COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE

VOLUME 12 • NUMBER 2 • SPR ING 2003

“Chance favors

the prepared

mind.”

Louis Pasteur

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

I hope this note finds you well. As always, the best part of my job is visiting with you. Thiswinter I traveled to our extension offices in the Big Horn Basin. I also attended the WyomingCrop Improvement Association meeting in Powell and visited with the Wyoming Wool Growersand organic farmers in Laramie. We also appreciated the efforts of the state’s Ag leadership invisiting with the university’s upper administration in January. It is really great to hear about allthat you are doing to make Wyoming’s agriculture more sustainable and profitable.

Congratulations to John Etchepare, the new director of the Wyoming Department of Agri-culture. During our first visit, John made the important point that we must think about prepar-ing our students for their world, not for our world or our grandfather’s world. One is remindedof the important comment from the great scientist, Louis Pasteur, about chance favoring the pre-pared. In other words, seeds can only develop if the soil in which they drop is already fertile.That is what we are about, preparing students, constituents, and ourselves for the next opportu-nity. In order to do that, we need to prepare ourselves as an institution so that we may best pre-pare our students. Academically, we are in the middle of the action-planning phase of our aca-demic plan. This spring, our advisory board will see the first version of that action plan. Finan-cially, we continue to struggle to meet the broad demands of our three-way mission of learning(educating our students), discovery (our research effort), and engagement (reaching out to you,our constituents). Less than one-half of our support now comes from the state. Federal formulafunding has been flat for a couple of decades. Thus, we are increasingly reliant on grant supportand your generosity to sustain our operations and to fund new ideas. For that reason, we askedour advisory board to take on development (fund raising) for college programs and initiatives asone of its two major functions. Thank you, again, to all who are helping us with time, money,and great ideas!

This issue highlights one of our great new programs called “Beyond the Classroom.” In lightof our discussion about your importance in helping us develop new ideas, this is a program thatwas initiated by a very generous donor who lives in Saratoga. “Beyond the Classroom” encouragesstudents to explore and broaden themselves by funding experiences for them outside the classroom.

Inside you will find articles that highlight the longevity and importance of our college’s pro-grams. Items include a feature on our agroecology program, our role in promoting the universitystudies program, and to highlight the importance of communicating about agriculture to thepublic, our involvement in the Writers in Agriculture Guild. Discovery and engagement are fea-tured through a peek at our activities in organic farming, water studies in Kenya, Costa Ricanwasp research, and the emergence of bioinformatics. Closer to home, faculty members in theDepartment of Family and Consumer Sciences are heavily involved in the development of plansfor a new childcare facility.

Thank you for your support and ideas. I hope the spring brings lots of moisture to the landand the best for all of you.

by Vicki Hamende,Senior EditorOffice of Communicationsand Technology

2

Scott Miller envisions anational park in the Rift

Valley of Kenya, Africa,where flamingos, rhinos,and lions can live content-edly in their natural habitatsand where nearby watersources can remain pristinein quality and plentiful inquantity.

The College of Agricul-ture spatial processes ecolo-gist in the Department ofRenewable Resources hasorganized a research andoutreach program in theenvironmentally damagedNjoro River watershed thatfeeds Lake Nakuru, with thegoal of restoring the water-shed to an ecologicallysound and sustainable con-dition.

In the early 1990s,Miller says, the Kenyan gov-ernment allowed forest up-lands in Njoro to be trans-

formed from protected for-ested areas into small-scaleagricultural lands. “A largenumber of farmers fromoutside the region moved inand rapidly cut down thetrees and replaced themwith crops, primarilymaize,” he says.

Water quality andquantity in the watershedquickly dropped. Groundwater wells began to dry up,and river flow became lowand erratic. Since the waterleads into Lake Nakuru, apopular tourist site andsource of economic impor-tance, issues involving waterchemistry and ecology haveraised national and interna-tional concerns. “There aresome really serious ecologi-cal, economic, and humanhealth implications here,”Miller says.

The problem is com-plex. Poor agricultural prac-tices are leading to increas-ing sedimentation and ero-sion. Compounding the wa-ter quality problem, effluentdischarges from humanwaste disposal and animaluse are mixing with the wa-ter being used by people fordrinking and washing.

Faculty members at

Egerton and Moi universi-ties in Kenya initiated theresearch program andlooked to the U.S. for assis-tance as they began to seeksolutions to their growingwater problems.

Funded by a USAIDgrant being administered byUW, Miller is the coordina-tor of a team of collaborat-ing scientists and graduatestudents from University ofCalifornia at Davis, UtahState University, the KenyaWildlife Service and Fisher-ies Department, and thetwo Kenyan universities tostudy watershed hydrology,ecology, stockholder in-volvement, andsocioeconomics in the af-fected area.

“We need to come upwith a combined ecologicaland economical approach toconvince the people thatcutting down the trees isunsustainable managementthat is not in their best in-terests,” Miller says. Com-plicating the situation is thefact that most of the farmersare lacking in education andsee relatively few options toremedy their situation. “Weneed to introduce some al-ternative practices such asaquaculture and agroforestry

that would enhance boththe ecological and economicstability of the region.”

Maize, he says, has re-cently been “a dead loser” inthe area because infrastruc-ture and distribution prob-lems limit the crop to a localmarket only. “If the localconditions are poor, cropsfail and farmers suffer. Inbumper years, local pricesdrop in response to chang-ing supply and demand, andmaize has rotted and beenwasted due to an absence ofbuyers.”

The current USAIDfunding is for a pilot phaseaimed at getting the team inplace and making sure thatthe scientific expertisematches the project goals,Miller says. The team is alsoremoving communicationsbarriers by installing com-puters, phone lines, andInternet lines and by train-ing staff members. He hasalready spent several weeksin Africa and will return fora few weeks in the summer.

Miller’s area of field re-search will be associatedwith surface water hydrol-ogy, using the GeographicInformation System (GIS)and remote sensing to helpdetermine the impacts of

Flamingos in the distance grace

the shores of Lake Nakuru as

shown from the Baboon Cliffs

in Kenya. Their habitat is

endangered by watershed

problems in the area.

UW helping

Kenya solve water problems

3

land cover change and hu-man management on waterquality, water quantity, andstream channel stability.

With extra fundinglikely in the fall, Miller seesthe project pursuing an armof scientific research aimedat understanding the pro-cesses that are causing thewatershed changes. Anotherarm will allow researchers toimplement what is recom-mended by science.

“In the short run, wewant to understand the sys-tem and what is driving itfrom a scientific and cul-tural perspective and thencome up with plans for re-habilitation,” Miller says.

“Then we would like toturn the area into a livingoutdoor lab where we have awide range of partners inKenya and the U.S. who arecreating a demonstrationand working facility for sci-entific research and out-reach. We’d like it to be amodel for watershed re-search in East Africa.”

To make it all possible,he says, “Significant trainingin outreach is necessary totry to empower the residentsto make their own manage-ment decisions.” Milleradds, “Ultimately manage-ment is a local question. Ei-ther they are going to followthe recommendations orthey are not.” ThroughCommunity Watershed Ac-tion Plans the team is hop-ing to provide a legal frame-work and scientific justifica-tion for the implementationof improvements.

The time may be right.In a region often plagued bypolitical strife, “Optimism isnow high,” Miller says, aftera recent democratic electionand stable transition ofpower.

