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Researchers’ report informs governor’s strategic plan
Alabama’s $123 billion agriculture industry has identified land loss, profitability and transportation infrastructure among its most pressing challenges in a recent report. The findings of the report will inform Gov. Kay Ivey’s strategic economic growth plan,...
Geoff Williams named director of new Bee Center
Geoff Williams, associate professor, graduate program officer and longtime director of the AU-Bees Lab, is director of the new Auburn University Bee Center, effective Tuesday, April 1. In February, the Board of Trustees approved the establishment of the Auburn...
Fueling a winner
The Southeastern Conference (SEC), on Feb. 24, named Sushil Adhikari as Auburn’s honoree for the SEC Faculty Achievement Award.
Auburn hosts forum on data science and AI in production agriculture and natural resources
Forum to be held 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday, April 21 Auburn University faculty researchers from the Colleges of Agriculture, Sciences and Mathematics, and...
Adhikari to serve as interim associate dean, associate director
Sushil Adhikari will serve as the Auburn University College of Agriculture’s interim associate dean for research and interim associate director of the Alabama...
Auburn entomologist seeks alternatives for urban pesticide use
By Jacqueline Kochak More than 80 percent of Americans live in expanding urban areas, and suburbanites are still craving greenspace as farmland gives way to housing developments and big-box stores. The problem is that proud homeowners use significantly more...
Market at Ag Heritage Park open for the summer
The Farmer’s Market at Ag Heritage Park at Auburn University is open for the summer through Aug. 12. The market, open each Thursday from 3-6 p.m., is an open-air, growers-only farmers market hosted by the College of...
College of Agriculture using high-tech shipping containers to grow produce for Campus Dining
Unique ‘vertical’ farms part of planned 16-acre Transformation Garden on campus Recycled shipping containers have gained popularity in recent years, being converted into everything from houses to small stores—but the Auburn University College of Agriculture, in...
Agriculture faculty, students earn spring awards
Students and faculty in the College of Agriculture at Auburn University raked in several awards for their hard work and studies this spring. Amit Morey earns Spirit of Sustainability Award Assistant Professor Amit Morey received the Spirit of Sustainability...
Bill Taylor, Helen Ulrich to receive $10,000 toward postgraduate studies
Two Auburn University students with connections to the College of Agriculture have been named NCAA Jim McKay Scholarship recipients. Auburn’s Bill Taylor and Helen Ulrich will each receive a $10,000 Jim McKay Scholarship, awarded by the NCAA to college athletes who...
Appel named interim associate dean for research, associate director for AAES
Arthur Appel, Faculty Endowed Professor of entomology, has been named the Auburn University College of Agriculture’s interim associate dean for research and interim associate director of the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station, effective June 1. In his interim...
The Rotation – Department of Crop, Soil, & Environmental Sciences Newsletter
Department Head’s Reportby John P. Beasley, Jr., Ph.D.(B.S., Agronomy & Soils, 1979) Welcome to the inaugural issue of The Rotation, the newsletter of the Department of Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences at Auburn University! It is my honor and privilege to...
Barlow named interim associate dean for extension
Becky Barlow, extension specialist and professor of forestry and wildlife sciences, has been named the Auburn University College of Agriculture’s interim associate dean for extension and interim assistant director for agriculture, forestry and natural resource...
Researcher part of international weed genomics effort
An Auburn University professor and researcher is one of the founding members of an international group of scientists and industry professionals that has launched an ambitious new project aimed at improved understanding of the most intractable species of weeds in the...
Study looking at feasibility of more beef processing plants in Alabama
One of the many consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic has been limited supplies and higher prices of U.S. beef products. It’s an outcome that could have been predicted, especially considering supply-chain issues impacting the beef industry. Beef production in the U.S....
E.T. York Distinguished Lecturer Series to feature Ambassador Kip Tom
The Auburn University College of Agriculture’s E.T. York Distinguished Lecturer Series will present U.S. Ambassador Kip Tom as the Spring 2021 York Lecturer Tuesday, April 27, in Auburn. The lecture, set for 12 p.m. in the Auburn University Hotel...
College of Agriculture students win big in specialty competitions
Students in three College of Agriculture departments performed well in regional, national and international competitions this spring. A team from the Department of Horticulture placed first in its size group (10-24 students) in the 45th National Collegiate Landscape...
Ryan Thomson receives Rural Sociological Society Early Career Award
Ryan Thomson, assistant professor in the College of Agriculture’s Department of Agricultural Economics & Rural Sociology, received The Rural Sociological Society Early Career Award for 2021. Proposals for the award involve small-scale projects that will enhance...
Agricultural economics researchers seek to aid new farmers in changing business climate
The challenges facing today’s small- and medium-sized farm operators are numerous, but perhaps the most daunting challenges are those faced by beginning farmers in a business climate that is currently in the midst of a generational turnover. A three-year study by...
Professor looks at cheaper, more efficient solution to COVID-19
While the rapid development and distribution of vaccines for preventing COVID-19 is a phenomenal advancement in the continuing battle against the virus, there are drawbacks, says an Auburn University professor. “Vaccine production is costly and time-consuming,” said...
Alumni chart new course for mushroom cultivation in the South
If you’ve eaten a gourmet mushroom in Alabama, there’s a good chance it was cultivated at Fungi Farm in Dadeville. Founded by Allen Carroll, who studied agronomy in the College of Agriculture at Auburn University, Fungi Farm in Dadeville has quickly become a pioneer...
