Research,
response
— and more
n this Winter 2002 issue of Perspectives, we bring you news from the College’s
research stations and field laboratories. While much of the work of the
College’s Agricultural Research Service is done in laboratories and greenhouses
on the N.C. State University campus, our 15 research stations (including
two regional research and extension centers) across the state and nine
field laboratories provide our scientists and students access to real-world
applications of their work.
Here you’ll be brought up-to-date on developments at the Mountain Horticultural Crops Research Station near Fletcher, the Tidewater Research Station near Plymouth, Kinston’s Cunningham Research Station and, in Raleigh, the Lake Wheeler Road Field Lab and the Horticulture Field Lab. At all of these facilities researchers, extension educators, teachers and staff members work in demonstration plots, greenhouses, modern laboratories and classrooms to introduce students and growers to diverse agricultural enterprises; to address key agricultural, environmental and educational issues affecting the regions where the facilities operate; and to enhance the work of the state’s agribusinesses, such as the nursery and horticulture — or the “green” — industries.
Research and academic programs intersect as we take you to a zoology class, where students of Dr. Harold Heatwole are learning how reptiles, their habitat, the toxicity of their venom and the evolution of their prey are all interrelated. The students, beneficiaries of Heatwole’s worldwide research experience, have launched a number of enlightening experiments.
Our College Profile is Dalton Dockery, Cooperative Extension agent in Columbus County. An alumnus of our College, Dockery was inspired as a youth to pursue a career in Extension by agent Haywood McKoy. Now he likewise wants to serve as a role model to others. He co-hosts “The Gardening Show” on cable TV, a program produced as a collaborative effort between N.C. Cooperative Extension and Southeastern Community College.
Among the news from across our College there is much to report from the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences, including information about the N.C. Nutrition Network, the Eloise Cofer Family and Community Issues Forum and the signing of the North Carolina Family and Consumer Sciences Program Development Endowment. Also in the news, the Toxicology Building was dedicated in October, marking the opening of the College’s first building on the Centennial Campus, while, during the fall, several of our alumni were singled out as outstanding by the College and private sector groups.
In late November, “The Spirit of America at N.C. State” gala honored those who have funded the more than 375 endowments in the College. I hope you will enjoy learning about these and other significant College developments in this issue of Perspectives.
Dean, College of Agriculture
and Life Sciences
