The Ag e-Dispatch

Not too late to donate

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:11:54 -0500

The Department of Family and Consumer Sciences chalked up $1,565 in donations to take first place in the competition among the SAES’s four academic departments to see which of them could raise the most money for students’ out-of-pocket higher education costs and departmental instructional resources in the weeks leading up to Homecoming 2009. The Department of Agribusiness, Applied Economics and Agriscience Education finished second with $1,220; Animal Sciences was third with $689; and Natural Resources and Environmental Design was fourth with $300.

Dr. Donald McDowell, the interim SAES dean, and his administrative team want to send along a note of thanks to all members of the faculty and staff who were able to make donations. For those who were so busy with professional or personal obligations that the Cash for Thinkers fundraiser slipped by, it’s still not too late to give. Donation protocol is still accessible at the SAES website.

Associate dean of Agricultural Research Program garners national recognition

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:05:41 -0500

The American Association of Family & Consumer Sciences’ (AAFCS) has named Dr. Shirley Hymon-Parker, associate dean for the Agricultural Research Program, as one of two recipients of the organization’s most prestigious national award. Hymon-Parker was named an AAFCS Distinguished Service Award honoree for 2009-10 along with Juanita Mendenhall of the Teen Health Promotion Coalition in Ridgeway, S.C. Hymon-Parker and Mendenhall will be honored at the 2010 AAFCS Annual Conference in Cleveland, June 24-26. Their career accomplishments will also be spotlighted in the next issue of the Journal of Family & Consumer Sciences.

In correspondence announcing that Hymon-Parker had been honored with the Distinguished Service Award, the AAFCS’s senior member relations manager, Sophy Mott, noted that, “As the new Associate Dean for Research in the School of Agriculture & Environmental Sciences, North Carolina A&T State University, she's continuing a career built on the creation, transformation and advancement of FCS knowledge in the areas of teaching, scholarly research and outreach, and administration in higher education.”

The AAFCS Distinguished Service Award was established in 1979 by a forerunner professional organization, the American Home Economics Association, to recognize superior achievements in family and consumer sciences, and outstanding professional contributions through leadership as well as scholarship.

Thought for food

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:55:49 -0500

On Thursday, Nov. 19, the Department of Family and Consumer Science’s Food and Nutrition Club will host a free screening of the movie Food, Inc. at Coltrane Hall. The 94-minute film will begin at 4 p.m.

One reviewer sums up the critically acclaimed documentary as “concerned with the extent to which industrial food production has replaced farming in America,” that has become a “blunt instrument of civic, moral, and social responsibility.”

Following the movie there will be an interactive panel discussion led by some of the SAES’s experts in food sciences, sustainable agriculture, health and food activism. Panelists will be an SAES food scientist, Dr. Ipek Goktepe, Dr. Patricia Lynch of the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences, and Dr. John O’Sullivan, farm management and marketing specialist for The Cooperative Extension Program.

Cocktail honored

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:56:47 -0500

On Oct. 8, UNC-Charlotte hosted the 8th Annual Charlotte Biotechnology Conference, which brought 20 speakers and 350 biotech professionals together to discuss business-university partnerships, progress at the N.C. Research campus and dozens of recent technical advances. To generate student interest in biotechnology research, the conference conducted a graduate student poster competition with cash prizes. One of the six finalists was an SAES student, Olcay Boyacioglu, who presented a poster covering a research project guided by Dr. Ipek Goktepe, an SAES food scientist. Boyacioglu’s research was into “Biocontrol of E. coli O157:H7 in harvested spinach using bacteriophage cocktails.” Charlotte radio station WFAE still has interviews available with two of the students who entered the research competition. and video footage of the keynote address by Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton is available on the conference website. Boyacioglu also presented these research findings at the NC OPT-ED (North Carolina Alliance to Create Opportunity Through Education) Alliance Day in early October. The SAES was also represented at NC OPT-ED Alliance Day by one of Goktepe’s undergraduate students in the Food and Nutritional Sciences Program, Jasmine Brooks, whose poster presentation covered an “Evaluation of Antibacterial Activity of Select Plant Essential Oils.”

Staff update

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 16:47:57 -0500

Dr. Mohamed Ahmedna has been named director of the SAES's Center of Excellence for Post-Harvest Technology at the North Carolina Research Campus in Kannapolis.

