Departmental Newsletter, Winter 2005
- NEWS FROM THE DEPARTMENT HEAD
- by Julia Kornegay
- The Horticultural Science Department, like many other departments on campus, is in the midst of a generational change of faculty. Over the last couple of years and continuing into the near future, a significant number of our faculty and staff will be retiring or have recently retired. Dick Unrath (Apple Research and Extension) and Dick Bir (Ornamental/Nursery Extension), both located at the Mountain Horticulture Crops Research and Education Center at Fletcher, retired in 2004. In December Mason Pharr (Carbohydrate Metabolism Research) and Kim Powell (Extension Landscape Specialist) retired. Both of these individuals left a significant legacy within the department, state and nation:
- Mason Pharr, Ph.D. was hired by NCSU Department of Horticultural Science as an assistant professor in 1972. He was promoted to the rank of associate professor with tenure in 1975 and to full professor in 1981. Mason was appointed Alumni Distinguished Graduate Professor in 1995 and William Neal Distinguished Professor of Horticultural Science in 2000. Mason's work has been in the area of graduate education and research. He taught graduate level courses in the Horticultural Science Department each year of his career. He served as major advisor for 18 graduate students many of whom received regional and national awards for their research. Three of his Ph.D. graduate students received the Kenneth R. Keller Award for excellence in doctoral research. Dr. Pharr provided salaries for nine postdoctoral fellows and hosted ten visiting scientist in his research program. His efforts were recognized by the American Society for Horticultural Science with the Graduate Educator Award which is one of the few Career awards given by this society.
- The primary focus of Mason's research program was in the area of plant carbohydrate metabolism with emphasis on the roles of simple carbohydrates in quality and stress tolerance in plants. During his career, Mason's laboratory discovered and characterized two novel enzymes of carbohydrate metabolism, EC 1.1.1255 and EC 2.4.1.123. In addition his laboratory was the first to fully elucidate the biochemical pathways of galactose catabolism and mannitol catabolism in plants. Dr. Pharr's lab did research on the elimination of bloater damage in pickled cucumbers, development of nutritionally improved soybeans through a collaborative program with EI DuPont, and genetically improved stress tolerance in plants. An additional accomplishment was development of a detailed understanding of the enzymatic mechanisms that underlie fruit sweetening. This provided a frame work for engineering fruits with more uniform sweetness. This work is still under development in Israel. Mason’s research work involved collaborations in the United States as well as in the countries of Israel, Switzerland, Japan, Finland and Italy. He published many research articles in internationally recognized journals. He also presented numerous invited symposia talks, seminars and written invited reviews and book chapters on carbohydrate metabolism in agricultural plants. His research program was largely grant funded through national and international competitive granting agencies and through industrial research contracts. In 1999 Dr. Pharr received the Outstanding Researcher Award from the American Society for Horticultural Science, another career award. To date he is the only member of the society to receive two different career awards.
- M. A. “Kim” Powell, LAR was hired by the NCSU Department of Horticultural Science as an assistant professor in 1979. He was promoted to the rank of associate professor with tenure in 1981 and to full professor in 1986. During his tenure, Mr. Powell served as Extension Specialist-in-Charge for the Department of Horticultural Science from 1986 to 1992 and as Interim Director of the JC Raulston Arboretum from January to December, 2005. Kim has received numerous recognitions for his work. In 2004, the NC Landscape and Grounds Managers Association created the Kim Powell Landscape Award in his honor and Kim was its first recipient.
- One of Kim’s first projects as a new faculty member of the department was the development of the ‘Extension Teletip’ which provided information to the public on gardening and landscaping horticultural issues. He authored numerous extension publications including technical booklets, leaflets, slide sets and video tapes. Most of the publications have been updated and are available on the department’s websites and as chapters in the Master Gardener Study Manual. Powell was a weekly guest on UNC-TV's "Almanac Gardener" from 1978 to 1992. He also worked with the National Junior Horticulture Association (NJHA) leading youth groups to national competitions.