“There is also a hugeinternational awareness ofdeforestation problems inKenya now,” Miller says,

and local knowledge hasbeen boosted by newspaperreports. “It’s not a problemunique to Kenya,” he adds.“Water quality and quantityis emerging as one of the big-gest if not the biggest issue indeveloping nations.

Miller feels at home withhis Kenyan connections.“The international scene is oftremendous importance andinterest to me,” he explains.He is also focusing on fieldresearch related to Wyomingand semi-arid regions of theWest using GIS-based pro-grams. He will teach a semi-nar and class next semesterdealing with emerging tech-

Research scientists and resident stakeholders gather at the headwa-ters of the Njoro River on the Mau Escarpment in Kenya. ScottMiller is the third person from the left in the back row.

nology and watershed man-agement and with the use ofGIS in watershed and land-scape studies.

Meanwhile, Miller willbe back in Kenya in thesummer armed with thegoals of conducting “highquality research” and of “try-ing to make a positive dif-ference in some people’slives and livelihoods.”

These Kenyan settlements arelocated on lands recentlycleared of trees to make way forcorn fields.

4

There’s some truth toDallas Mount’s quip,

“My job stinks sometimes.”The Platte County Co-

operative Extension Service(CES) agriculture educatorspends a good deal of histime monitoring odors forlivestock operations andhelping producers meet stiffDepartment of Environ-mental Quality (DEQ) laws.Mount’s research into ani-mal smells is currently beingused in examining a possiblerevision of Wyoming’s odorregulations.

Although Mount isnow used to colleagues ask-ing him if he’s on his way todo some “poop sniffing” ev-ery time he gets into histruck, the Wheatland areaodor problem was a surpriseto him at first.

Hired by the Universityof Wyoming in April of2001, Mount had only beenon the job a week or twowhen cattle producers in thearea called an emergencymeeting after three livestockoperations had suddenly

received notices from DEQthat they were in violationof the state odor standard.The ranchers were facingfines of up to $10,000 perday. Since testing is onlydone when a complaint hasbeen filed, there was specu-lation that smells from alarge hog farm inWheatland were responsiblefor the agency’s developinginterest.

The current law holdslivestock operations to a ra-tio of one part ambient airto seven parts diluted odor-free air. Measurements aredetermined by sniffingthrough a box-likescentometer which utilizesbeds of activated charcoal to

eliminate all smells. Theuser gradually opens tinyholes to let in ambient airuntil an odor is detectedand then measured. Testingmust be conducted from thepoint of nearest public ac-cess and must be completedwithin one hour separatedby 15-minute intervals.

“The cattlemen wereskeptical and wanted moreinformation,” says Mount.“As the new guy, I stood upand said I can research thisfor you.”

Working since thenwith the cooperation ofDEQ, the CES educator hasamassed information aboutodor laws in other states andhas worked with a team rep-

resenting the WyomingStock Growers Association,the Wyoming OutdoorCouncil, the ConcernedCitizens of Platte County,and a Powder River environ-mental group to make pre-sentations and to proposechanges in Wyoming’s regu-lations to fit contemporarysituations and feedlot reali-ties. Mount has also becomea certified scentometer op-erator and has set up an in-tensive odor monitoringprogram to alert producersto potential problems and tohelp them find ways to re-duce livestock odors.

Under the current stan-dards, he says, almost anyfeedlot could be in violationat some point depending onthe predisposition of envi-ronmental conditions such aswind, dust, and precipita-tion. Odors from feedlotsbuilt right along countyroads are more noticeable.Property owners who liveclose to lots are particularlysusceptible to the smells, andlegal questions arise whenfeedlots are opened near al-ready existing dwellings.

Mount advises lot own-ers to be good managers andto make sure that their pensdrain well, are clean, and

Platte County CES educator Dallas Mount uses a scentometer tomeasure for potential odor problems at a Wheatland cattle feedlot.

by Vicki Hamende,Senior EditorOffice of Communicationsand Technology

UW CES educator helps county

5

face odor problemshave packed surfaces. Henotes that odors from thehog farm have lessened sincethe owners have coveredtheir irrigation system la-goons.

One of the problemswith the current law, Mountexplains, is that it is toobroad. “It doesn’t specifyanything about feedlots –that’s an extreme example. Ifa neighbor’s lilacs botheredyou, DEQ could potentiallywrite your neighbor aticket.” Mount tested thecity sewer and found it to bein violation. In one particu-lar day he discovered prob-lems in five different feed-lots. “Obviously this law isnot serving its purpose ifeveryone is in violation,” henotes.

According to Mount’sresearch, Wyoming is one ofonly five states that havestatewide odor laws tied tothe use of scentometers. Ne-braska, South Dakota, Mon-tana, Utah, and Idaho haveno odor regulations.Colorado’s 7:1 ratio law onlyapplies to housed commer-cial swine-feeding operationswith a one-time capacity inexcess of 800,000 pounds oflive animal weight. Illinoishas more lenient standards

and also requires threetrained inspectors and threedeterminations of odors.Most states with odor stan-dards use a tool that mea-sures concentrations of airparticles and gases.

Proposed changes in thelaw specify that measure-ments be taken from acomplainer’s property, that a

their objectivity. In addi-tion, lot owners are to betemporarily exempt fromthe regulations if they are inthe midst of trying to com-ply with a water quality per-mit. “We don’t want to slapthem with another rule whilethey are trying to complywith a first one,” Mount ex-plains. The changes, he adds,are designed to put the focuson feedlots that are chronicviolators rather than on lotswith good management thatjust have occasional prob-lems.

For the law to be re-vised, DEQ, which is offer-ing a temporary morato-rium on fines while Mountand others continue helpingproducers comply with theregulations, would have tomake a recommendation tothe Air Quality AdvisoryBoard. That board wouldreview it and send it on tothe Environmental QualityCouncil. That council hasthe authority to develop-ment new regulations. Pub-lic comment is allowedthroughout the process.

“These kinds of issuesare going to continue withthe way people are movingout into the country andagricultural operations are

consolidating and gettingbigger,” he says. “The odorsituation is not a pretty one,but it’s definitely of concernto the feedlots and cattleproducers in the area.”

For Mount, who is cur-rently working on a doctoraldegree in animal science atUW, the experience of be-coming one of PlatteCounty’s odor experts hasbeen a positive one.

“Being a new agent, ithas been a great way to getmy feet wet and meet thepeople and gain their trust,”he says. “I am here to workwith them and to help themmake their systems sustain-able. I’ve gotten to know alot of the producers in thecounty throughout this.”

Mount is especiallyhappy with the role thatUW and CES have playedin what has been a difficultsituation. “It has been a neatexample of extension in itspurest form. There was anagricultural problem andquestions that needed to beanswered, and UW wasturned to as a source to findunbiased information,” hesays. “It is kind of a neatexample of how it all fitstogether.”

“It has been a neat

example of extension

in its purest form.

There was an

agricultural problem

and questions that

needed to be

answered, and UW

was turned to as a

source to find

unbiased information.”

Dallas Mount

complainer’s home musthave existed before a feedlotwas established, that odorsmust exceed the 7:1 limitthree different times within30 days, and thatscentometer operators mustbe certified to help ensure

6

by Vicki Hamende,Senior EditorOffice of Communicationsand Technology

People in Wyoming aretalking about organic

farming.It can mean an addi-

tional source of income for aproducer, and it can offer thesatisfaction of knowing thatthe earth is being treated well.

