CALS Weekly - Feb. 20, 2025
NC State - College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
We create and extend knowledge that transforms challenges into agricultural and life sciences opportunities.
Weekly at a Glance
???Peer Mentor Applications: CALS is recruiting 12 graduate peer mentors for the 2024-25 academic year. Doctoral students who are selected as mentors will receive specialized training and a $1,000 stipend. Applications are open until March 15. ?
?? Behind the Blooms: NC State's John Dole, a longtime horticultural researcher, tells Seed World that behind every cut flower there's a story of trial, error and discovery.?
???Poultry Honors: Students and alumni of NC State's Prestage Department of Poultry Science won top awards for excellence and leadership in the industry at the recent International Production & Processing Expo (IPPE) conference.
?? Therapeutic Horticulture: Amy Bruzzichesi, program manager for NC State Extension's Therapeutic Horticulture Program, shares information about how gardening and plant-related activities can boost well-being, just in time for Floral Design Day on Feb. 28.?
N.C. PSI Seeds Project to Improve Apple Production
?An intersciplinary team with the N.C. Plant Sciences Initiative has kicked off new research exploring whether imaging technologies paired with artificial intelligence might prove useful for apple farmers. ?
Revolutionary Researcher to Retire
Steve Lommel, associate dean for research in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and director of the North Carolina Agricultural Research Service (NCARS), will retire in July.
Uncovering the Birthplace of the Irish Potato Famine Pathogen
Call it a mystery solved: NC State University researchers firmly point the finger at the South American Andes Mountains as the place where the Irish potato famine pathogen, Phtytophthora infestans, originated. ?
Mason Pharr Symposium
The 2025 Mason Pharr Symposium: Systems in Flux?will discuss this transformative era in horticultural production, which has been shaped by regulatory shifts, legal challenges?and changing consumer priorities. ?
??:?Feb. 21,?2025?
?: 8:30 a.m.?- 12:30?p.m.?
??:?Kilgore Hall, rooms 159 and 121
Editor's Pick
New Technology Tackles Challenges for Specialty Crop Growers ?
Emmanuel Torres Quezada, a researcher with the N.C. Plant Sciences Initiative, explores the unique hurdles faced by specialty crop farmers and the importance of focusing research on these high-value, high-return crops on the AgTech 360 podcast.
Thanks for reading, and have a great week!