- As the Extension Landscape Specialist, Kim traveled across North Carolina (averaging 35,000 miles per year) working with county agents and developing the landscape industry. In 1978 ‘landscape maintenance’ was not even a term. Today, thousands of professional grounds managers and hundreds of registered landscape contractors make up an $800+ million dollar industry in NC. Kim also worked closely with the professional trade associations (North Carolina Association of Nurserymen, NC Landscape and Grounds Managers Association, Turfgrass Council and Carolina's Golf Course Superintendents Association) to develop educational programs, field days and annual meetings. The Turf and Landscape Field Day, held the 3rd Wednesday in May since 1982, holds the record for largest attendance of any university field day. Kim authored the study manual and developed the exam for the N.C. Landscape Contractors Registration Board. He also wrote the study manuals for the Certified Plant Professional and the Certified Landscape Technician. In 1994 he developed the first statewide collection of plants for the plant identification exams and has maintained the collection since that time at the Horticulture Field Lab in Raleigh. Kim also started the first landscape and turfgrass irrigation course at NC State. He was known for his hands-on approach to teaching, with several irrigation systems being installed in the Raleigh area by the students. Powell ended his NC State University career as Interim Director of the JC Raulston Arboretum where he worked with students, staff, and volunteers in accomplishing several arboretum construction projects.
- As we say thanks to our retiring faculty, we also welcome new faculty coming into the department. Over the last two years we have hired Dr. Steve McArtney (Regional Apple Research / Extension) and Dr. Anthony LeBude (Nursery Extension Specialist - Fletcher). Dr. Sara Spayd will be starting in March as the new Viticulturist in the Department. We are also in the process of recruiting faculty for the Urban Horticulturist position, Muscadine Extension Associate, and the 4-H Youth Development Program Specialist. In addition, we hope to fill at least four other positions over the next two years. These are busy days for the department as we prepare for the future.
 DEPARTMENTAL HIGHLIGHT
- by Todd Wehner
- The carbohydrate lab. Dr. Williamson's group conducts research on the molecular mechanisms of stress responses in plants and the use of biotechnology for enhancing stress tolerance. The primary focus of the lab currently is on the role of the sugar alcohol mannitol in salt tolerance and pathogen resistance.
- Dr. Williamson also teaches a graduate course in plant stress physiology: Environmental Stress Physiology (HS707). For more information, visit the web site at <http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/hort_sci/cholab/cholabmain.html>
- INTERESTING WEB SITES
- by Mary Peet
- You know what they say about liars, damn liars and statisticians! But we all need numbers to describe the current and past importance of the commodities we work with, so we need statisticians to collect, process and publish those numbers. Wintertime is a good time to find and bookmark sites where you can get current information on your commodities of interest for teaching, research and teaching. In the past, finding this information was a tedious process, but both the NC and national agricultural statistics websites have been improved in recent years.
- For NC statistics, start out at the NCDA home page: http://www.ncagr.com/. There is a lot of useful information here, including the new BeeLinked site described at the recent Hort Council meeting, and a listing of most agricultural producers in the state. For statistics information, choose Agricultural statistics from the drop-down menu or the side frame. This takes you to http://www.ncagr.com/stats/index.htm where you can choose crop, economic, environmental or county statistics. You can also follow the link on this page to the national statistics, including the Census of Agriculture and the National Agricultural Statistics Database. Within the crop page: http://www.ncagr.com/stats/crops.htm, you can choose vegetables, floriculture, Christmas trees fruits and nuts or agricultural weather.
- If you want to go directly to national statistics, the situation is a little more complicated because data products are available from the National Agricultural Statistics Board http://www.nass.usda.gov, the Economic Research Service http:www.ers.usda.gov, the Agricultural Marketing Service http://www.ams.usda.gov/, the Foreign Agricultural Service http://www.fas.usda.gov/ and the World Agricultural Outlook Board http://www.usda.gov/agency/oce/waob/. None of these sites link to the other sites, so it is hard to decide where to go for particular data products.
- Probably the most useful for ‘regular’ crops is the National Agricultural Statistics site and the ‘Quick stats’ database, but for specialty crops, such as organics http://www.ers.usda.gov/Briefing/Organic/, biotechnology http://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/view.asp?T=101000, global climate change http://www.ers.usda.gov/Briefing/GlobalClimate/ and floriculture http://www.ers.usda.gov/Briefing/floriculture/, the ERS briefing rooms are useful. The idea is to analyze and predict trends. You can also contact them for specific information if you don’t find it on the website and can actually talk to an analyst! I find this website somewhat hard to use in terms of finding information even when I know something is there. If you find an item of interest, it is best to bookmark it directly or download it because the website is updated frequently. Recently, for example, they had a feature on the US strawberry industry http://www.ers.usda.gov/Data/sdp/view.asp?f=specialty/95003/. They also have data products http://www.ers.usda.gov/Data/ but they are oriented to predicting marketing trends rather than production numbers. The main problem is that only the most recent data products are featured, and you have to browse in ‘Research emphases’, “key topics’, briefing rooms’, data and publications to find items of interest. The search feature works fairly well if you know what to search for.