A recent Organic Edu-cational Conference inLaramie brought togetheragency experts, organicfarmers, and a crowd of in-terested producers to discussnew national organic stan-dards and how to get startedin the field.

The University of Wyo-ming (UW), the Coopera-tive Extension Service(CES), the Wyoming Busi-ness Council, and the Wyo-ming Department of Agri-culture sponsored the con-ference and hosted six dif-ferent discussion forums onorganic farming throughoutthe state last summer.

A satellite broadcast inMarch on how CES, or-ganic certifiers, and othersinvolved in the productionof organic commodities areaffected by governmentstandards caught the interestof people in Wyoming.

UW will be offeringwhat is expected to be apopular new organics coursein the fall.

Retail sales of organicproducts have been growingby about 20 percent annu-ally since 1990, according tothe Wyoming BusinessCouncil.

Whether organic pro-duction in Wyoming actu-ally expands beyond thesmall number of operationsthat currently exists remainsto be seen. Meanwhile,people with knowledgeabout what is required to“go organic” say it may bejust what growers need intoday’s economy. However,they caution producers togather the facts before theymake a move.

The term “organic” re-fers to the food, fiber, andfeed of certified producersoperating within the frame-work of using sustainableagricultural practices whileadhering to federal regula-tions mandating the criteriathat must be met before aproduct earns the organiclabel. According to the regu-lations, all organic producemust be grown without aspecified list of pesticides orsynthetic fertilizers. In addi-tion, certified organic pro-ducers are responsible for

the frequent inspection offarm fields and processingplants, detailed record keep-ing, and periodic testing ofsoil and water. Crop landmust have a chemical-freehistory for at least threeyears before the first harvestof a certified organic crop.Products labeled as organiccan have no genetically al-tered ingredients or contactwith sewage sludge, irradia-tion, growth hormones, orantibiotics.

“Our job is to keepfarmers in the business offarming,” says Dave Wilson,a Department of Plant Sci-ences lecturer who will teachthe new UW organics class.“My personal belief is thatthis is one of our best solu-

tions for doing that.” Headds, “There’s the potentialfor them to make almosttwice as much as they wouldwith a traditional product.That’s the thing that willpotentially click in a farmer’shead. Reducing inputs onland can potentially lead toincreased profit margins.”

That said, Wilson feels

that public education aboutwhat it takes to be an organicfarmer is a must so that pro-ducers know the cons as wellas the pros of changing theirproduction styles.

He points out that thecold temperatures, the shortgrowing season, and the lim-its on the number of poten-tial crops in Wyoming thatcan be processed organicallypresent a problem. “Also, theaverage rainfall is so low thatthere’s not enough moistureto get sufficientcomposting,” Wilson says.

Another concern thathe discusses is the fact thatduring the three-year certifi-cation process, farmers areworking to comply with thestringent organic guidelines

while having to sell theirproducts on the traditionalmarket. It isn’t until thefourth year, if indeed or-ganic certification has beengranted, that producers canexpect to see higher rewards.“They’re basically workingat a lower profit for some-thing produced organicallyfor the first three years,”

Organic farming considered asC E RT I F I E

7

D O RG A N I CWilson says. He questionshow some growers couldmanage without opportuni-ties for compensation.

Kelli Belden, a researchassociate in the Departmentof Renewable Resources,echoes Wilson’s concerns.“The transition period forchanging to organic produc-tion is financially tough be-cause of all the changeovercosts. However, believingthat it is eventually going tobe profitable is a big drivingforce,” Belden says.

“I think it’s a mindsetadjustment more than any-thing else,” she adds. “It’s atime commitment, and farm-ers have to be really goodmanagers to be effective.”

Wilson says there aremany issues organic farmerscould potentially face. Forexample, if a producer wereto use manure brought infrom out of the state, thatproducer could suddenlyencounter weed specimenshe had never seen before.“His hands are tied eventhough there are somechemicals that are safe andnot harmful to humans.”He adds, “There could be achemical in the manure af-ter the composting stage,”pointing out that somechemicals last a long timeand can be spread from

homeowners and towns aswell as from other farms.Expenses can be incurredhaving manure tested on aregular basis.

Crop contamination canalso occur from chemicals innearby fields and from water.Farmers could be cited forviolations they didn’t commitand then have to wait threemore years for organic recer-tification.

Belden sees the isolationof many enterprises as asafety net against such con-tamination. “At this point intime maybe there are someadvantages for someone inWyoming to make thechange to organic if you canmake nature work for youand if you don’t have towaste resources,” she says. “Iam not convinced that onehas to be completely organicto be a good steward of theland, but certainly incorpo-rating more organic optionsinto the soil managementsystem can improve fertility.”

Both Wilson andBelden note the fact thatcertified organic farmers donot have the option of usinga chemical as a last resort tosave a season’s crop. “If youare a traditional farmer, youcan still go out and spray,”Belden says. “If you are anorganic farmer and you do

that, you would have to sellon the regular market foranother three years.”

Wilson questions whetherthe government has the per-sonnel to adequately checkand certify organic products.

“An organic food is notnecessarily safer or healthierand probably not worthmore money,” Wilson con-tends, “but the public per-ception overrides the facts.”He adds, “We have a well-established traditional sys-tem of guidelines for thesafe selling of all farm goods.A product cannot be on theshelf if there’s a residual of achemical in it, whether itwas grown organically ortraditionally. We monitorthat. To the consumer, or-ganic means it was producedchemical free. However,consumers have to washanything they bring homefrom the grocery store, or-ganic or not. Organic prod-

ucts may have bacteria fromthe compost from whichthey were produced.”

Having laid out issuesof concern associated withorganic agriculture, Wilsonsays producers can still makeit work as long as they knowthe facts and are prepared todeal with them. He recom-mends a gradual transitionfrom traditional to sustain-able and then to organicproduction.

Wilson teachesagroecology and horticultureand says his research dealswith “decreasing chemicalinputs through control prac-tices.” In organics, he says,“that’s what you have to beable to do.” He hopes UWwill begin doing more re-search on organic practicesonce the fall class begins andstudents will be available tohelp with projects.

Meanwhile, agricultur-ists are faced with the con-tinual challenge of increas-ing the quality and quantityof their food products withas little impact on the envi-ronment as possible. Or-ganic farming might helpthem do this. “We alwayshave to be open to newideas,” Belden says. “Ormaybe this is an old ideawhose time has come.”

opt ion for producers

8

The greatest supportersof organic agriculture

are often the farmers whoare practicing it.

“What I am doing isbetter for the earth.” “I amleaving the soil in as good orbetter condition than Ifound it.” “It’s the bestthing we can possibly do forour planet.” “It’s a greatmarket in terms of premiumfor your product.” “Themore I learn about organics,the more I get excited aboutit and what the industry aretrying to do.”

The accolades come inthe midst of hard talk aboutthe demands of organic agri-culture.

The farm of CatherineWissner, a University ofWyoming Cooperative Ex-tension Service (CES) horti-culturist for LaramieCounty, was certified by theOrganic Crop ImprovementAssociation last year. Herorganically grown alfalfa hasalready been sold out for2003. She also uses her ownproduct to feet her meat andangora goats.

“It’s beautiful to lookout there,” Wissner says ofher organic plots and theladybugs and praying man-tises that inhabit them. “Itsmells so good, and there’sso much life going on inthat field.”

In addition, she adds,“There’s more money to bemade raising or growinganything organically. Also,being a horticulturist andbeing in the field, I knowwhat pesticides and herbi-cides do to the land, ani-mals, and people.” Organicagriculture, Wissner says, isnot any more labor intensivethan conventional agricul-ture. “It’s not any more ex-pensive, either, and the re-wards are so much better.”