Since joining the SAES in 2000, Ahmedna has been involved in 17 multidisciplinary projects totaling more than $5 million. His research has resulted in 30 peer-reviewed scientific publications and patent applications involving a process to inactivate allergens in peanuts. Ahmedna received a master's and doctorate in food science, and a master's in applied statistics, at Louisiana State University. He recently received an MBA from the Kenan-Flagler business school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Bifidobacterium substrains may be linked to longevity

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 16:51:26 -0500

Dr. Salam Ibrahim’s work with colleagues in the People's Republic of China has led to the publication of an article summarizing recent findings in an international journal devoted to scientific research. The team has been looking into possible relationships among dairy foods, probiotics and longer life spans in a region of China known for its centenarians, and the journal Current Microbiology has an article recapping the team’s study of the effects of two bifidobacteria
strains isolated from healthy centenarians in China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous
Region. Ibrahim’s research collaborators are from the College of Food Science and Nutritional Engineering at China Agricultural University, the Meng Niu Dairy Company in Beijing and the Food Science College at Xinjiang Agricultural University. At the core of this and other research projects is a collaboration between A&T and China Agricultural University that has now resulted in the publication of three papers detailing research findings in scientific journals.

Staff update

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 16:44:28 -0500

Juliette Jackson has joined the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences as the director of the Child Development Laboratory. Jackson has a bachelors in child development and masters in adult education both from North Carolina A&T State University. She comes to SAES from Rockingham Community College where she was an assistant professor of early childhood education. Jackson has over 25 years of experience in the early childhood profession, including a background in child care consulting and an affiliation with North Carolina Association for the Education of Young Children.

SAES food lions roar in California

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 16:20:55 -0500

The world’s largest annual food science forum and food technologies exposition, the Institute of Food Technologists' Annual Meeting & Food Expo , took place on June 6-9 in Anaheim, CA. It The meeting and expo drew approximately 14,500 participants from more than 80 countries, and 815 exhibitors. It was also the setting for nearly 200 educational sessions, and one that would prove a hot topic — drawing attention from the media as well as the scientific community — was a symposium devoted to “Fresh Produce Tracing: Benefits and Challenges” that was organized and moderated by Drs. Ipek Goktepe and Mohamed Ahmedna, SAES food scientists. Goktepe was also on research teams with two poster presentations on the “Prevention of Escherichia coliO157:H7 growth using a bacteriophage cocktail in laboratory media” and “Biocontrol of Escherichia coli O157:H7 contamination on green leaf lettuce using a bacteriophage cocktail.”

Dr. Salam Ibrahim, another SAES food scientist, was on four teams that made research poster presentations at the conference. He worked with colleagues at Delaware State on an overview of research into the physical properties of cookies containing flaxseed flour and assisted an A&T grad student with an investigation into the potential for using a rice extract as stabilizer in banana-flavored yogurt. Ibrahim also assisted another graduate student with research into the “Induction of alpha-and beta-galactosidases in Lactobacillus reuteri using different protein sources.” Dr. Pat Lynch, also a member of the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences faculty, was on a team with Ibrahim that presented a poster on research into the “Impact of protein source on growth and cell density of Lactobacillus reuteri."

Child Development Laboratory graduates 16 and receives state award

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 16:41:18 -0500

Sixteen children, 4 and 5 years old, picked up their Child Development Lab (CDL ) diplomas at June 5 graduation ceremonies at A&T’s General Classroom Building. The 2008-09 academic year was a banner year for CDL faculty and staff as well as their students. Out of more than 200 applicants, the CDL was one of only nine to receive a 2009 Early Childhood Professional Development Award, which recognizes exemplary early care and education programs that also promote teacher education. The North Carolina Division of Child Development, North Carolina Institute of Early Childhood Professional Development and North Carolina Child Care Services Association presented the award, and it was accompanied with a plaque and $750 that will be used by the CDL staff for professional development activities.

Mid-August deadline for submitting family financial management research

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 16:07:55 -0500

The editorial board for Family Relations: Interdisciplinary Journal of Applied Family Studies published by the National Council on Family Relations, has set an Aug. 14 deadline for submissions for a special issue of the journal that will be devoted to the impact the economic crisis of 2008 has had on family financial issues. Among the topics of interest are examinations of how the current economic climate shapes relationships within the family as well as families’ interactions with the broader environment, and research that has looked into families’ adaptations for economic adversity. A member of the University of Virginia’s Department of Sociology faculty is coordinating the special issue of Family Relations, and there is an online tutorial for preparing and submitting manuscripts through the online process that is the only venue for submission. There is a 30-page cap for submissions (including references, tables, and figures, and double-spaced.).

