Purdue News
Purdue News
September 20, 1996
Authorized by the 1996 Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform (FAIR) Act, the USDA advisory board will advise the secretary and land-grant colleges and universities on agricultural research, extension, education and economics policy and priorities. It replaces three USDA boards: the Agricultural Science and Technology Review Board, the Joint Council on Food and Agricultural Sciences, and the National Agricultural Research and Extension Users Advisory Board.
Lechtenberg joins 30 leaders selected from universities, agricultural commodity groups, rural communities, businesses and government agencies. Several farmers and ranchers also are on the board.
At the meeting, board members reviewed the USDA Research, Education and Economics Draft Strategic Plan; made nominations to the 15-member "Strategic Planning Task Force," which was created under the FAIR Act to develop a 10-year strategic plan for federally funded agricultural research facilities; and considered other FAIR Act legislation, including implementation of the Fund for Rural America competitive grants program.
Members were selected from nominations from more than 600 organizations as part of a nationwide search that produced more than 400 nominees. Terms range from one to three years.
CONTACT: Lechtenberg, (317) 494-8391; e-mail, vll@admin.agad.purdue.edu
The Sea Grant Zebra Mussel and Nonindigenous Species World Wide Web site contains a comprehensive collection of research publications and education materials produced by Sea Grant programs across the country.
The site can be accessed through the World Wide Web, Telnet, or directly through a modem. The address is: https://www.ansc.purdue.edu/sgnis/. A CD-ROM version soon will be available for those users who do not have Internet access. The site was developed as a Great Lakes Network effort by the Sea Grant Programs in Illinois-Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin and is housed at Purdue University's Department of Animal Science.
This site should be useful for industrial and municipal water users, shoreland property owners, boaters, resource management agencies, students, teachers, outreach professionals, and researchers.
Although currently focused on zebra mussels, the site also contains Sea Grant information on four other invaders -- the Eurasian ruffe, the round goby, sea lamprey and the spiny waterflea.
"People who are concerned about the influx of these exotic invaders into our waters and the effects they can have on the economy and environment now have a place to learn more about it," said Brian Miller, outreach coordinator for Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant. "Hopefully that will lead to more individual actions taken to stop the spread of these nuisance species."
More than 150 research reports and 60 educational items are available at the site, including four newsletters, proceedings of past international conferences and a slide library. The site also provides a brief introduction and pictures of the exotics, for those who aren't familiar with them.
All entries, with the exception of conference proceedings and newsletters, have been peer-reviewed to ensure they are the highest quality science.
The site provides links to the National Biological Service's Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Geographic Information System, the Great Lakes Information Network, as well as to nonindigenous species home pages of individual Sea Grant programs.
More Sea Grant research and educational information on zebra mussels and other aquatic nonindigenous species will be added in the future.
CONTACT: Miller, (317) 494-3586; e-mail, Brian_Miller@acn.purdue.edu
The 3-year-old project is aimed at developing a Polish extension system similar to the Purdue University Cooperative Extension Service. The system helps Polish agricultural universities provide scientific information and technical support to the nation's farmers and agriculture-related industries. "We work on opportunity rather than problems," said Purdue program director Richard Gelzleichter. He added that continued education of professionals throughout their lifetime is one of the primary goals of the project and was the missing link in Poland's former Communist-led university system.
The project also provides support for research and academic programs. The main areas of interest include agribusiness, water quality, rural development and leadership, food sciences, and horticulture. In addition, the program is updating Polish research textbooks. Gelzleichter said modern textbooks and translated materials are a vital part of the continuing education and extension training processes.
The program has been funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation since 1994. "That support has been essential in building our successful collaborations and programs," Gelzleichter said.
Krakow Agricultural University Senate Citations were awarded to the following Purdue people for their work on the project: Gelzleichter and Charles Rhykerd, from the Office of International Programs in Agriculture; Oscar Hopkins, formerly of the Department of Agricultural Economics, and Joseph Uhl and Janet Ayres, both from that department; James Chambers and Jay Marks, Department of Food Sciences; and Richard Edwards, Department of Entomology. Private citizens honored were Philip and Martha Smith of Pittsburgh, Pa.; Raymond and Nina Musselman of Mexico, Ind.; Jerry and Elizabeth McLaughlin, Donald Connelly and Patti Gelzleichter, all of West Lafayette; and Stephen Dlugosz of Countrymark Inc. in Indianapolis.
Also honored with the Senate Citation were Polish-American groups in South Bend that donated the seed money necessary to start the project.
The Purdue/Poland Project also is developing extension systems at the Universities of Warsaw and Poznan in Poland.
CONTACT: Richard Gelzleichter, (317) 494-8461; home (317) 463-3361
cs/agroundup/9609f27
Compiled by Chris Sigurdson, (317) 494-8415; home (317) 497-2433; Internet, sig@ecn.purdue.edu
