And when Gardner was hired, he became the first African-American postdoctoral researcher in the College in nearly a decade, which is why the Dean’s Postdoctoral Fellowship was created. The fellowship provides outstanding scholars from underrepresented groups with an opportunity that might not otherwise be available.

The fellowship is a novel creation of Dr. Lisa Guion Jones, assistant dean for diversity, outreach and extension, and the CALS Diversity Council. Funding for the position is shared equally by the North Carolina Agricultural Research Service and CALS Academic Programs office, while the department in which the postdoc is located must agree to provide funding for activities such as attending conferences and other professional development. Appointments are for two years.

The idea behind the program, Jones explains, is to provide the postdoc with enhanced research skills training and mentoring. The program also provides opportunities to co-teach a core course, co-author grants and manuscripts and engage in other experiences at one of the top colleges of agriculture and life sciences in the nation.

The experience is designed make the postdoc competitive for future faculty positions. Jones points out that a lack of faculty diversity is a nationally recognized issue in higher education.

“We want to increase diversity in the academy,” Jones says. “In most science disciplines, you need a strong postdoc. That is the heart of the program, preparing more women and minorities for research and teaching positions in the academy.”

While New Jersey native Gardner came to CALS from the campus of Texas Tech University, where he served for two years as a visiting scientist with the USDA Agricultural Research Service after earning his doctorate at Alabama A&M University, he is no stranger to North Carolina.

Gardner holds a master’s degree from North Carolina Central University, where he decided to enroll “to keep my mind fresh” while waiting to attend medical school. While attending N.C. Central, he participated in a summer internship with USDA-ARS on the campus of Oregon State University, where he fell in love with soil and environmental sciences.

Deciding not to attend medical school, even though he’d been accepted, Gardner instead earned a doctorate in plant and soil science at Alabama A&M. That’s where he might be today, he says, were it not for the Dean’s Postdoctoral Fellowship.

In the relatively short time Gardner has been at N.C. State, he has worked primarily on trying to understand what’s going on at a hazardous materials storage site near Carter-Finley Stadium. The university stored chemical and biological waste at the site until 1980. The site has a soil and water bioremediation system, but the system is producing unwanted manganese oxide sludge, which hinders the bioremediation process.

Gardner’s research focuses on developing methods for evaluating, predicting and managing the groundwater and soil remediation process and developing new soil and water remediation strategies to make effective use of microbial activity in the sludge.

Gardner recently spent time at both the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. and the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource in California using cutting-edge equipment and innovative technologies at the two locations to study the sludge. The Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource is an SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory operated by Stanford University on behalf of the Department of Energy.

Gardner also participated in December in a two-day workshop during which he aided high school teachers in developing lesson plans related to trace metal cycling and metal toxicity. And he and Duckworth co-taught SSC 442, Soil and Environmental Biogeochemistry. Duckworth and Gardner have also co-authored a manuscript that has been accepted for publication.

“I thoroughly enjoy teaching” says Gardner. “It’s rewarding when I identify students who attain a grasp of the topic; for lack of a better term, the light bulb over their head shines bright.”

Both Duckworth and Jones see the postdoctoral program as a win-win for the college and the postdoc.

Duckworth describes the program as “a good two-way street.” He says Gardner provides expertise not previously available to his lab, while, “We’re helping him learn some things, too.”

“Of course, it benefits the postdoc, who will be highly marketable as a result of how this program is designed,” Jones says. “But it also greatly benefits the junior faculty member by providing research and teaching assistance.”

Gardner points out that he probably would not be at N.C. State were it not for the postdoctoral program.

“I like it here,” he adds. “This is a great environment. All my colleagues have been very helpful and welcoming from the first day I set foot on the campus.”

As for the possibility he might someday be a tenure-track faculty member at N.C. State or a comparable university, he says, “Yes, I would love that. I enjoy teaching, I enjoy research. So I would have the best of both worlds in that sense.”

– Dave Caldwell

Dr. Stephen Kelley, professor and head of the Department of Forest Biomaterials in the College of Natural Resources, was also named to the board.

