Louisiana Agruculture Magazine
Spring 2019
The spring 2019 issue of Louisiana Agriculture focuses on the “birds and the bees” and the importance of reproduction and breeding to the success and profitability of our agriculture industry. LSU AgCenter scientists are dedicated to finding ways to not only improve plants and animals on the farm but also in nature to enhance and sustain our environment. See below for links to the articles. If you would like to subscribe to the print copy, or if you have any questions, or if you want to unsubscribe from this list, please contact the editor, Linda Benedict. The LSU AgCenter is here to serve you.
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Highlights - Articles by several RNR faculty mmbers and students:
- The “Birds and the Bees” and Agriculture
Christopher Green - This issue of Louisiana Agriculture focuses on the essence of agriculture, which is the ability to harness reproduction of plants and animals.
- Seaside Sparrows and the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
Sabrina S. Taylor - The Seaside Sparrow is a good indicator species for the effects of disturbances, such as oil spills and hurricanes, along the Gulf of Mexico.
- White-tailed Deer Reproduction: How fawns are made
Glen T. Gentry Jr. - LSU AgCenter research on the white-tailed deer has provided a wealth of information to improve understanding of the deer breeding season.
- Mottled Duck Breeding Ecology in Southwest Louisiana
Lizzi Bonczek and Kevin Ringelman - The mottled duck is a unique nonmigratory duck found only along the western Gulf of Mexico coast and peninsular Florida.
- Asian Carps Are Here to Stay
William E. Kelso - Sometimes reproduction goes awry as is the case with Asian carps. They were introduced to control parasites in catfish, and now they are taking over.
- Improving Reproduction for Reliable Marine Bait
Christopher Green - LSU AgCenter scientists are working to provide Louisiana coastal anglers with a cost-effective source of marine baitfish.
- College of Agriculture News for Spring 2019
Tobie Blanchard - Forestry students get the chance to compete regionally and to network; six ag graduates become University medalists; alumnus tells of opportunities in digital agriculture; annual college awards
Of Interest
- The current issue (Spring 2019) of Research Matters has been posted. Research Matters is an annual overview of the research highlights and activities of the faculty and students of the School of Renewable Natural Resources. It is a great way to stay informed about the the great things happening in RNR.
- The 62nd Annual Southern Forestry Conclave 2019 was hosted this year by the School of Renewable Natural Resources and the Student Chapter of SAF. Photos from the event (all ~1100 of them) are posted to our special Gallery pages. Start the slideshow on Page 1 or Page 2.
LFPDC Student Awarded Scholarship
Mason LeBlanc, a Master's degree student working with Dr. Richard Vlosky, Director, Louisiana Forest Products Development Center, has been awarded a Composite Panel Association Foundation scholarship, in memory of Robert E. Dougherty.
The Foundation reviewed thirty-three applicants for the 2019 Scholarship Program. Four scholarships were awarded to students based on recommendations from the Foundation’s Scholarship Committee.
Mason has also been awarded a Forest Products Society Scholarship to attend the Forest Products Society International Convention in Atlanta, Georgia in June.
Forest Products Society 2019
Award Winners Announced
LaGrange, GA – May 08, 2019 – The Forest Products Society (FPS), a global network for forest products professionals, announces the winners of its 2019 Annual Excellence Awards. The awards will be presented on June 27, 2019 during a luncheon at the 73rd FPS International Convention (IC) in Atlanta, GA, USA. The winners are:
Richard Vlosky, Ph.D. - Fred W. Gottschalk Memorial Award
The prestigious Fred W. Gottschalk Memorial Award, named for the first President of the Society, recognizes exceptional service to FPS by an individual member. The 2019 Gottschalk Award winner, Dr. Richard Vlosky, has exhibited consistent commitment in serving the Forest Products Society since becoming a member 27 years ago. He has been involved in a number of strategic leadership roles at the National and Section levels.
Vlosky’s activities have strengthened FPS through the common goal of advancing wood through science, technology and most importantly active communication of wood’s wonderful characteristics. He has proven to be a strong ambassador for forestry products and fostering the goals of FPS and aligning with FPS’s mission.
Vlosky previously served as FPS President in 2016 after being President-Elect (2015) and Vice President (2014). He is currently the chair of the 2019 International Nominating Committee, chair of the Mid-South Section Communications Committee and a member of the FPS National Communications Team.
In his FPS career, Vlosky has been a member of the International Nominating Committee (2018), member of the Executive Committee (2018), member of the Strategic Planning Committee (2018), Plenary Session Committee Member (2018), and Session Chair, Program Committee Member, and Conference Planning Committee Member for the 72nd Forest Products Society International Convention (2018). In 2016, he was the Awards Chair for the 70th Forest Products Society International Convention and in 2015, he coordinated the Technical Session Program. He also chaired the 2013 67th International Convention Coordinating Committee.
Shortly after the 2012 International Convention in Washington, DC, Vlosky developed and executed an evaluation survey to all FPS members focusing on those that attended as a tool to improve the convention in 2013.
