CAHNRS Undergraduate Research and Creative Projects Program Call For Proposals
CAHNRS is committed to “Offering the Best Undergraduate Experience in a Research University.” One key way of accomplishing this is by providing opportunities for undergraduate students to participate in the competitive 2010-11 CAHNRS Undergraduate Research and Creative Projects program sponsored by Academic Programs and the Agricultural Research Center.
Last year’s program was a resounding success for both the students and faculty involved. The feedback we received was positive and included several constructive suggestions for improvement. Considering that input very seriously, we have taken the following actions to make the program even stronger:
Action Taken Based on Feedback from Faculty:
- Emphasized that this is a poster contest in the announcement and are providing the judging rubric so students are aware in advance of the judging criterion.
- Extended the funding period until June 30, 2010.
- Limited number of proposals funded per mentor to 2 to ensure funding is better distributed among faculty within a department.
Action Taken Based on Feedback from Students:
- Changed the award categories from two (Human Sciences; Ag and NR Sciences) to four (Design Disciplines, Human Sciences, Applied Ag and NR Sciences, Basic Ag and NR Sciences) to acknowledge excellence across a broader range of disciplines within CAHNRS.
- We will have two judges from within the discipline and one from outside of the discipline evaluate each poster.
- Awards will be announced following the Poster Fair so that students/mentors do not have to attend the CAHNRS Awards Banquet if they do not wish to do so.
This is an incredible opportunity to enrich the education of our undergraduate students as well as demonstrate to them the possibilities of graduate study. If you have an undergraduate who is interested in conducting a research or creative project with you, please direct them to the CAHNRS Academic Programs web site listed below to review proposal guidelines or review the attachments. http://academic.cahnrs.wsu.edu/Awards/ug-res-2010-2011.html
Deadline for submitting proposals is September 17, 2010.
If you have any questions, please contact Jeanne Dahmen in the Academic Programs Office at dahmenj@wsu.edu or 509-335-9115.
Thank you for participating in this important program.
CAHNRS Community Building Workshop Series Fall 2010
Working with people with diverse personalities. Reaching consensus. Handling complaints. Navigating conflict. Today’s workplace is a challenging arena to attempt change and success. You are invited to participate in the CAHNRS Community Building workshop series this fall semester aimed at addressing some of the primary issues we all face at work.
All CAHNRS and WSU Extension staff, graduate students, and faculty are encouraged to take a break from typical work routines throughout fall semester to participate in a series of four workshops. Teams, partners, and work or study groups are highly encouraged to attend these workshops together.
- “Workshop I: What’s Your Type? Creating Effective Strategies for Communicating with Diverse Personality Types”, Sept. 21 (3-5:30 pm, Ensminger Pavilion) and Sept. 24 (2-4:30 pm. FSHN T 101)
- “Workshop II: Your Way, My Way or Our Way: Reaching Consensus”, Oct. 5 (3-5:30 pm, Ensminger Pavilion) and Oct. 8 (2-4:30 pm. FSHN T 101
- “Workshop III: Complaints to Commitments: Finding the Value and Challenge in our Everyday Complaints”, Oct. 22 (2-4:30 pm. FSHN T 101)
- “Workshop IV: Navigating Conflict: Who IS Right and Why IT Doesn’t Really Matter”, Nov. 5 (2-4:30 pm. FSHN T 101)
Goal? To improve the quality of our workplaces and lives by finding fresh and effective strategies for working with others.
Cost? No enrollment fees; just a couple of hours of your time per month for each session. Release time has been granted by the Dean, with approval from your chair or supervisor.
Value? Priceless. Consultants charge thousands of dollars for workshops like these; however, budget constraints and travel restrictions prevent us from participating in these activities. Fortunately, the expertise is available within CAHNRS to create similar types of experiences for our community.
Facilitators? Kim Kidwell, along with Becky Dueben and Anna Whitehall, have more than 11 years of combined experience in delivering and creating dynamic and effective life skills classes and workshops at WSU, including the popular undergraduate interpersonal communications course, HD 205.
To sign up for the series of workshops, please call or e-mail Becky Dueben at (509) 335-8403 or rdueben@wsu.edu by September 15. Space is limited and will be made available on a first-come, first-served basis.
These workshops also will be available via Adobe Breeze for participants outside of Pullman. The on-line sessions will be held during the same timeframes as the Pullman-based sessions. Please register following the same process as described above for enrolling in the live sessions and more information about the on-line sessions will be sent to you. For more detailed information concerning the workshop series, please go to http://academic.cahnrs.wsu.edu/community-building-workshops/.