The board is responsible for organizing and overseeing studies on agriculture, forestry, fisheries, wildlife, and the use of land, water, and other natural resources. The National Research Council is a private, nonprofit institution that provides expert advice.

Known collectively at the National Academies, the National Research Council, National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering and Institute of Medicine provide information designed to address the most pressing challenges facing the nation and world, help shape sound policies, inform public opinion and advance the pursuit of science, engineering and medicine.

Gould and Kelley join the board as Dr. Julia Kornegay, professor of Horticultural Science, leaves it.

Gould, a member of the National Academy of Sciences, studies the ecology and genetics of insect pests to improve food production and human and environmental health. He has received funding from the National Science Foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the National Institutes of Health, among others, for his work.

Gould has been honored with both N.C. State’s Holladay Medal, the highest honor presented for faculty achievement, and the O. Max Gardner Award, the most significant universitywide honor given to faculty by the UNC Board of Governors.

Gould has served on National Academy of Sciences-National Research Council committees to study the environmental effects of the commercialization of genetically modified plants and develop recommendations on genetically modified pest-protected crops. He has also served on Environmental Protection Agency panels on genetically modified crops.

The endowment will be used to provide scholarships for undergraduate students from the state of North Carolina who are enrolled in agricultural programs at N. C. State University, N.C. A&T State University or Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, with first preference given to students in a dairy-related curriculum. In addition to the universities’ criteria in selecting recipients for the merit-based awards, eligibility requirements also include active participation in 4-H, FFA, the N.C. Guernsey Association or the N.C. Junior Holstein Association.

Courtesy Chris Wessel

Megan Mann Riggans upon “Lou” in 2007

Megan Riggans of Staley was a dairy industry leader and a Guernsey and Holstein breed enthusiast, who was active in 4-H, FFA and the N.C. Guernsey and N.C. Junior Holstein associations. She took great pride in exhibiting and showing her “Udderly Kool Cows.” She graduated from Southern Alamance High School in 2007 and helped operate the family farm, Ran-Lew Dairy, with her uncle and aunt, Randy and Teresa Lewis.

She passed away last September 2, at the age of 22, from injuries sustained in a car accident on her way to deliver her first child.  Her newborn son, William Casey “Will” Riggans, survived for just days after her passing.

The new scholarship will honor Megan Riggans’ enthusiasm for sharing knowledge: She was a mentor to many young agriculturalists, as she helped youth prepare for the show ring and served as a coach for many dairy judging, dairy foods and dairy quiz bowl teams. – Terri Leith

Created by students in CALS Horticultural Science Department instructors Will Hooker and Anne Spafford’s small-scale landscape design studio, the bamboo dragon was the studio’s spring sculpture project, constructed especially for the gala, as commissioned by the JCRA. The design – complete with 9-foot head, three body loops flowing in and out of the ground and an 8-foot tail – was an idea submitted by student Justin Durango.

To create the dragon, the class harvested more than 100 bamboo culms ranging in size from 2 to 3 inches in diameter and being 20 feet long from a grove in Durham, Hooker said. “After cleaning the culms, the class divided up into teams and proceeded to build the various component parts, with the construction taking place in front of Kilgore Hall.”

Terri Leith Photo

A view from the dragon’s 8-foot high tail

In total, he said, the Asian dragon took 15 days to build and install, “with the class and 26 other volunteers putting in close to 1,200 hours of labor to complete the task.  All involved were totally exhausted but very pleased with the results.”

Hooker credits the contributions of the following  builders from the class: Justin Durango, Alex Cooley, Herb Ritter, Caitlin Davis, Brandon Ramos, Patrick McLaurin, Junyan Zhou and Kurtis Durrant.

Other volunteers include Leena McDonald, Mercy Rognstad, Jaclyn Mills, Kate VanVorst, Katie McKnight, Kevin Kearney, Dorian Perez, Chris Tharp, Christian Britt, Ryan Galloway, Michael Edwards, Ben Jones, Katherine Hoke, Allen Clineff, Lauren Sammis, Tony Mayer, Carrie Hutchens, Allison Durham, Alana Stanley, Don Edwards, Vann Fussell, Phoebe Andrews, Amanda Wilkins, Jessica Adams, Tom Brown and Will Ericson.