SAES research and Extension faculty have video work online

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 15:27:28 -0500

Action Greensboro, an organization established by six nonprofit foundations in 2001 to help the regional economy rebound from the void left by the loss of jobs in textiles and other industries, has selected Dr. Mohamed Ahmenda’s research work targeting development of an allergen-free peanut, for its “Springboard” Web page that showcases local scientific creativity and innovations.

The 20-week season for UNC-TV’s Almanac Gardener, a half hour home gardening and horticulture program that airs at noon on Saturdays, will continue through August, but the lion’s share of this season’s programs is now available at the program website. Stephen Greer, an A&T Extension horticultural agent stationed in Forsyth County, was part of the panel of experts for programs that originally aired (and are now available online) on April 18, April 25 and May 2.

July has two deadlines for junior faculty to consider

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 15:33:02 -0500

• The National Science Foundation (NSF) will be accepting proposals until July 23 for its Faculty Early Career Development Program which supports professional development for assistant professors currently without tenure, but whose appointments are tenure-track or the equivalent. Applicants must also have doctorates. The NSF typically awards 425 Faculty Early Career Development Program grants each year. Most of these grants offer more than $400,000 for five-year projects, except for grants to biological sciences faculty, which must have budget requests of $500,000 for their five-year projects. Award-winning proposals will successfully exemplify the role of teacher-scholar with research objectives that integrate furthering an educational concentration within a context of organizational mission. Career development planning should be omnipresent and creative in proposals. The July 23 deadline applies to applicants in the biological, computer, engineering, economic, environmental and life sciences. There is an earlier deadline, July 21, for applicants in other disciplines.

• Until July 10, the Center for Poverty Research at the University of Kentucky will be soliciting proposals from junior faculty with full-time academic appointments who have received their doctorates in the past seven years. The Center’s “Young Investigator Development Grants” program is going to recognize three proposals with grants of up to $7,500 each. The Center is looking for social science research regarding low-income populations — including child and family well being, and the economic status of disadvantaged and under-represented populations. Preference will be given to proposals that address poverty in the South.

CEPH Presentation

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 15:30:27 -0500

Dr. Mohamed Ahmedna, candidate for director of the Center of Excellence for Post-Harvest Technologies in Kannapolis, will deliver a presentation on Tuesday, June 30th at 11 a.m. in the B.C. Webb Auditorium. His topic will be the Role of Research in Addressing Nutrition and Health Issues: Vision and Strategies for Leadership in the Modern Era.

SAES faculty member among those selected for NIH practicum

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 15:00:29 -0500

Dr. Lizette Sanchez-Lugo, an SAES assistant professor in Family and Consumer Sciences and the interim director of the University’s Institute for Public Health, was one of 100 instructors and doctoral-level students in nutrition, food science, pharmacology and other health-related disciplines accepted for the National Institutes of Health's Dietary Supplement Research Practicum in early June. Experts from the NIH, and federal regulatory agencies and research institutions led participants through five days of intensive study of the substances that can supply additional vitamins, minerals and other nutrients to the human diet.

Two added options for FCS students facing a summer of economic uncertainties

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 15:06:30 -0500

With the competition for summer jobs in 2009 as tough as it’s been since the 1940s, many SAES students are going to be looking at other options once they find that traditional summer employment opportunities aren’t what they were expecting. Two national conferences for professionals — and students — in the family and consumer sciences have inviting opportunities for students faced with unexpected time on their hands this coming summer.

The American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences (AAFCS) will be “Celebrating the Past, Sustaining the Future” at its 100th annual conference and expo in Knoxville, Tenn. from June 25 to 28. Among the topics that many speakers and workshops will be addressing are such sustainability challenges as designs for more eco-friendly fabrics, reducing waste in food preparation, and increased recycling in homes and apartments. The AAFCS Student Unit has put together a slate of activities especially for graduate and undergraduate students, including career development and professional licensure preparation sessions. Student registration is now $160 for the AAFCS’s annual conference and expo.

Only a few weeks later, from July 11 to 14, the Society for Nutrition Education (SNE) will be holding its 42nd annual conference in New Orleans. The SNE has made arrangements for students registered for the conference to share campus apartments at the University of New Orleans for $30 per person, per night. Students attending the SNE conference will get many of opportunities to network with teachers, dietitians, Extension agents, research scientists and other professionals working in nutrition and nutrition education.