- The Agricultural Marketing Service http://www.ams.usda.gov/ also has useful information on prices on their website. The most useful data is their new portal for Fruit and Vegetable Market news: http://marketnews.usda.gov/portal/fv. You can search prices, availability, country of origin and trends in pricing for terminal markets, shipping points and movements for a wide range of commodities (including flowers and nursery crops). They also offer market news reports, including ornamentals, which are more comprehensive, but harder to find and use. Farmers Market statistics are also available on this site.
- The Foreign Agricultural Service http://www.fas.usda.gov/ website offers import and export data, but it is somewhat hard to navigate for general users. The organic page http://www.fas.usda.gov/agx/organics/index.htm has some useful information, however. The World Agricultural Outlook Board http://www.usda.gov/oce/waob/, which will change in February to http://www.usda.gov/oce/commodity doesn’t have much information on specialty crops, but does have information on world demand, world weather and climate zones. Mostly it tries to predict things like how much cotton and corn China is producing an how much it needs.
- On all these sites, you can subscribe to email reports, request hard copies and CDs and contact specialists for more information. Happy data crunching!
 FACULTY NEWS
- by Todd Wehner
- Dennis Werner has been appointed as the new Director of the JC Raulston Arboretum. Dr. Werner is a Professor in the Department of Horticultural Science at NC State and a long-time collaborator and member of the Arboretum. He begins his new duties as Arboretum Director on December 1, 2005.
- Elzbieta Kozik (Head, Plant Breeding Dept., Veg. Crops Institute, Skierniewice, Poland) was a visiting scientist with Todd Wehner in October and November. They studied chilling resistance in cucumber and watermelon in the phytotron. They also have cooperative research to study downy mildew resistance in cucumber to the European and American strains (Dr. Kozik is on the left in the cucurbit genetics photo at right).
- Faculty Awards
- Richard Bir is the 2006 recipient of the Scott award that is given annually to an individual, organization or corporate body who has made an outstanding national contribution to the science and the art of gardening.
- STAFF NEWS
- by Barb Amos
- Barb Amos has accepted a new position in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences effective January 23. We will miss her, but wish her luck in her new position!
- Staff Awards
- Jennie Ferrell received the 2005 State Meritorious Support Award from the Xi Chapter of Epsilon Sigma Phi, an honorary fraternity recognizing excellence in the Cooperative Extension community. The State Meritorious Support Award recognizes staff members who, over time, have shown support for Cooperative Extension's mission, program and professional staff. Such persons include secretaries, program assistants, print shop operators, computer operators and others. The winner is not necessarily an ESP member. Jennie was honored with other award winners at the ESP State Meeting and Luncheon at the McSwain Extension Education and Agricultural Center in Sanford on November 18.
- ALUMNI NEWS
- by
Todd Wehner
- Dr. Allen Hammer of Purdue University will be the recipient of our 2005 Outstanding Alumnus Award. Dr. Hammer received his BS degree from the Department in 1967. He is internationally renown for his work in floriculture, and works collaboratively with our floriculture group.
- UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM
- by
Bryce Lane
- At December graduation, 27 students were awarded BS degrees in Horticultural Science. It was the largest number of graduates we have had in the fall semester. The ceremony was held at the Ruby McSwain Education Center at the JC Raulston Arboretum followed by a luncheon.
- The Spring semester has started with all horticulture classes at the undergraduate level at full capacity. The Horticulture Club meetings have started and will be held this semester every other Monday night.
- This year's PLANET (Professional Landcare Network) Team consists of 38 students who will be traveling to BYU in Provo Utah March 22-29, 2006 to participate in a career fair, and horticulture/landscape competition. Students on the team are raising about $20,000 to fund their trip.
- At this year's SNA meeting, the Sidney B. Meadows Scholarship Endowment Fund was won by Erin Rountree and Lorna Allen.
- GRADUATE PROGRAM
- by John Dole and Rachel McLaughlin
- The Horticultural Science Graduate Student Association (HSGSA) has elected to name the HSGSA Seminar Series the D. Mason Pharr Seminar Series beginning 2007 in honor of Dr. Pharr, who retired in December.