Still on display at the arboretum, the Asian dragon is a must-see! – Terri Leith

By Dr. Mike Walden
North Carolina Cooperative Extension

Like many public issues today, drilling for energy resources in our country has both strong advocates and equally vocal critics. Supporters see domestic energy development as a route to national energy self-sufficiency and lower fuel prices. Detractors worry about possible costs to the environment, health and communities from accidents and other side effects from drilling.

North Carolina has joined this debate. Estimates show our state has the largest reservoirs of off-shore oil and natural gas of any east coast state. There are also thought to be significant supplies of natural gas underground in the central part of the state.

This information has led some to push for the development of North Carolina’s off-shore and on-shore energy resources, arguing that doing so will create substantial jobs, income and tax revenues for the state.

But what exactly will be the size of these economic impacts? And how significant might be the environmental and other costs? Since there is a high level of interest in this issue in North Carolina, I collected relevant geological information and applied standard economic analysis techniques to provide some answers. I present a summary here, with the full report available at http://www.ag-econ.ncsu.edu/faculty/walden/publications/drillingnc.pdf.

It appears the largest economic impacts for our state could come from off-shore drilling. Based on the mid-point estimates for off-shore energy quantities and forecasts of energy prices from domestic and international sources, I estimate that more than 1,100 jobs and $181 million of annual economic activity would be created during a seven-year period of building the necessary infrastructure for drilling off-shore.

Then, assuming a 30-year production period, off-shore energy operations could create almost 17,000 jobs and $1.9 billion of yearly economic activity. Importantly, the economic impact numbers for both infrastructure construction and production operations are only for North Carolina and do not include jobs or incomes going out of state. The numbers also include impacts on supplier and other supporting firms.

The average quantities of on-shore energy resources estimated by government geologists are significantly smaller than for quantities off-shore, so the economic impact estimates are also lower. I calculate that just shy of 500 North Carolina jobs and $80 million of new annual economic activity in our state would occur while wells are drilled and supporting infrastructure is constructed. Then, while the energy resource is being accessed and produced, 1,400 jobs would be supported and $158 million of yearly commerce would be created.

But — you probably knew there would be a “but” — I found these estimates are very, very, very sensitive to two factors: the quantity of energy resources that exists both off-shore and on-shore and the future prices of those resources.

The federal government gives a range of estimated energy resource quantities available off-shore and on-shore. I used the mid-point estimate for the above calculations, meaning this was the quantity the geologists were 50 percent confident was there. However, the government also gives a much lower amount that they are 95 percent confident exists and a much larger amount they are only 5 percent confident is there.

Forecasts of future energy prices are also fraught with uncertainty. Higher prices have two effects on the economic impacts from drilling. First, they increase the economic value of the energy. And second, they make it profitable for energy companies to spend more exploring and finding more energy. But lower prices send these two impacts in the opposite direction.

The point is that different assumptions about how much recoverable energy resources exist for North Carolina and the prices of these resources can dramatically change the estimated economic impacts — both up and down — sometimes by a factor of 100!

Now let me address the potential downsides of energy production in North Carolina. For off-shore production, I estimate the average annual cost of damage — primarily to coastal counties — of oil spills. Using actual average spillage rates for the last 40 years and estimates of costs per spill, I calibrated the likely yearly cost to be $83 million. Of course, we hope improved technology and safety would prevent or significantly reduce these costs.

On-shore energy development from hydraulic fracturing is relatively new, so less data are available. However, several studies have found a negative relationship between on-shore energy production activities and residential property values. Unfortunately, the potential range of the impact is quite large, but applying the results suggests possible — and I emphasize, possible – property value declines between $600 million and $4.7 billion in affected North Carolina counties. The lower property values reflect the perceived adverse impacts from drilling.

So, should we drill? I’m hopeful I’ve given you and our public decision-makers some useful information that will let us decide!

