soil sciences, received the R.M. Wade Excellence in Teaching Award.  Campbell, a member of the WSU faculty since 1971, teaches upper level classes in environmental physics, upper level and graduate courses in soil physics and a course that helps students prepare scientific presentations.

Working with faculty in biosystems engineering and entomology, Campbell recently developed an interdisciplinary crop modeling course.

Campbell, who has written or co-authored three texts and two lab manuals, has been a pioneer in the field of computer-aided instruction since his text “Soil Physics With Basic” was published in 1985.  His texts have been translated into Spanish and Japanese.  He has taught short courses in Italy, South Africa and Spain.

James Durfey, an instructor in biological systems engineering, received the College of Agriculture Alumni Association and Friends Outstanding Undergraduate Advising Award.

Durfey, a member of the faculty since 1992, advised 81 students during the 1997-98 academic year.  Since 1993, he had developed internships for students at nine companies.  He serves as advisor to the Agricultural Technology and Management Club and co-advisor to the Collegiate Postsecondary Agricultural Student Club.

Zuzanna Czuchajowska, associate food scientist and leader of the Grain Science Group in the food science and human nutrition department, received the college’s annual Faculty Excellence in Research Award.

Czuchajowska has published or submitted for publication 55 articles since coming to WSU in 1986.  Two U.S. patents were recently granted for her work on the fractionation of wheat flour and legumes.

Elizabeth Beers, extension entomologist at the WSU Wenatchee Tree Fruit Research and Extension Center, received the college’s Faculty Excellence in Extension Award.  She has carried on a sustained program in integrated pest management in tree fruit over the past 12 years.

In 1997, Beers won the Entomological Society of America’s Distinguished Achievement Award for Extension Activities and the Award for Women’s Leadership through Science in the Washington Tree Fruit Industry.

She has been a member of the WSU faculty since 1985.

Richard Rupp, a staff member in the crop and soil sciences department since 1991, received the college Staff Excellence Award.  He works with two soils faculty doing research on remote sensing, geographic information systems and land use.  His current projects include developing software that will provide an interactive web-based Washington soils map.

The college’s Team Excellence Award went to six researchers and extension faculty who successfully promoted the use of pheromones to disrupt the mating activity of the codling moth.  The codling moth is a major insect pest of apples.

Since 1990, use of mating disruption by Washington orchardists has expanded from 1,500 to 32,000 acres, or about 20 percent of the apples grown in the state.  As a result, the use of broad-spectrum pesticides has been greatly reduced.

The members of the team are Betsy Beers, extension entomologist; Jay Brunner, entomologist and interim superintendent; John Dunley, extension entomologist; Gary Grove, plant pathologist; Tim Smith, WSU Chelan County Cooperative Extension faculty; and Ted Alway codling moth IPM coordinator with the Chelan County extension office.  Beers, Brunner, Dunley and Grove all work at the WSU Wenatchee Tree Fruit Research and Extension Center.  All are based in Wenatchee.

Campbell and Durfey each received a check for $1,000 and a plaque. For their individual accomplishments, Czuchjowska, Beers, and Rupp each received a plaque and $1,000 for professional development.  Each member of the Wenatchee team received a plaque.  The team also received $1,000 for professional development.

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