- Graduate Students Awards
- At this year's SNA meeting, the Sidney B. Meadows Scholarship Endowment Fund was won by Brian Krug and Ryan Contreras. The Bryson James Student Paper Competition was won by Daniel Norden (2nd place, M.S. degree), Richard Olsen (1st place, Ph.D. degree) and Jim Owen (2nd place, Ph.D. degree).
- Richard Olsen also won 1st place in the PhD student research competition for ASHS - Southern Region, and 1st place for the student research competition for IPPS - Southern Region.
- Antonia Tetteh was awarded an International Fellowship by the American Association of University Women.
- Graduate Students Arriving
- Jeffrey Jones. Jeff was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. In December 2004, he received a BS in Horticultural Science and a BS in Botany from North Carolina State University. As Jeff said, “through classes, summer internships, working at the JC Raulston Arboretum and interacting with qualified plantsmen, I have become exceedingly interested in new plant introductions and the trials and propagation thereof.” He envisions a career in either the nursery/arboreta side of new plants or in extension, working along with nurserymen. His research interests include evaluation and/or propagation of newer or lesser-known plants. Jeff will be working on his MS degree with Tom Ranney.
- Angela Richardson. Angela was born in Asheboro, North Carolina. In May 2005, she received a BA in Multidisciplinary Studies, a BS in Biology and a BS in Botany from North Carolina State University and successfully completed the Thomas Jefferson Scholars Program. In Fall 2002, she worked in the Natural Plant Chemistry lab in the Dept of Crop Science with David Danehower. In the summer of 2003, she worked with the Center for Rainforest Studies in Queensland, Australia. The summer of 2004 and 2005 she worked in the Dept of Botany with Jon Stucky. Over Christmas break 2004 she spent three weeks doing fieldwork in Puerto Rico assisting a Masters student in the Dept of Botany. In Fall 2003, Spring 2004 and Fall 2005 she was a teaching assistant for Paul Fantz. Her main interest is in morphological systematics and taxonomy. Angela will be working on her MS degree with Joe Neal.
- Stephanie Romelczyk. Stephanie was born in Plainfield, New Jersey. She received her BS from Rutgers University majoring in Plant Sciences. While attending Rutgers, from January 2003 to December 2005 she was an intern with the New Jersey Urban Ecology Program assisting the grant administrator in establishing a vegetable garden for a local charter school. From May 2003 to December 2005 she was an undergraduate research assistant with the Extension Specialist in Soil Fertility, which involved much work with soil fertility and plant nutrition. Stephanie is interested in a career with the Extension Service. Stephanie will be working on her MS degree with Barclay Poling.
- John Wooldridge. John was born in Bethesda, Maryland. He received his BA degree from the University of Virginia at Charlottesville majoring in History. He plans to combine his interest in community development and environmentally friendly landscaping practices to work in a public garden, for a city horticulture department or in extension. For the past ten years he has worked in software development, first for a telecommunications company and then for an environmental consulting company. His most current project has been the design of the software system that will facilitate and track international CO2 allowance trading as implemented under the Kyoto Protocol. Even though John received a BA in History, he has taken classes in urban planning, greenhouse vegetable production, soil fertility and fertilizers. John will be working on his MS degree with Frank Blazich and Stu Warren.
- NEWS FROM AROUND NORTH CAROLINA
- JC Raulston Arboretum (Raleigh)
- I'm settling into the office at the JCRA, and looking forward to the opportunities and activities in year ahead at the JCRA. We have lots of great Friends of the Arboretum lectures on the agenda for spring, 2006. As always, there is no cost to graduate students and faculty to attend a lecture. Please see the schedule below, and we hope to see you at some of the lectures. Lastly, don't forget to put the dates for the JCRA 30th anniversary symposium on your calendar. The dates are September 22, 23, and 24. Our confirmed speakers are Roy Lancaster, Kim Tripp, Mike Hayman, Don Shadow, Roy Dicks, Bobby Ward, Bill McNamara, and Peter Del Tredici. I invite each of you to become a member of the JCRA. Thanks for your support.
- We are pleased to welcome two new employees to the JCRA. Mr. Tim Alderton has filled the vacant JCRA technician position. Tim is a native of western Pennsylvania, and has a degree from Pennsylvania State University in Horticulture. Tim has been employed at Plant Delight's Nursery here in Raleigh for the past year, and we are pleased that he has decided to join the staff of the JCRA. Tim will be involved in care and maintenance of the JCRA grounds and plantings, assisting with propagation and culture of plant materials for our fall plant give-away and Connoisseur Plant programs, working with our curators and volunteers, and all of the other jobs that spring up here in the JCRA.