- end -

Dr. Mike Walden is a William Neal Reynolds Professor and North Carolina Cooperative Extension economist in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics of N.C. State University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. He teaches and writes on personal finance, economic outlook and public policy. The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences communications unit provides his You Decide column every two weeks. Previous columns are available at http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/agcomm/news-center/tag/you-decide

Related audio files are at http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/agcomm/news-center/category/economic-perspective/

The class, now in its second year, was designed to give students a working knowledge of the merchandise livestock business and products “to better prepare them for the real world,” said Gary Gregory, agricultural research technician in the department and the instructor of the class.  He said that the course gives students valuable hands-on experience in both preparing livestock for a sale and conducting a livestock auction.

“They hear from livestock producers, professionals who manage sales and others associated with the livestock business during the semester, all culminating in putting their knowledge to practice in orchestrating the sale,” Gregory said.

Students in the class prepared animals from university farms for the sale, collecting information for the sale catalog and contacting prospective buyers, Gregory explained. Among animals included in the sale were yearling horses from the Equine Educational Unit, three ewes with lambs at their side from the Small Ruminant Educational Unit and five heifers from the Beef Educational Unit.

Students then were responsible for the actual sale, with a member of the class (who is actually a licensed auctioneer) serving as the auctioneer, while others assisted in moving lots into the sale ring and serving as ringpersons.

“They even helped load out the sold animals as buyers took their livestock to their new homes,” he said.

Assisting the students were the managers of N.C. State’s animal educational units: Lawson Walston (Equine), Bill Knox (Small Ruminant) and Rick Kern (Beef).

The sale grossed $14,960 on fourteen lots, exceeding expectations, according to Gregory, who added that the money will help fund the operation of the animal units for the educational purposes of students in the animal science curriculum.

Danielle Wick, a junior animal science major from Summerfield and one of the participants in the Wolfpack Round-Up sale, called the class “one of my favorites that I have taken in my college career so far.”

“Getting to put on a real livestock sale is not something you get to do every day,” Wick said. “It was a lot of work to get the animals ready for the sale, but it was exhilarating and rewarding when we got there. It was really great to see all of our hard work pay off and I am privileged to have been offered this rare opportunity at school. I highly recommend it to any student who enjoys animals and has a good work ethic.”

Added student Collin Beatty of Chapel Hill, “How many other classes actually allow the students to create, market and run an auction?”

Other members of the class were Jacob Adcock, Jordan Carter, Lauren Collier, Brittany Cornelius, Brooke Harward, Emily Jones, Grace Lester, Anne Link, Heather McFee, Cameron Overbey, Marion Quattlebaum, Melissa Rhoad, Devon Schreiber, and Shannon Steiner, as well as those shown in the photo above. Front (from left): Sabra Bryant, Cameron Demery, Alexann Rahimi and Danielle Wick; back: Hunter Sampson, Andrew Bray, Brandon Creech, Stephen Doby and Collin Beatty.

Now plans are already under way to replicate their success. Next year’s class will hold the second annual Wolfpack Round-Up on April 12, 2014.

Photo courtesy Carolyn Mitkowski

Dr. Robert Evans (left) receives the 2013 Royce J. Tipton Award from Dr. Garry Grabow, chair of the ASCE Environmental and Water Resources Institute Irrigation and Drainage Council.

Dr. Robert Evans, professor and head of the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, recently received the Royce J. Tipton Award at the U.S. Committee on Irrigation and Drainage (USCID) conference, “Using 21^st Century Technology to Better Manage Irrigation Water Supplies,” in Scottsdale, Arizona.

The Tipton Award is a highly prestigious lifetime achievement award given by The American Society of Civil Engineers.

The award recognizes a person who “has made a definitive contribution to the advancement of irrigation and drainage engineering either in teaching, research, planning, design, construction, or management, these contributions being made through notable performance, long years of service, or specific actions which have served to advance the science of irrigation and drainage engineering.”

Award winners were recognized at a reception May 2 at the Dorothy and Roy Park Alumni Center.

Dr. Miriam Ferzli, teaching assistant professor in the Department of Biology, and Dr. Elizabeth Wilson, director of the Agricultural Institute and assistant director of Academic Programs, were named Alumni Association Distinguished Undergraduate Professors.

Dr. Fletcher M. Arritt III, assistant professor in the Department of Food, Bioprocessing and Nutrition Sciences, was named Alumni Association Distinguished Graduate Professor.