Wissner says the three-year certification process is alearning experience. “There’sa lot to know about farmingorganically, but it’s not reallythat difficult to get started.”Finding a certifying agencyand a knowledgeable agent,she says, is the first impor-tant step.

“During the waitingperiod you can really startgetting some sound prac-tices going,” Wissner says.“Once you have good soilfertility and good timing onweed and pest control, the

field gets in balance.”The CES horticulturist

says she is “absolutely” plan-ning to continue organicfarming. “There’s a lot ofsupport for it out therethrough CES, the Farm Ser-vice Agency, and the Wyo-ming Business Council.There’s also a good networkof people who are organicproducers. We help eachother a lot.”

Arlene Brown ofRiverton is one of Wissner’sfellow organic farmers inWyoming. Her land is in itsfourth year of certificationfor alfalfa dairy hay, whichshe ships to a dairy that isalso in the organic line.

Although most of herpractices are organic, Brownis currently using only 163of her 1,000 acres for or-ganic hay. The rest of theland is farmed convention-

ally. “The drought has a lotto do with that,” she ex-plains. Organic productionis down. “Maybe the or-ganic fertilizer we are usingisn’t feeding the plantsenough,” she says. “Nor-mally it would be okay be-cause you usually pullenough of a premium onyour crop to make up forthe production.” The eco-nomics of the dry spell haveskewed the picture. Findinga quality product for weedcontrol has also been a con-cern.

Brown, who has beenfarming with her husbandfor 32 years, does not hesi-tate, however, to urge pro-ducers to give organic agri-culture a try and not to beafraid of the paperwork in-volved in getting started. It’sa one-time necessity thatcan then be maintained by acontinuation of good recordkeeping.

“I think people don’tknow how to switch fromconventional to organic,”she says. “I think a lot ofthem think they have toswitch completely over.” Aproducer first needs to as-semble past records abouthis or her lands with infor-mation about fertilizers andherbicides that have been

Producers embrace the challenge by Vicki Hamende,Senior EditorOffice of Communicationsand Technology

C E RT I F I E

9

used. The grower then needsto develop a farming plan.“Most farmers do this any-way,” Brown points out.From then on it’s necessaryto maintain an audit trailwith documentation for ev-ery practice. Yearly inspec-tions by a certificationagency verify that organicstandards are being met orspecify improvements thatneed to be made.

“When you say inspec-tion, really what they aretelling you is yes, this is or-ganic, or no, this is not or-ganic and you have to dothis to become organic,” sheexplains. There were no na-tional standards in placewhen Brown first developedher organic plot. “Now it ismuch more simplified andeverybody is on the sameplaying field.”

Her crops are farenough apart that contami-nation is not a problem.Equipment is cleaned thor-oughly and regularly. Also,her family owns its owntrucking company, givingthem control over the ship-ping of their certified prod-uct.

Brown serves on theWyoming Board of Agricul-ture, a group she will chairnext year. Board members,

she says, “have embracedorganic farming with openarms.”

With hopes for an eas-ing of the drought and inincrease in her production,Brown says, “Organic farm-ing is very much worth it.”She adds, “I definitely be-lieve that the markets areout there.” Brown encour-ages producers to investigateorganic agriculture beforethey adopt it and to leavepart of their operation in aconventional growing situa-tion, at least in the begin-ning.

“Take it one step at atime, and don’t be too afraidof it,” she adds.

Shelly Elliott of the IdleThyme Farm east of Chey-enne in the Carpenter areais living her dream of grow-ing and marketing organicvegetables. Because she andher family are breaking newsod on their property, theircertification process hasbeen quick and will be final-ized in the summer.

She plans to use two oftheir 15 acres this year togrow pumpkins, a large scalecrop of potatoes, Indian andregular corn, beans, peas,salad greens, beets, radishes,and squash. Elliott is alsoplanting poly-headed sun-

flowers and amaranth to sellin bunches. She will alsoeventually sell certified or-ganic chickens and eggs.With two or three differentvarieties of all of her prod-ucts growing, “crop rotationis a bit intense,” she notes.

Elliott isn’t worriedabout marketing her goods.“There are 100 people inCheyenne waiting to buymy products,” she says.

The only problemElliott has encountered inher pursuit of organic certi-fication has been the factthat there is no manual en-titled “So You Want to Starta New Organic System.”She explains, “There are somany people and agenciesyou need to contact, butnobody seems to have a listof them.” She has soughthelp from UW CES educa-tors.

Her advice to thosewithout the benefit of sucha manual is, “Do yourhomework. Find out whatyou are going to need. Un-

of organic agriculture

derstand the organic pro-gram standards so that youdon’t make mistakes alongthe way.” She also encour-ages organic farmers to con-duct market research so thatthey will know their fundingsources and their expenses.

She has purposely di-versified her crops to bettercope with variables such asthe climate and theeconomy. “The more cre-ative and flexible you are,the better you will weatherthe storm,” Elliott says.

A key ingredient, sheadds, is to find resourcesand use them. “It’s incred-ible the information thatpeople have given to me,”she says, referring particu-larly to those who are al-ready farming organically.“They’re helping make mydreams come true.”

D O RG A N I C

ORGANIC

10

by Vicki Hamende,Senior EditorOffice of Communicationsand Technology

Organic farming wasthe traditional norm

before pesticide use becamewidespread. Certification,however, is a more recentphenomenon that accom-panied increased awarenessof the environment and ofpersonal health.

The 1990 U.S. De-partment of Agriculture(USDA) Farm Bill devel-oped the Organic FoodsProduction Act, which wasfollowed in October 2002by the full enactment of theUSDA National OrganicProgram to govern the uni-form production and label-ing of organic foods.

Though for decadessome foods have carried thelabel “organic,” consumerscan now know exactly whatthe term means no matterwhere they live in the na-tion.

According to theUSDA standards, “Foodslabeled as organic musthave been produced with-out the use of pesticides,chemical fertilizers, or sew-age sludge. They must nothave undergone irradiationintended to prolong shelflife nor contain geneticallymodified ingredients. Ani-mals raised for organicmeat, eggs, and milk mustnot have received antibiot-ics or growth hormones.These animals must havebeen fed organic feed and

must have had access to theoutdoors.” In addition,USDA must certify growerswho produce foods thatwill be labeled organic.

Specific wording forlabels on organic foods isalso part of the regulations.Products labeled “100 per-cent organic” must containonly organically producedingredients. These goodsqualify to sport a “USDAOrganic” seal. Productscalled “organic” must haveat least 95 percent of theiringredients certifiably or-ganic. Foods containing atleast 70 percent organicingredients may be labeled“made with organic ingre-dients” and may list up tothree of them on the pack-aging. Under the new regu-lations, any product con-taining less than 70 percentorganic ingredients maynot be marketed as an or-ganic food.

The USDA EconomicResearch Service reportsthat nearly 20,000 naturalfood stores and 73 percentof all conventional super-markets sell organic prod-ucts. Although fresh pro-duce is the top-selling or-ganic food, the sale of or-

USDA implements organic standards

Though for

decades some

foods have carried

the label

“organic,”

consumers can

now know exactly

what the term

means no matter

where they live in

the nation.

ganic dairy products quin-tupled during the 1990s.Meanwhile, farmland certi-fied as organic has morethan doubled since the en-actment of the 1990 farmbill.