- Many of you already know Mr. Layne Snelling, who has worked as my research technician in the ornamentals breeding program since the mid-1990's. Prior to his involvement with the ornamentals breeding program, Layne worked for many years with Dr. Eric Hinesley in the Horticulture Department. Dr. Hinesley's program focused on propagation, culture, and management of Fraser Fir. Now that the Cercis, Buddleja, and Stokesia breeding efforts are part of the programs of the JCRA, Layne has joined the JCRA staff as the individual responsible for the coordination and execution of the plant breeding and improvement efforts of the JCRA.
- Cercis and Buddleja Breeding Efforts at the JCRA; Denny Werner, Director; January 12, 2006 (Thursday) - 7:30 PM-9:00 PM; cost: free for Friends of the JC Raulston Arboretum members, all others $5.00; location: Ruby C. McSwain Education Center at the JC Raulston Arboretum, 4415 Beryl Road, Raleigh, North Carolina.
- Some Like It Hot: Sizzling Tropical Plants for Containers and Borders; Pam Baggett, Singing Springs Nursery, Cedar Grove, North Carolina; January 26, 2006 (Thursday) 7:30 PM-9:00 PM; Cost: Free for Friends of the JC Raulston Arboretum members, all others $5.00; registration: advanced registration is not required; location: Ruby C. McSwain Education Center at the JC Raulston Arboretum, 4415 Beryl Road, Raleigh, North Carolina.
- Join us February 12 at the JC Raulston Arboretum for "A Walk in the Winter Garden" as we celebrate the winter season. Festivities begin at 1:00 PM with a Friends of the Arboretum Lecture presented by Peter Loewer; tours at 2:00, 2:30, 3:00, 3:30, and 4:00 PM. A book signing will precede and follow the lecture.
- Looking for Linnaea: Geographic stories in the flora of North Carolina; Peter White, Ph.D., Director, North Carolina Botanical Garden; March 2, 2006 (Thursday) - 7:30 PM-9:00 PM; Cost: free for Friends of the JC Raulston Arboretum members, all others $5.00; registration: advanced registration is not required. Location: Ruby C. McSwain Education Center at the JC Raulston Arboretum, 4415 Beryl Road, Raleigh, North Carolina.
- Blueberries for the Home Garden; James Ballington; March 16, 2006 (Thursday) - 7:30 PM-9:00 PM; cost: free for Friends of the JC Raulston Arboretum members, all others $5.00; registration: advanced registration is not required; location: Ruby C. McSwain Education Center at the JC Raulston Arboretum, 4415 Beryl Road, Raleigh, North Carolina.
- Mountain Horticultural Crops Research Station (Fletcher)
- by Tom Ranney
- The NC Specialty Crops Program website has been redesigned. Please visit it at: http://ncspecialtycrops.org. If you have any information, events, or reports you would like posted on the site, please send them to Kari Brayman at kari_brayman@ncsu.edu.
- The Medicinal Herbs for Commerce Project, led by Jeanine Davis and a project of the NC Specialty Crops Program, just launched a new webpage specifically for people who are considering growing medicinal herbs. It was designed for use by county extension agents and growers. It was released at the medicinal herb in-service training held on December 7th in Fletcher and received high compliments for ease of use and content. It will be covered in detail at the medicinal herb in-service training to be held on January 11th at the Wake County Commons Building. You can visit this page at http://ncspecialtycrops.org/medherbs.
- Vernon James Research and Extension Center (Plymouth)
- by Mark Clough
- Tropical spiderwort update. NCDA has found it in a total of 4 fields and has fumigated them; all visitors must sign in when entering the station, vehicles must be washed prior to leaving any field and then washed again at a central station near the sheep barn. All plant materials must be cleaned and inspected before leaving the station, or arrangements must be made prior to harvest with NCDA Plant Protection staff.
- WISH LIST
- by Julia Kornegay
- We hope that our alumni and friends will review this list and help us obtain these items.
- For Kilgore Hall
- stove and extraction hood
- poster printer (HP 1055CM)
- digital camera (5-8 Mpixels)
- For the greenhouses
- two golf carts with back utility beds
- For the graduate student office
- six replacement computers (Win, Mac)
- DEPARTMENTAL NEWSLETTER COMMITTEE
- Editor: Todd Wehner
- Assistant: Rachel McLaughlin
- Send items for the newsletter to Todd Wehner (todd_wehner@ncsu.edu)
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