Dr. Steven Clouse, professor in the Department of Horticultural Science, was recognized with an Alumni Association Outstanding Research Award.

Three CALS faculty members, Dr. Miles D. Engell, teaching assistant professor in the Department of Biology; Dr. L. Suzanne Goodell, assistant professor in the Department of Food, Bioprocessing and Nutrition Sciences; and Dr. Shannon P. Phillips, assistant professor in the Department of Animal Science, were named Alumni Association Outstanding Teachers.

Julie Holder, CALS Academic Programs – Award of Excellence, on-campus supervisory/administrative

Luz Davila, Center for Integrated Pest Management – Award of Excellence, on-campus secretarial/clerical

Joy Smith, Department of Statistics – Award of Excellence, on-campus technical

Shawn Senter, N.C. Cooperative Extension, Sandhills – Award of Excellence, off-campus secretarial/clerical

Nathan Lynch, Department of Horticultural Science, Mills River – Award of Excellence, off-campus technical/supervisory

Sarah Harrelson Delap, N.C. Cooperative Extension, Pamlico County – Award of Excellence, EPA

Debbie Humphrey, N.C. Cooperative Extension, Hoke County — CALS Safety Award

Joe Long, N.C. Cooperative Extension, Halifax County — CALS Safety Award

Paul Swartz, Department of Molecular and Structural Biochemistry — CALS Safety Award

A CALS luncheon honoring these recipients will be held on Wednesday, May 22, noon, at the University Club, 4200 Hillsborough Street, Raleigh, North Carolina. Anyone who would like to attend the luncheon may do so at a cost of $15.

Please reply to claudia_mello@ncsu.edu by noon on Thursday, May 16, if you would like to attend. Checks should be made payable to N.C. State University and mailed to Claudia Mello, Box 7601, N.C. State University, Raleigh, NC 27695.

CALS winners will also be honored during the University Awards Reception scheduled on Wednesday, June 12, Hunt Library Auditorium, N.C. State University.

Terri Leith Photo

The Asian theme carried through in the Lath House.

From the McSwain Education Center, visitors began their journey at the arboretum’s Asian Valley, moving among bonsai, bamboo and Japanese maple trees and the Zen contemplation area of the Japanese Gardens and past the rare plants in the elegantly decorated Lath House. Along the way they could enjoy collections of more than 700 plants, many newly arrived from Asia. Then at the main party area, they were greeted by a startling multi-colored visage: the nine-foot head of an Asian Dragon, from which his body and tail flowed as if in and out of the ground. It was a bamboo sculpture created by horticultural science students in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences’ landscape design studio, taught by Prof. Will Hooker.

The dragon was the centerpiece among brightly adorned tables, where guests enjoyed gourmet food and drinks, before browsing through silent auction items and eclectic plants for sale in tents encircling the area. The gala also featured music and entertainment representing Asian cultural groups.

Sally Linton served as the 2013 event chair, and Sandie and Mike Worthington were this year’s honorary co-chairs.

Terri Leith Photo

The bamboo dragon was a popular photo spot.

CALS Dean Richard Linton hosted the evening gala finale program, which included a Taiko Drum performance, coordinated by Yoko and Rocky Iwashima; a demonstration of TaeKwonDo skills by Master K.S. Lee’s TaeKwonDo; and Tomomi Thorbjornson playing the Koto, a traditional Japanese stringed musical instrument.

Dr. Ted Bilderback, JCRA director, also participated in the evening program.

Terri Leith Photo

Guests browse among the silent auction tents.

Proceeds from the silent auction, pre-gala plant sale and sponsorships came to about $80,000. These funds will support the JCRA’s operational expenses, on-going research of new landscape plants, plant collection maintenance and educational programs.

The JCRA at N.C. State University is a nationally acclaimed garden with the most diverse collection of cold-hardy temperate zone plants in the Southeastern United States. As part of the CALS Department of Horticultural Science, the arboretum is a working research and teaching garden that focuses on the evaluation, selection and display of plant material gathered from around the world. It is named in honor of the late Dr. J.C. Raulston, who founded the arb in 1976.—Terri Leith