Welcome from the Dean
It is fall once again, harvest is in full swing on the University Farms, and the college is busy with many activities.
We have celebrated our 60th anniversary and third annual Fall Festival, during which we recognized outstanding alumni: John Kabat, Lifetime Achievement; Jeff Hepke, Mid-Career; and Amanda Martin, Early Career.
SIU ALUMNA LEADS WEED SCIENCE PROGRAM
An alumna returns to Southern Illinois University Carbondale to head up the weed science program in the College of Agricultural Sciences. Karla Gage, who earned her doctoral degree in plant biology at SIU in 2013, accepted a cross-appointment as assistant professor of weed science in the agricultural sciences college and in plant biology in the College of Science beginning this fall.
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NEW AGRIBUSINESS ECONOMICS FACULTY MEMBER EAGER TO COLLABORATE
Before he’d even been at Southern Illinois University Carbondale a full month, Jebaraj Asirvatham (call him “Jeb”) was already looking to collaborate with his colleagues and get involved with community research. Joining SIU as an assistant professor of agribusiness economics, Asirvatham has a keen interest in nutrition, particularly as it relates to early childhood obesity. He hopes to work with colleagues in the College of Agricultural Sciences to study the eating habits of area schoolchildren.
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SIU NUTRITION RESEARCHER SKEPTICAL OF FDA TRANS-FAT BAN
A nutrition expert at Southern Illinois University Carbondale says a recent government mandate to phase out artificial trans fats will do little to improve the health of Americans. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced earlier this year that food manufacturers have three years to phase out partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs) – the primary source of trans fats in processed food – from food products or petition the FDA for specific approval to use them.
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PLANT PATHOLOGIST MONITORS SEASONAL CROP DISEASES
He might not be exactly happy when he sees brown spots on soybean or corn leaves in his fields, but if a new disease is in the area, Jason Bond sees it as an opportunity for research. Bond is not a typical farmer. He’s a plant pathologist and a professor of plant, soil and agricultural systems at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, as well as a well-known expert on sudden death syndrome in soybeans. Along the way, he’s gotten to know a few other crop diseases, and he had the opportunity to research commercial seed company products in the never-ending quest to help farmers improve efficiency and yield with less strain on the environment.
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