For more information,visit the USDA Web site atwww.ams.usda.gov/nop/.

11

The Writers in Agri-culture Guild (WAG) atthe University of Wyomingseeks to help students be-come more employable byteaching them good com-munication and writingskills.

Promoting WAG’s re-wards is James Wangberg,associate dean and directorof Academic and StudentPrograms. Four years ago,Wangberg received a grantfrom the Ellbogen Centerfor Teaching and Learningthat allowed him to developcollege writing workshopsthat were coordinated byJane Nelson, director of theUW Writing Center.Two different WAG pro-grams were given that fo-cused on teaching andlearning in general as wellas problems that occur inthe classroom. Wangbergsays the workshops pro-vided a great opportunityfor faculty members to bemore public with theirteaching. “Faculty membersneed the tools to teach,” headds.

There are currentlyrepresentatives from the

Departments of Family andConsumer Sciences andAgricultural and AppliedEconomics and the micro-biology program who areinvolved with WAG, in-cluding Bruce Cameron,Michael Liebman, SonyaMeyer, Karen Williams,Carl Olson, Don McLeod,Ed Bradley, and LeeBelden. This faculty teamhas shown great interest inhelping students improvetheir writing and commu-nication skills, Wangbergreports.

WAG hosted an AprilNational Conference onStudent Writing and Criti-cal Thinking in Agriculturein Jackson, Wyoming. Theconference was made pos-sible through a U.S. De-partment of AgricultureHigher Education Chal-lenge Grant. It was de-signed to assist those whoteach writing and criticalthinking in agriculture andrelated fields.

Wangberg hopes he iswell on his way to meetinghis goal of having otheruniversities follow in UW’sfootsteps. To promote orga-nizations such as WAG, hewould like to become partof a national coalition thatfocuses on improving thecritical thinking, writing,

and communication skillsof all students. He alsohopes that WAG will be acritical component of aca-demic plans and that it willcontinue into the future sothat others can benefit.

Have students beenhelped by WAG? Wangbergsays that a student learningassessment needs to be afuture goal for the guildand a continual part of theacademic planning process.That way it will be possibleto evaluate the impact

by Rhonda Hergenrider,InternOffice of Communicationsand Technology

Writers in Agriculture Guild offers help to students

WAG has on students.Wangberg hopes that

as time progresses, measure-ment of WAG’s success willbe evident in employers’satisfaction with the com-munication and writingskills of students enteringthe work force.

Carl Olson, a professor in the agricultural and applied economicsdepartment, is a member of the UW Writers in Agriculture Guildthat is striving to help improve students’ communication andwriting skills.

12

by Vicki Hamende,Senior EditorOffice of Communicationsand Technology

The largest proteinfound in nature is

called titin, and it is bigenough to actually be seenunder an electron micro-scope. Comparing the aver-age size of a protein with theaverage height of a person,titin would stand 350 feettall. At the other extreme,the smallest protein wouldequal a person who ismerely eight inches off theground. Although tiny, thisdwarf still has a defined bio-logical function.

These facts are among“The Most Extremes inBioinformatics” that TheoHanekamp hopes studentswill have fun investigatingin a new course that will beoffered in the fall by the De-partment of Molecular Biol-ogy.

“Bioinformatics solvesbiological questions or prob-lems using computers, ex-plains Hanekamp, an assis-tant professor in the depart-ment. “You still have toback up your predictionswith real experimentaldata,” he adds. “In manycases bioinformatics will get

you to your research goalfaster, but it is not a replace-ment for solid molecularbiology.”

Hanekamp developedthe idea for asking studentsto investigate the “most ex-tremes” in thebioinformatics world fromtelevision programs his chil-dren enjoy. “The idea is tochallenge students by havingthem do some simplebioinformatics but at thesame time to make it inter-esting for them,” he says.

He has produced a Website that students will contrib-ute to as they use computa-tional tools to investigate ex-tremes dealing with genomes,DNA, RNA, proteins, andother categories. They willattempt to discover, for ex-

ample, the most repetitivegenome, the longest stretch ofGs, the nucleic acid sequencewith the most slice variants,the most alkaline protein, andthe most expensivebioinformatics project in ex-istence. In addition to posingsuch research questions, theWeb site also includes a glos-sary for those new to the fieldand links to databases, rel-evant biological literature,and other Web sources.

“For every fact that weput on this Web site, thestudents will establish ahyperlink to the actual data-base and a second link to aliterature database thatpoints out the first group ofscientists who made the dis-covery,” he says. The stu-dents will then be listed as

contributors. “It will be agroup effort with a broadinterest.”

Hanekamp hopes theWeb site will also show oth-ers that “we are doingbioinformatics at the Uni-versity of Wyoming.” Heviews the site as another stepto stimulate interactionsbetween different depart-ments and different univer-sities and as a recruiting toolfor prospective students. Hehas been working with theCollege of Health Sciences,the Experimental Programto Stimulate CompetitiveResearch office, and withfaculty members in math,chemistry, computer sci-ences, and in his own de-partment in the College ofAgriculture to develop hisprogram.

Bioinformatics itself ap-pears to be growing nation-wide. Hanekamp quotes anarticle in BioInform magazinenoting that the number ofgraduates in 2002 tripledcompared to 2001. “Ameri-can universities are expectedto release 164 freshly trainedB.S., M.S., or Ph.D. levelbioinformaticists this year,”according to the article. Atotal of 45 universities nowoffer degree programs.Hanekamp would like to seeUW in the forefront.

Bioinformatics offers unique way to research molecular

Theo Hanekamp explains the Web site he is developing to attractstudents to “The Most Extreme in Bioinformatics” research.

13

A native of Germanywith undergraduate andmaster’s degrees fromOldenburg University,Hanekamp originally cameto Laramie as part of a UWexchange program with hiscountry. He has two master’sdegrees as well as a doctoraldegree from UW and alsocompleted post-doctoralresearch here. After post-doctoral appointments atthe University of Texas inAustin and as a fellow inbioinformatics atCalifornia’s Stanford Univer-sity, he was hired in the UWmolecular biology depart-ment a year ago.

One of his areas of ex-pertise is yeast biology.Aided by research assistantsKatja Manninen andCorrine Seebart, he is usingbioinformatics in oneproject to search for newdrug targets for the patho-gen that causes malaria. Heteaches biochemistry andwill co-teach two otherclasses in the fall.

He hopes students willbe drawn to “The Most Ex-treme in Bioinformatics.”He adds, “It will be an ex-perimental class. I hope stu-dents will have fun withthis. I do!”

extremes

The University of Wyoming ChildCare Center is more than just a place of

learning for children – it is an all-encompass-ing hub of knowledge.

A new center is slated to be constructed inthe near future to replace the existing childcareand development facilities located near the cam-pus. It will have a wide variety of classrooms toaccommodate infants, toddlers, preschoolers,and school-aged children. The new center willbuild on the educational mission that has beenimplemented in the current spot.

The facility was established in 1979 witha two-fold mission. It was designed to providecare for children in the Laramie community. Itwas also developed to serve as a hands-onlearning environment not only for those at-tending but also for students in the College ofAgriculture Department of Family and Con-sumer Sciences. Because of its dual mission,the center has evolved into a place of learningfor all ages.

Children who participate range in agefrom 3 to 5. The development of all children istaken into consideration through the use ofappropriate activities and social situations. Thefacility has numerous learning programs in thecurriculum for youngsters to utilize to expandtheir knowledge. Different stations offer activi-ties in science, art, computers, and reading.