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His additional current and past contributions to the Society are:
- 2011-present: Chair of the Internationalization Task Group in which he took the initiative to bring to the Board for approval to create
- 1998-present: Membership Chair of Mid-South Section
- 2009: Member of the National Research Needs Assessment Committee, jointly sponsored by US Forest Service, Forest Products Society and Society of Wood Science & Technology
- 2008: Member of the International Nominating Committee
- 2007: Chair of Website Development & Improvement Committee and continues to be a member
- 2006: Member of the Membership Recruitment/Branding Committee
- 2005: Member of the Student-Full Member Conversion Committee
- 2002: At the request of the FPS Board of Directors, Rich coordinated and analyzed a Membership needs assessment survey. He developed the survey, executed it for all FPS members, analyzed the results and disseminated the assessment report to FPS members and the Board
- 2002: Key member of the International Cooperation Committee
- 2001-2003: Chair of the Marketing Technical Interest Group and Vice-Chair of this TIG from 1998-2000
- 1997-1998: Member of the National Membership Committee and Chair of the ad-hoc Electronic Publication Task ForceGroup
- 1995-1998: Co-Chair of the Electronic Information Technology Sub-Committee
- 1995-present: Reviewer for the Forest Products Journal
New RNR Graduate Recieves 2019 Wood Award
Ju Dong (left), a PhD student under Dr. Qinglin Wu in Forest Products, won the 2019 first place Wood Award given by Forest Products Society.
The Wood Award recognizes the most outstanding graduate student research conducted in the field of wood and wood products. Wood Award papers describe original research on a wide range of topics including, but not limited to, harvesting and forest operations, product development and manufacture, fundamental properties, end-use applications, and distribution and marketing.
His winning paper is entitled: 3D Printed Conductive Polycaprolactone Composites Integrated with Carbonized Cellulose Nanofibers: toward the Applications for Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) Shielding and Deformation Sensing.
Ju graduated on May 10, 2019 with a PhD in Renewable Natural Resources. Congratulations to Dr. Ju Dong!
Xi Sigma Pi Honor Society Member Wins Regional Award
Congratulations to Cameron Toerner who won the 2019 Scholarship for the West Central Region, given by Xi Sigma Pi, a national forestry honor society.
The School of Renewable Natural Resources at LSU has been able to maintain an impressive record, winning half of the awards in recent years in a region that comprises eight universities. Mason Leblanc won this award last year.
RNR Student to Receive 2019 Goldwater Scholarship
BATON ROUGE — Three Louisiana State University students have been chosen as recipients of prestigious Barry M. Goldwater Scholarships. The premier award recognizes top-performing undergraduate students of STEM disciplines.
“We congratulate Katie Davis, Jackson Green and Syed Akbar Zamin on being awarded the prestigious Goldwater Scholarship,” said LSU President F. King Alexander. “These three students join a long line of Goldwater scholars from LSU, and we can’t wait to see what else they will accomplish in their academic and research careers.”
Katie Davis, of Frisco, Texas, is an Ogden Honors College junior Stamps Scholar studying wildlife ecology in the LSU College of Agriculture (School of Renewable Natural Resources) and Spanish in the LSU College of Humanities and Social Sciences. Under the direction of Dr. Sabrina Taylor, Davis is investigating an anecdotally reported range expansion and contraction of the species Bachman's Sparrow in the early 20thcentury and comparing it to studies of the Field Sparrow. This research may inform the habitat needs of Bachman's Sparrow, a near-threatened species, and contribute to a further understanding of how genetically based variation in personality relates to species distribution. After graduation, Davis plans to pursue a PhD in Conservation Biology.
Congress established the Barry Goldwater Scholarship in 1986 to honor Senator Barry Goldwater, who served his country for 56 years as a soldier and statesman, including 30 years in the U.S. Senate. The scholarship was designed to alleviate a critical, current and future shortage of highly qualified scientists, mathematicians and engineers.
The Ogden Honors College, established in 1992, is a vibrant, diverse and prestigious community located at the heart of LSU. The Ogden Honors College provides students with a curriculum of rigorous seminar classes, as well as opportunities for undergraduate research, culminating in the Honors Thesis. Its focus on community service, study abroad, internships and independent research helps today’s high-achieving students become tomorrow’s leaders.
Dr. Stouffer to Recieve
National Honors
Phil Stouffer, the LSU School of Renewable and Natural Resources Lee F. Mason Professor of Conservation Biology, will receive the 2019 Peter R. Stettenheim Service Award from the American Ornithological Society, or AOS. This award is given to a senior ornithologist, who has provided extraordinary service to AOS. Stouffer will receive this award at the annual AOS meeting in Anchorage, Alaska, in June along with Mark Hauber, the Harley Jones Van Cleave Professor of Host-Parasite Interactions at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. They are the second recipients of the Peter R. Stettenheim Service Award.
“I’m honored to be recognized by my colleagues in ornithology. Sharing this award with my good friend Mark Hauber reflects not just the work we did together, but also the contributions of everyone involved in our publications,” Stouffer said.
