Purdue News
Purdue News
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May 7, 1999
Purdue post-harvest researchers win '99 Team AwardWEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Dirk Maier, Linda Mason and Charles Woloshuk represent three different departments in Purdue University's School of Agriculture. But through teaching, education and research, they share a common goal of helping farmers control pests in stored grain.
Maier is an associate professor of agricultural and biological engineering, Mason is an associate professor of entomology, and Woloshuk is an associate professor of botany and plant pathology. They are leaders of the Post-Harvest Grain Quality Team (PHGQ), established at Purdue six years ago. "They immediately meshed to form a team in both research and education," said David Petritz, assistant director of the Purdue Cooperative Extension Service. "I think it's been wonderful for Indiana to see three people come together and not work independently, but work interdependently and cohesively in their program. They have said, 'Together, we've got a mission.'" Woloshuk said: "It's nice to be able to solve problems with the team approach, since all of our work is interrelated. That is what makes Purdue's approach to research so unique." Through workshops, tours and meetings, the PHGQ team has taught several thousand agriculturists new methods to reduce deterioration of stored grain and ways to use fewer chemical pesticides on food grain. "Multi-disciplinary efforts are the way of the future in research because of the enormous benefits they bring," said Vic Lechtenberg, dean of Purdue's School of Agriculture. "The research being done by Maier, Mason and Woloshuk demonstrates how well a team-oriented approach works, and I am proud to recognize their success with the 1999 Team Award." The award, established six years ago, recognizes collaborative efforts between Purdue faculty and staffs on interdisciplinary teams. The team will receive $10,000 to support its projects. The award ceremony also featured a ribbon-cutting at the Post-Harvest Education and Research Center at the Purdue Agronomy Farm, where there now are 16 mini-bins, each with a capacity of 500 bushels. The team conducted its first research projects there in 1998. It's a far cry from 1992, when Mason was doing research in a laboratory using 55-gallon drums filled with grain and insects to simulate a grain bin because commercial grain handlers were reluctant to let an entomologist conduct research at their facilities. "Understandably, people don't like the idea of me adding insects to their grain bins," Mason said. Added Maier, "We needed a place where we could conduct state-of-the-art research without worrying about contaminating someone else's grain." Phase II of the research center calls for 16 additional bins that will allow team members to scale up their research work as well as work on storage problems in grains other than field corn and soybeans.
Sources: David Petritz, (765) 494-8494, petritz@admin.ces.purdue.edu Dirk Maier, (765) 494-1175, maier@ecn.purdue.edu Linda Mason, (765) 494-4586, linda_mason@entm.purdue.edu Charles Woloshuk, (765) 494-3450, woloshuk@btny.purdue.edu Writer: Tom Campbell, (765) 494-8084; tc@aes.purdue.edu Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; e-mail, purduenews@purdue.edu
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