“There is something for every child at thedevelopmental level, while still challengingeach child in a positive environment,” accord-ing to Crystal Ballard, lead teacher. She also

says that “beyond providing programs basedon developmentally appropriate practices, thecenter provides an atmosphere of multiculturalawareness and learning.”

Parents are an important part of the pro-gram. Brenda Alexander says she has learnedbetter ways to communicate with her children,all three of whom have attended school at thecenter. Alexander adds that she is “very happy”with the center. “If I had six more children,they would also go there.”

UW students are able to gain experienceworking with preschool-aged children, an op-portunity that provides an environment forstudents in programs such as education,speech pathology, nursing, and child develop-ment to work in interactive lab situations. Thecenter is also helped by interns and work-study students. Samantha Moelter, a dieteticsmajor, says, “My experiences at the UW ChildCare Center have helped me prepare for mycareer in meaningful and practical ways.”Some of the courses offered with laboratoryexperiences at the center include child devel-opment, observing young children, a childdevelopment practicum, and a child develop-ment internship.

The teachers who work at the center alsolearn while teaching. “I learn something neweveryday – children continue to amaze me,”Ballard says.

According to Roger Baalman, UW facili-ties planning director, “The administrationfeels that this center is both a child care and anacademic facility which considers the needs ofchildren and also educates students at UW.”

Children at the UW Childcare Center

enjoy learning activities together.

New child care center proposed for UWby Willow Rossmiller, InternOffice of Communications and Technology

14

Value added” is an im-portant concept in

today’s marketplace. Provid-ing hands-on learning op-portunities is one way theCollege of Agriculture addsvalue to a student’s degree.Not only can students ben-efit from exposure to real-life situations, but fieldtrips, internships, researchassistantships, and othernon-traditional learningprograms also give them anedge in the job marketplace.

These activities, whichDean Frank Galey hastermed “Beyond the Class-room,” are a part of theuniversity’s academic plan aswell as a focus within the

college itself. Examples ofBeyond the Classroomlearning experiencesabound, such as the shrub-land ecology field trip of-fered through the Depart-ment of Renewable Re-sources, opportunities towork with faculty memberson research projects, educa-tional experiences throughthe National Western Live-stock Leadership Internship,and study-abroad programsoffered in conjunction withthe Ecole Superieured’Agriculture d’Angers inAngers, France. While theactivities are very different,they share a common theme- giving students the oppor-

tunity to apply what theyhave learned in class to situ-ations outside the class-room.

One of the oldest un-dergraduate study projectsin the college is the PaulStock research work-studyprogram. Funded by thePaul Stock Foundation, itprovides stipends to allowstudents to work one on onewith faculty members onspecific research topics. Thisyear Katy Byington,Cameron Van Tassell, andJohn Brooks worked withProfessor Stephen Ford inthe Department of AnimalScience, assisting him in hisreproductive health re-search. In the past other stu-dents worked with facultymembers at the WyomingState Veterinary Laboratorystudying chronic wastingdisease and also with scien-tists at the UW research andextension centers.

Another off-campuslearning opportunity is pro-vided through the FESIAexchange program in Eu-rope. Each June, a smallnumber of students travel toAngers, France, to study atthe Ecole Superieured’Agriculture d’Angers inthe Loire Valley. Students

spend a month attendinglectures about trade, Euro-pean business, horticulture,and production agriculture.They can then spend an ad-ditional one to two monthsworking with a company inan internship focusing onproduction agriculture, hor-ticulture, or internationalmarketing and finance. Un-der this same program, stu-dents from France come toLaramie to attend UW. Stu-dents on both sides of theAtlantic benefit by gainingan in-depth appreciation ofEuropean and U.S. agricul-tural practices, markets, andtrade policies.

The college is alsoworking to expand under-graduate internship pro-grams that place studentswith a company, ranch, orother business, usually in afield closely related to stu-dents’ academic majors orcareer interests. Recent pro-grams have sponsored up to50 internships per year. Stu-dents work in a variety ofsettings learning about top-ics ranging from plant ge-netics to range managementto nutrition and dietetics.Three-way partnershipsamong employers, students,and faculty members are

Beyond the Classroom: Blending

Courtney Ladenburger, a graduate student in the renewableresources department, samples diet vegetation from a cannulatedrumen animal. She conducted research in Miles City, Montana, aspart of a UW Beyond the Classroom shrubland ecology field trip.

“

15

formed. Employers providehands-on business experi-ences which cannot be du-plicated in the classroom,and faculty members workwith students to integratethose experiences into thecourse work required forinternship credit hours.Each student returns to theclassroom with a deeper ap-preciation of the complexi-ties of agriculture and how acollege education can beapplied in the field.

Field trips are anotherimportant component of

many applied science classes.One example is the renew-able resources department’s10-day shrubland ecologytrek sponsored by AssociateProfessor Ann Hild. Lastspring Hild and her stu-dents toured livestockranches in Wyoming andrangeland research centersin Utah. The studentsgained an appreciation ofhow grazing practices canhelp ranchers maintainhealthy plant diversity andhow shrub communitiesexist.

Finding funding to sup-port these types of activitiescan be a challenge. As partof Distinction, the Cam-paign for Wyoming’s Uni-versity, the College of Agri-culture hopes to attract per-manent funding for off-campus activities. Giftswould help defray the costof off-campus activities, pro-vide stipends to studentswishing to work on researchprojects with faculty mem-bers, and help students takeadvantage of study programsoutside the continental U.S.

UW graduate student Brian Mealor studies shrub communities near Natural Bridges National Monu-ment by Blanding, Utah, on a shrubland ecology field trip with the renewable resources department.

Not only canstudents benefit

from exposure toreal-life situations,

but field trips,internships,

researchassistantships, and

other non-traditional learningprograms also give

them an edge inthe job

marketplace.

Donations of $50,000or more are eligible for thestate’s matching gift pro-gram, which matches dollarfor dollar new gifts for per-manent endowments atUW. For additional infor-mation about this or otheropportunities to help sup-port students, outreach pro-grams, or faculty research,please contact AnneLeonard, director of devel-opment, at (307) 766-3372or aleonard@uwyo.edu.

academics with real-life experiences

The University of Wyo-ming (UW)

agroecology degree programwas the first of its kind inthe nation when it was es-tablished more than 10years ago. The fact that en-rollment this spring is at anall-time high attests to thegrowing importance of thesubject matter and to theemployment opportunitiesavailable in the field.

“Students are recruitingstudents, and that speakshighly of their satisfactionwith the program’s approachto career preparation,” saysRon Delaney, head of theCollege of Agriculture’s De-partment of Plant Sciences.

Developed jointly byplant sciences and the De-partment of Renewable Re-sources, the bachelor of sci-ence in agroecology pro-gram combined and re-placed undergraduate de-

grees in crop science, ento-mology, and soil science.

“It was decided to cre-ate a futuristic degree pro-gram that focused on pro-viding the background forcritical interdisciplinary de-cision making addressingthe agriculture and naturalresource issues that we an-ticipated the region wouldbe facing over the next 25years,” Delaney says. Severalother land-grant universities

have followed UW’s lead.Interestingly, the term

“agroecology” was selectedout of 10 faculty-proposednames for the program bythe UW freshman class in1990. Once the degree wasin place in 1992, enrollmentimmediately began to growbeyond the total enrollmentof the three degrees it re-placed, Delaney says, andthat was during a time whenoverall UW enrollment wasdecreasing.

