October 20, 2004

Purdue Extension specialists honored for outstanding service

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue University Cooperative Extension Specialist Association (PUCESA) honored outstanding specialists on Tuesday (Oct. 19) during the annual Purdue Extension banquet.

The awards recognize outstanding contributions to Indiana through Purdue Extension.

Richard Linton, professor of food science received PUCESA's Junior Award. Linton developed hands-on-training modules targeting those in food processing, Extension Educators, state and local health agencies, 4-H youth, high school teachers, and consumers. Linton, of West Lafayette, Ind., also developed food safety programs for different states and commodity groups, and also created a training network for the state of Indiana. In addition, Linton has trained or presented to more than 30,000 people in the past eight years.

John Obermeyer, integrated pest management supervisor, received the PUCESA Senior Award. Obermeyer organizes and coordinates the Crop Management Workshops, which provide training seminars to more than 700 crop consultants, industry and agricultural producers in Indiana and surrounding states.

Obermeyer, of West Lafayette, Ind., is the treasurer of the Indiana Association of Professional Crop Consultants, is state liaison of the national alliance of Independent Crop Consultants, and is director of the Professional Crop Consultants of Illinois. He also is co-author of several Extension publications: The Pest & Crop Newsletter, which provides timely information in 28 issues throughout the year; the Corn & Soybean Field Guide; the Field Crops Pest Management Manual; Seed Corn Pest Management Manual for the Midwest; and the Popcorn Pest Management Manual.

Bob Taylor, professor of agricultural economics, received PUCESA's Career Award. Since 1962 Taylor has taught more than 30,000 students and received several outstanding teacher awards from Purdue's School of Agriculture and the Purdue student body. In 1999 he was added to Purdue's Book of Great Teachers. Taylor, of West Lafayette, Ind., gives talks about the nature of interpersonal relationships and farm business organization principles to help family members make farm teams happier, more productive groups. Taylor also has received awards from the American Agriculture Economics Association and the Frederick L. Hovde Award of Excellence in Educational Service to the Rural People of Indiana.

The PUCESA Team Award went to the Beginners Guide to Grant Writing Team for recognizing the growing need for grant writing skills. This team authored the Beginner's Guide to Grant Writing manual and developed a two-day workshop dedicated to helping others develop fundable proposals. The team is composed of Extension specialists Aadron Rausch, of West Lafayette, Ind.; Don Jones, of West Lafayette, Ind.; and Fred Whitford of West Lafayette, Ind. With the help of Purdue ag communications staff members Frank Koontz, Dan Annario, Beth Forbes and Joan Crow, the program was marketed statewide, attracting more than 300 participants.

The Breaking New Ground Outreach Program team also received the PUCESA Team Award for their mission to assist farmers and ranchers with physical disabilities. The team consists of Bill Field, of Lafayette, Ind.; Paul Jones, of West Lafayette, Ind.; Steve Swain, of Chalmers, Ind.; and Bill Vollmer, of Lafayette, Ind. This team developed "To Everything There is a Season," a resource kit for rural caregivers and also conducted several workshops, including Care Giving in the Heartland.

Terry McCain received the Spirit of PUCEA Award for her dedication, service and contributions to Purdue Extension specialists' programs. McCain, of Zionsville, Ind., developed a Web-based submission process that handled 325 digital samples submitted by Extension educators to help streamline problem diagnosis and plant identification. On a volunteer basis, McCain is webmaster for the Purdue Master Gardener Program and the Boone County Extension office, designing, upgrading and maintaining these Web sites.

Writer: Meggie Issler, (765) 494-8402, missler@purdue.edu

Ag Communications: (765) 494-2722; Beth Forbes, forbes@purdue.edu
Agriculture News Page

Note to Journalists: Photos will be available online by 5 p.m. today (Wednesday, Oct. 20)

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