Alabama Cooperative Extension System announces new director
Mike Phillips has been named director of the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, the primary outreach organization for Alabama A&M and Auburn universities, both of which are land-grant institutions with the mission of providing real-life solutions and helping...
Kylie Weis: genetically engineering the future
By Bethanie Hartzog Kylie Weis has no doubt in her mind about why she chose applied biotechnology as her major at Auburn University. She believes other students should take the time to look at the major as well. "Applied biotechnology is using the tools of nature to...
Popular professional development seminar gets makeover for pandemic
On a warm morning, despite COVID-19 limitations, horticulturalist Abra Lee prepared to greet the College of Agriculture’s Student Services team at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. As the featured speaker for the college’s professional development seminar series Our...
Johnathan Hampton: pursuing greater things
By Paul F. Brown In landscape architecture, purpose works itself out in multiple ways. A designer carefully chooses plants and trees for their size, color, texture and suitability to their environment, then arranges them in the soil in relation to buildings and other...
Row crop specialists share expertise virtually
Scientists in Auburn University’s College of Agriculture and Alabama Cooperative Extension System are world renown for their expertise in Southern row crop production, and they continue to share that expertise even during a pandemic. These researchers and specialists,...
10 Auburn College of Agriculture graduates win 2017 Alumni Awards
Ten successful professionals who hold academic degrees from Auburn University’s College of Agriculture have been selected as the college’s most outstanding alumni for 2017. The 10 include the recipient of the 2017 Alumni Service Award and nine Alumni Award winners who were chosen by and represent the academic units and programs from which they earned their degrees.
Matthew Brady
Matthew Brady is a senior studying Agricultural Business and Economics. Being a third generation cattle and catfish farmer in Marion, Alabama, Brady knows the ins and outs of running a business. While at Auburn, he has been involved in the Agribusiness Club and is...
Kelsey Cassebaum
A native of Lillian, Alabama, Kelsey Cassebaum is no stranger to the life of agriculture. Cassebaum knows the meaning of hard work after growing up on a farm boasting of 1500 acres of row crops, 250 head of cattle in a cow-calf operation and a 1000+ pecan tree...
Rosa Cantrell – Agricultural Communications Almuni
HIGHLIGHTS Education: Agricultural Communications Graduation: 2010 Current Position: Real Estate Assistant, Berkshire Hathaway HomeService Preferred Real Estate Current Location: Auburn, AL WHAT ARE YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES? Rosa is earning her real estate license, shows...
Meet Ben Staton, Ph.D. Student in the Quantitative Fisheries Lab
Ben Staton is a graduate assistant pursuing a degree in fisheries management. Ben’s research is focused on Chinook salmon stocks in western Alaska. He is using long-term data sets to create and test models that address questions and make predictions relating to the...
Mike Rowe
Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology Alumni CURRENT POSITION President and CEO of Precision Kia of Wesley Chapel President and CEO of Gulf Coast Turf and Tractor, LLC CURRENT LOCATION Tampa, Florida ABOUT MIKE Mike chose to study agricultural business and...
Senior spends summer studying mega-sharks
Meet an animal sciences student who sees her future on the ocean.
Meet Stefanie Christensen Francisco
Stefanie Christensen Francisco is the communications director for Conservation Alabama, a non-profit organization that lobbies the state legislature on behalf of our state’s natural resources. Previously, she worked in national news production at CNN, Politico, and...
Lord Kwakye Ameyaw
Lord Kwakye Ameyaw completed a Master of Science Degree in Rural Sociology from Auburn University in 2013. He recently completed a PhD in Environmental and Forest Sciences at the University of Washington in Seattle. Lord works as an Agroforester with the Nebraska...
Riva Denny
Riva completed her MS in rural sociology at Auburn in 2012 where she wrote her master’s thesis on the differences between red meat inspection regulations at the state and federal levels and the implications that these differences have for small slaughterhouses and the...
MICHELE VITALE
Michele completed his MS in Rural Sociology at Auburn in 2007; his thesis analyzed the socio-economic, cultural and geographic barriers that Hispanic residents face to access primary care services in rural Georgia. He completed his PhD in Geography at Wilfrid Laurier...
Who is Emily Blejwas
Emily Blejwas directs the Gulf States Health Policy Center in Bayou La Batre, AL. She previously worked in research and community development for the Community Foundation of South Alabama and the Economic & Community Development Institute at Auburn University. She...
JANICE FREW DYER
Janice Frew Dyer completed her MS in Rural Sociology in 2007 and her PhD in Forestry in 2012, both at Auburn University. Janice spent several years teaching Sociology at Calhoun Community College in North Alabama, and Sustainable Food Systems at Lipscomb University in...
VANESSA CASANOVA
Dr. Casanova earned a BA in International Studies from the University of Alabama, MS in Rural Sociology and PhD in Forestry from Auburn University with postgraduate training in the fields of labor studies and public health. She joined the faculty of the University of...
James Hutchins
James Hutchins is a 1997 graduate of the Master of Science program in Rural Sociology. He focused on integrated conservation and development and he researched the establishment of a community forest concession in the Maya Biosphere Reserve for his thesis. He has...