“As students graduatedfrom the program and be-gan their agroecology ca-reers, many employers re-quested more graduates.The demand has continued

to grow,” Delaney says.“The work force in all seg-ments of agriculture andnatural resource manage-ment is aging and in need ofnew employees who aretrained to make the rightdecisions when addressingcomplex biological and en-vironmentally sensitive sys-tems,” he adds.

The multidisciplinaryapproach of the agroecologyprogram, Delaney says,“gives the graduate a uniquedecision-making abilitywhen addressing the issuesand problems in these com-plex systems. This diverseprogram is also an excellentfoundation for those stu-dents who wish to furthertheir education with an ad-vanced degree.”

He points out that threeof the four years of study re-quired for the agroecologydegree can also be obtained atNorthwest College (NWC)in Powell. In addition to theinstruction available there,UW plant sciences and re-newable resources facultymembers based at the Re-search and Extension Centerin Powell teach upper divisionUW courses on the NWCcampus.

“The ecological compo-nent of the agroecology pro-

16

by Vicki Hamende,Senior EditorOffice of Communicationsand Technology

Growing agroecology program

Wayne Ohnesorg (left) of Sidney, Nebraska, and Wes Brown ofMeriden, Wyoming, work on an experiment in their Agronomicand Horticultural Plant Biology class. Both students are majoringin agroecology.

“Private companies and public agenciesare pleased with the interns they haveemployed and request far more internsthan there are available students.” Ron Delaney

gram will be significantlystrengthened next fall whena new plant agroecologistwill be added to the faculty,”Delaney notes.

Flexibility has beenadded to the program sothat students can now ob-tain minors within their re-quired credit needs in areassuch as crop science, ento-mology, horticulture, soilscience, animal science, agri-cultural business, and range-land ecology and watershedmanagement. A minor inagroecology is also available.

When the horticultureminor was established in2002, seven new courseswere added. “The new hor-ticulture offerings have beena long-standing request bystudents. “This minor al-lows graduates to enter thejob market of the fastestgrowing segment of agricul-ture,” Delaney says.

Other career opportuni-ties for graduates withagroecology degrees can befound in all levels of agricul-ture including scientific workwith industries, research forthe government and univer-sities, technical fields such ascrop protection and soilanalysis, production agricul-ture in farming and ranch-ing, environmental science,

natural resource manage-ment, related fields of biol-ogy, and education and agri-cultural extension.

Internships can helpprepare students for suchcareers. “Agroecology has anexceptionally strong salariedinternship-for-credit pro-gram,” Delaney says. “Pri-vate companies and publicagencies are pleased with theinterns they have employedand request far more internsthan there are available stu-dents.”

He adds, “Private com-panies encourage students toexperience an internship,and some students actuallycomplete two of them tomore fully prepare them-selves for the job market.”In addition to the educa-tional experiences studentsgain from internships, theirparticipation allows them todetermine which areas ofagroecology they would liketo pursue. “Upon graduat-ing, many students are of-fered jobs with an employerwith whom they gained theintern experience,” Delaneypoints out.

UW agroecology stu-dents have served as internsfor seed companies, the U.S.Forest Service, the Agricul-tural Research Service, the

17Agroecology majors Betsy Mock of Dayton, Wyoming, and LeeKrusa of Long Island, New York, calculate the rate of photosynthesisin corn and Austrian winter peas during their Agronomic andHorticultural Plant Biology lab.

Bureau of Land Manage-ment, landscape and green-house enterprises, the U.S.Fish and Wildlife Service,golf courses, consultingcompanies, parks and recre-ation departments, univer-sity cooperators, the Na-tional Resources Conserva-tion Service, botanical gar-

dens, chemical companies,nature conservancies, wild-life sanctuaries, analytic labs,farms and ranches, stategovernment, and weed andpest centers.

“The variety really dem-onstrates the diversity of thestudents and of the pro-gram,” Delaney says.

prepares s tudents for careers

What’s a good way toreach a wide audi-

ence with an importanteducational message? Well,most households have tele-vision sets.

A group of Universityof Wyoming CooperativeExtension Service (UWCES) educators decided totake advantage of a popularmedium by filming a seriesof short TV spots high-lighting issues related toWyoming’s natural re-sources.

Their hope is to pro-vide outreach education toagricultural producers andresidents as part of the mis-sion of the CES SustainableManagement of RangelandResources state initiativeteam.

Tom Heald, CES edu-cator in Natrona County,came up with the idea forthe news hour segments,and KTWO television inCasper began broadcastingthem in March. He has al-ready worked with the sta-tion on his long-runningprogram “From the

Ground Up.” Heald is nowjoining with CES educatorsGene Gade of CrookCounty and Eric Petersonof Sublette County to de-velop the first episodes inthe proposed outreach se-ries. Their topics so far fo-cus on types of drought,the nutritional needs ofdeer, and the characteristicsof sagebrush. Future TVspots are planned that willtalk more in depth on otherecology, livestock, andwildlife concerns and onrangeland management is-sues.

The segments alreadyfilmed by videographerGreg Irwin of Casper showPeterson and Gade standingoutside. Wyoming land-scape scenes change peri-odically as the men speak.

In “A Deer’s Smorgas-bord,” Peterson presentsthis information:

“It’s winter, and deerare on the winter range.

“Deer are likely to di-gest fibrous feeds. They arebrowsers – they selectivelylook for high quality feeds.The highest quality feed isthis year’s plant growth –stuff that continues to liveand will be extendinggrowth next year.

“These perennials,mostly shrubs, include bit-terbrush, sage, chokecherry,serviceberry, and all thoselandscape shrubs you nur-ture all summer.

“In summer, food iseasy. It’s obvious why theycan’t be in those places now.Those places are inhospi-table in winter. A deer’sstrategy is to migrate to ar-eas where they find thisfeed. This is winter range –a portion of their habitatwhich provides a wintersmorgasbord of high-qual-ity feed.

“As it happens, thewildland/urban interface isoften the place where they

find this smorgasbord.“So next time you no-

tice deer in places youwouldn’t see them in sum-mer, or when they are eat-ing your shrubbery, realizethat they’re just trying toshop for the highest qualityproduce.

“From the Universityof Wyoming CooperativeExtension Service, I’m EricPeterson.”

In another segmentcalled “Sagebrush –Wyoming’s Sinewy, SilverySymbol,” Gade relays thisinformation:

“Relentless winds, driv-ing airborne chards of crys-talline water. Light. Bril-

TV spots to provide outreach

CES Educator Eric Peterson of Sublette County opens an informa-tional video segment about the nutritional needs of deer forproposed TV spots about Wyoming’s natural resources.

18

by Vicki Hamende,Senior EditorOffice of Communicationsand Technology

liant – sometimes painfullyintense – because it zipsthrough an atmosphere thatis dry. Thin – because it isnearly a thousand kilome-ters and several mountainranges removed from thesea – and because it is avertical mile or more closerto the sun.

“By turns, this place isso cold that frozen leavesand stems sometimes shat-ter like expensive crystalglasses, or so warm that atiny spark can set off a rag-ing conflagration. Dry.Sometimes a full year’s pre-cipitation is less than whatfalls on the eastern seaboardin one good summer thun-derstorm. 19

“This is a tough placewhere only tough plantsand animals, and, yes,tough people can surviveoutdoors.