The sessions are filling up fast, so register today!
Special Seminar Presented by the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences
A special seminar titled “Best-bet Practices for Smallholder Farming Communities in Eastern and Southern Africa” will be presented by Dr. Zwide Jere, Director, Total LandCare (WSU’s partner in Malawi) from 12:10-1 p.m., Wed., Sept. 22 in the Biological Life Sciences Building, Rm 402 (north of Vogel and Johnson Hall). WECN will be arranged to Mt. Vernon, Prosser, Puyallup, others upon request. Total LandCare (TLC) was founded in 2000 by WSU faculty member Trent Bunderson and Malawian agricultural scientist Zwide Jere, initially as a subsidiary of WSU. TLC is now an internationally known NGO registered and operating in Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia. TLC is dedicated to increasing the production and income levels of small-scale farmers through improved agricultural practices with sustained conservation and management of the natural resource base. WSU’s IR&D unit partners with TLC for work in sub-Saharan Africa. Learn more about Total LandCare at http://www.totallandcare.org/
Hall of Honored Alumni and Friends
You are invited to join us for the induction of Bonnie Suzanne “Sue” Christianson (1976 Food Science & Technology), Gordon Davis (1968 Agriculture, 1969 Agricultural Education), and Dianne Jefferies (1978 Clothing and Textiles) into the Hall of Honored Alumni and Friends.
9 a.m. Sept. 25, 2010
Hulbert Hall Room 421
WSU, Pullman, Washington
Please RSVP to Britta Nitcy, 509-335-6479 or nitcy@wsu.edu.
Trained Apple Panel Invitation
Would you like to participate in a trained apple panel?
The purpose of the project is to characterize apples and apple drinks based on their sensory properties. The project requires a series of training sessions followed by apple evaluations. This project requires a time commitment of 3 sessions per week, 1 hour per session for 6 weeks (between September 20 and October 29, 2010), tentatively scheduled for 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. However, the exact time of sessions is subject to change based on volunteer availability.
Following training, there will be two days of final evaluations on Nov. 2 and 4 (two sessions per day of one hour each). To show our appreciation for your involvement, you will be rewarded with a small, non-monetary incentive at the close of each training session and a WSU product at the completion of the final evaluations.
We would like you to be involved, but please carefully consider the time commitment. It is critical that you attend each of the training sessions in order to gain the expertise needed for the final apple evaluations. To summarize your involvement, training involves 3 hours per week for 6 weeks (a total of approximately 18 hours).
For more information, please contact Karen Weller kweller@wsu.edu.
The Fundamentals of Undergraduate Mentoring Forum
Please join Washington State University’s Academic Advising Association (WSU ACADA) at a special mentoring forum on September 17: The Fundamentals of Undergraduate Mentoring, featuring special guest speaker Dr. Charlie Nutt. Dr. Nutt has over 30 years of experience in education at the secondary and post secondary levels and is the Executive Director of the National Academic Advising Association (NACADA).
Academic mentoring is an experience between a mentor and student; it provides guidance to students in their field of endeavor. The primary focus will be on the fundamentals of mentoring, including relationship development and best practices.
The forum will cover the building blocks of mentoring and relationship development, methods of mentoring, and resource guides. We hope that everyone will benefit from gaining new insights and knowledge about the mentoring experience. The forum provides not only the opportunity to hear a national expert plus our own experts speak on a topic that is fundamental to our field, but it also provides professional development opportunities in a local setting.
Members of the panel include: Jessica Cassleman, assistant dean of the WSU Honors College and local and national outstanding advisor award winner; Sharon Ericsson, CACD academic and career advisor and coordinator of the Achievers Scholars Program; John McNamara, scientist and professor in the Department of Animal Science; Christine K. Oakley, assistant clinical professor in the Department of Sociology; and Frank Wilhelm, associate professor in Fish and Wildlife Resources at the University of Idaho. The panel will be facilitated by John Mangiantini, academic coordinator in the WSU College of Business.
When: Sept. 17, 12:30 – 5 p.m. (a social will follow the event)
Where: Banyan’s on the Ridge
SPACE IS LIMITED!
To register for this wonderful opportunity, please complete the following online registration form: https://wsu-csm.symplicity.com/events/forum2010 by September 10th. Questions may be directed to Heather Page at hmpage@wsu.edu or Chris Gana, cgana@wsu.edu.