In addition to being a full-time LSU professor and researcher, Stouffer served as the editor-in-chief of the scientific journal, The Condor: Ornithological Applications, from 2013 to 2019. During the journal’s transition from general ornithology to applied ornithology, Stouffer helped guide the transition, raising the impact factor to first place among ornithology journals worldwide in the process. He also served as associate editor of the scientific journal, The Auk, from 2002 to 2013. In addition to serving as an editor for AOS journals over the past decade, he also served as the Scientific Program Chair for the North American Ornithological Congress in New Orleans in 2002 and has been a judge for the Cooper Ornithological Society Student Presentation Awards and AOS Student Presentation Awards.
Every year, AOS presents a range of awards honoring members for stellar contributions to science and impactful service to the organization. The award recipients’ work spans the full breadth of avian science, including contributions to evolution, conservation, systematics and genetics as well as to the profession of ornithology. Awardees represent the broad diversity of AOS members, who are making major contributions to ornithology and to the society.
“Honoring the achievements of our colleagues is an annual highlight for AOS leadership,” said AOS President Kathy Martin. “Under the northern lights of Anchorage, AOS will recognize a stellar array of ornithologists who will receive these prestigious awards for 2019.”
Additional Link: 2019 AOS Award Winners Announced
LSU AgCenter awards first cannabis-related research funds
LSU AgCenter researcher Chris Green examines zebrafish that are being used to study the effects of medical cannabis in the treatment of epilepsy. The fish are used because their size reduces the cost of the research, and they have the same receptors in their brains that people do. Photo by Johnny Morgan/LSU AgCenter
04/16/19) BATON ROUGE, La. — The LSU AgCenter has awarded the first cannabis-related research funds from an agreement with GB Sciences Louisiana, the company working with the AgCenter to produce therapeutic cannabis, said Ashley Mullens, AgCenter coordinator of external and governmental affairs.
In 2015, the Louisiana Legislature passed the Alison Neustrom Act, which paved the way for the production, recommendation and use of therapeutic cannabis. The AgCenter is currently operating its Therapeutic Cannabis Program in partnership with GB Sciences Louisiana under one of the two licenses in Louisiana. Under the terms of the agreement with GB Sciences, the AgCenter will receive $3.4 million or 10 percent of gross revenue, whichever is greater, over five years and as well as annual research investment.
“GB Sciences provides $500,000 per year as part of our agreement to fund cannabis-related studies,” Mullens said.
Chris Green, an AgCenter researcher (School of Renewable Nattural Resources), is using tiny zebrafish in his quest to develop treatments for people suffering from epileptic seizures. Green has spent the past two years developing the zebrafish model.
Through this award, Green will look at the possibility of using various components of the cannabis plant — including cannabidiol, or CBD, oil — to treat epilepsy.
Cannabidiol is a substance extracted from the flowers and buds of marijuana or hemp plants. It does not produce intoxication like a marijuana “high,” which is caused by the chemical tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC.
Green’s background is in the field of applied reproductive fish physiology and endocrinology, with a focus on freshwater and estuarine aquaculture species.
He and graduate student Courtney Murr feel they are making progress in developing the model needed to advance this research to the next level.
Part of Murr’s work involves videoing the fish to track their behavior as they experience the induced seizures.
“The software that we use tells us the total distance the fish move and the speed at which they move,” she said.
The results are used to determine when the fish are having seizures, and the researches can look at the different treatments to tell which has a greater effect.
“I started trying to do some pilot studies just with developing the seizure model itself,” Green said. “I think that using a biomedical model like a fish was a good way to start.”
Green said because of his background in fish physiology and fish biology, it fit nicely. “I’ve worked with zebrafish for a couple of years now to develop a baseline for what seizures are in these animals,” he said.
Recently, Green has been able to take small compounds like CBD and apply them to his seizure model and see possible beneficial results.
“Epilepsy is a very complex disorder, and it doesn’t affect every patient the same,” he said. “And it’s the same with the different medicines currently available. They don’t work the same for everybody.”
In addition to the cannabinoids, other compounds, such as terpenoids, will be considered for seizure behavior.
“A recent paper that also looked at zebrafish found that a small amount of CBD in the presence of a larger amount of THC actually made that THC more absorbed in the body,” Green said.
Because these fish are so small, it only takes very small amounts of THC and CBD to test in their bloodstreams.
“The amounts of the product needed for the research would amount to the analytical standards used for calibrating lab equipment,” he said.
Several things make zebrafish work better than traditional lab animals.
“These fish are very small, but they have a large number of babies. They are inexpensive, and they have some of the same receptors in their brains that we do,” Green said.
Research as far back as the 1970s and 1980s show components of cannabis used to treat epilepsy in rats, Green said.
Green hopes to use the zebrafish to conduct other types of research using CBD, such as for treatments for post-traumatic stress disorder.
Mullens is excited about the research potential these funds will provide to the LSU AgCenter.
“We hope that this is the first of many projects that researchers at the LSU AgCenter will conduct to further the understanding of the cannabis plant and its efficacy for treating certain medical conditions,” she said.
Johnny Morgan | 4/16/2019 6:48:50 PM | permalink
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