Harvest Party at WSU Organic Farm, Saturday, Oct. 2
Everyone is welcome to come celebrate fall harvest at WSU’s Organic Farm annual Harvest Party, Oct. 2 from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Harvest Party activities include hay wagon rides around the farm, face painting, and fresh pressed apple cider. There will be a U-pick pumpkin patch with traditional jack-o-lanterns, baby pumpkins, and a few novelty varieties.
“The star of the party will be a not-so-giant pumpkin on display,” said organic farm manager Brad Jaeckel. “Party-goers are invited to take a guess at the pumpkin’s weight. The closest guess wins the giant or a more reasonable sized jack-o-lantern of the winner’s choice.”
The WSU Organic Farm is located inside Tukey Horticulture Orchard on the corner of Airport Road and Terre View. The orchard will also be open for U-pick and pre-picked fruit sales. For more information, contact farm manager Brad Jaeckel at 509-335-5893 or email him at jaeckel@wsu.edu.
Retirement Seminars
Thinking about Retirement? Human Resource Services (HRS) will be conducting pre-retirement seminars to assist you with retirement planning. Topics include:
- Retiree Medical, Dental, and Life Insurance Enrollment Process;
- Medicare and Social Security;
- Voluntary Employee’s Benefit Association Medical Expense Plan (VEBA MEP);
- Annual Leave Payment;
- Voluntary Investment Programs;
- Retirement Income, and
- Retirement Supplementation for WSURP participants.
The seminars are open to all Department of Retirement System and WSU Retirement Plan participants. You do not need to register to attend.
Each seminar will be held in the Lighty Student Services building, room 403 at 11 a.m., lasting approximately one hour on the following dates:
- Wed., Sept. 8
- Wed., Oct. 13
- Wed., Nov. 10
- Wed., Dec. 8
Additional seminars will be held at the following:
- Mon., Sept. 13 12:30 p.m. Lighty 401
- Mon., Sept. 27 9:00 a.m. Lighty 403
- Mon., Oct. 18 1:00 p.m. Lighty 401
Individual meetings with a WSU HRS Retirement Specialist can be made after attending one of the seminars if needed. You are also encouraged to work directly with TIAA-CREF and DRS for your individual retirement/pension options.
For questions please contact Human Resource Services at 335-4521 or hrs@wsu.edu.
Barb Smith Responsibility Change
As of June 16, Barb Smith, the Entomology Department Administrative Manager (335-5504), has assumed additional responsibility as the Administrative Manager for the School of Food Science (335-9103). Ms. Smith will be dividing her time in support of both units. She may be reached at niehoff@wsu.edu.
Kudos
Sumeet Dhawan, Ph.D. student whose research is being conducted under the supervision of Biological Systems Engineering Professor Shyam S Sablani, won first place at the Food Packaging Division of the Institute of Food Technologists’ (IFT) 2010 Graduate Student Paper Award competition. The title of his presentation was “Morphological and Oxygen Barrier Changes of Two Multilayer Polymeric Films subjected to Microwave Sterilization”. The award was announced during the 2010 IFT annual conference and expo July 17-20, in Chicago. The IFT is a leading international society in the area of food science and technology. Dhawan’s presentation was selected from 35 entries from the top food engineering programs worldwide. Dhawan’s work is funded by the food security USDA special research grant titled “Developing innovative packaging for advanced processing technologies to insure the integrity and safety of processed foods”. His committee members include Professors Gustavo V Barbosa Cànovas, and Juming Tang. In particular, Dhawan’s research focuses on developing high performance polymeric based nanocomposite and nanocoated multilayer structures for advanced thermal food processing technologies like microwave sterilization and pressure assisted thermal processing. This research holds the potential of developing high quality sterilized foods with shelf life beyond a year. Dhawan completed his Bachelor’s in Biotechnology from India before starting his graduate studies at WSU in 2008. He received the Washington state potato foundation (WSPF) Excellence in Agriculture scholarship for the year 2010. He has also received the Puget Sound IFT Travel Award and the Graduate School Travel Award.
Horticulture and Landscape Architecture Assistant Professor Carter Clary has been invited to speak on fruit dehydration at the 2nd International Seminar organized by the Program for Enhancing Competitiveness of Fruit Dried Plum in the Region of O’Higgins in conjunction with ProChile, Fundación Chile. The seminar will take place Tues., Sept. 14 at Santa Cruz, Chile.