“This is the placewhere sagebrush –Wyoming’s sinewy, silverysymbol - not only survives,it prospers and thrives.

“From the Universityof Wyoming CooperativeExtension Service, I’mGene Gade.”

If the state initiativeteam has its way, this kindof educational informationand more about Wyoming’snatural resources will con-tinue to grace the televisionscreens of Wyoming resi-dents.

The toughness of sagebrush is discussed by CES Educator Gene Gadeof Crook County in one of the videos for TV aimed at providingoutreach information to Wyoming residents.

A CES state initiative team would like to use short televisionsegments on Wyoming’s Natural Resources to provide outreacheducation.

“When we look at Wyoming’s rangelands,we should keep in mind that the plantsand animals there are struggling to adaptto a tough set of environmental constraints. . . Most of them are as healthy,productive, and beautiful as they arecapable of being.”

Gene Gade in an upcoming broadcast

education

Years of research in thetropical jungles of

Costa Rica have benefited aUniversity of Wyoming(UW) entomology professorand three of his students inan unusual way – new spe-cies of wasps have beennamed for them.

A world authority onthe parasitic wasp familyBraconidae and the authorof more than 60 scientificpublications, Scott Shaw hasbeen honored by having thewasp species Allorhogasshawi, Callihormius shawi,and Notiospathius shawinamed after him.

These species join fourothers from China, Brazil,and the southwestern U.S.that have been named forShaw, who serves as curatorof the UW Insect Museumin the College of Agricul-ture. Shaw himself has de-scribed and named 95 newinsect species from 23 coun-tries. He has titled his dis-coveries after his father, hisfather-in-law, and evenDavid Letterman, the desig-nee for Marshiellalettermani.

Shaw says this is thefirst time that new specieshave been named for hisresearch students. “It’s a bigbang all at once,” he notes.

Former graduate stu-dent Samin Dadelahi, aSheridan native who nowlives in Laramie, helped todiscover and research thewasp species Notiospathiussaminae during one of hermany expeditions to therain forests of Costa Rica.

Her jungle experiences,she says, gave her “anewfound respect for theintrepid explorers of thepast.” She spent months do-ing research several hoursaway from the nearest road,taking cold showers in riverwater, and relying on a gen-erator for electricity. “It wasso wet that anything leftoutside would grow moldon it,” Dadelahi adds. “Be-ing an entomologist inWyoming in no way pre-pares you for the tropics,where there is so much di-versity and you are exposedto things you have only seenas colored pictures inbooks.”

Notiospathius ninae hasbeen named for UW doc-toral student Nina Zitani,originally of Moorestown,

New Jersey, and now finish-ing her work in London,Ontario. Her honor comes“in recognition of her inter-est and study of the bra-conid fauna of Costa Rica.”Zitani has also published thenames and descriptions of15 new insect species basedon her months of workoverseeing undergraduatestudents at remote tropicalforest field stations.

Two new insects,Sharkeyelloides vanderentiand Vanderentiellusennychius have been namedfor Leendert-Jan van derEnt, a native of the Nether-lands who studied withShaw to earn his doctoratedegree. Of particular impor-tance is the fact that both ofthese species are known onlyfrom specimens collected byvan der Ent.

Seven new wasp species named afterby Vicki Hamende,Senior EditorOffice of Communicationsand Technology

Samin Dadelahi conducted extensive research on wasps, includingdiscovering the one that has been named for her, during several tripsto Costa Rica as a UW graduate student.

20

“He went into the for-est night after night with ablacklight and a flashlight tosearch for rare insects thatare only a few millimeterslong,” says Shaw. “Withouthis efforts, we would notknow that these two speciesexist.”

Descriptions of all ofthe new species are includedin a recently published bookon Costa Rican insects writ-ten by Paul Marsh. The pro-cedure for determining andofficially acknowledging thediscovery of new species isgoverned by the Interna-tional Code of ZoologicalNomenclature. Scientificnames must include twowords and must beLatinized.

Deciding whether aspecimen is new is a lengthy,complicated process. “If anorganism is discovered thathas no name, in theory any-one could describe andname it,” Shaw says. Ex-haustive research must beconducted to make sure thatthe specimen does not al-ready exist in known litera-ture and museums. “Whenit is determined by special-ists that it doesn’t fit withinthe existing framework ofanything known to science,”

he explains, the new speci-men will become officialonce its name and descrip-tion are published in a rec-ognized journal.

Dadelahi suspects thatthere are many new speciessitting in files in universitieswaiting to be properlymounted and investigated.“We have so many differentcollection mechanisms,” sheexplains. “In the jungle atnight with limited light it’snot really possible to recog-nize a new species. We haveto sort through the samplesafter we get home.”

The extensive UWwasp collection has morethan 120,000 specimensincluding the ones namedfor the UW researchers.“For a small regional univer-sity, we have a world classinsect collection, and it wasaccumulated in a little over10 years,” Shaw notes.

Grants from the Na-tional Science Foundationand other resources haveallowed continued studies inCosta Rica. Why there? “It’spolitically stable andfriendly,” says Dadelahi,“and it’s extremely diverse interms of specimens.” Re-served tropical forest landshave been set aside for

study. Shaw says the govern-ment cultivates relationshipswith scientists and that it isrelatively easy to acquire re-search permits. He describesit as “a biological paradise.”

The research of Shawand his students has prima-rily revolved around benefi-cial Doryctinae wasp speciesthat parasitize beetle larvae,many of which are forestpests. Since the use of pesti-cides would be disastrous tothe diversity of plants andanimals in tropical forestpreserves, biological controlusing wasps may provide thebest option for suppressingforest pest outbreaks.

“The environmentalservices provided by thesetiny organisms in terms ofnatural suppression of forestpests are of enormous ben-efit to humans,” Shaw says.

Two new wasps have been named for Leendert-Jan van der Ent,who spent time researching insects in Costa Rica while earning hisdoctorate degree from UW.

An extensive UWwasp collection hasmore than120,000specimensincluding the onesnamed for the UWresearchers.

21

UW professor and students

Though it is the small-est college at the Uni-

versity of Wyoming, theCollege of Agriculturemakes a strong contribu-tion to the University Stud-ies Program (USP).

The college offers atotal of 55 university stud-ies courses, with the De-partment of Family andConsumer Sciences (FCS)contributing 18 and theDepartment of Agriculturaland Applied Economicsoffering 14.

USP was developed togive students a core educa-tion curriculum. The pro-gram outlines certaincourse categories studentsmust have in order tograduate and then offersthem the flexibility tochoose which classes theywould like to take underthe broad classifications.Students are not totallylimited to university studiesclasses in their major, andteachers can apply to haveone or more of their classesrecognized as universitystudies courses.

“I’m proud of the Col-lege of Agriculture because

of what I consider a signifi-cant investment on the partof faculty members to teachcourses that fulfill USP re-quirements,” says JimWangberg, associate deanand director of Academicand Student Programs forthe college. “From the be-ginning of USP more thana decade ago, the facultyhere has shown great inter-est in being a part of it.”

The college offers avariety of university studiesclasses that satisfy manydifferent requirements. Forexample, FCS teaches atherapeutic nutritioncourse that meets the upperdivision math requirement.The same requirement canbe met with the Depart-ment of Plant Sciences’ soil

physics class. In addition,FCS has a food safetycourse that counts for abiological science credit,and the Department of Re-newable Resources includesa course called ranch recre-ation that satisfies one ofthe cultural context re-quirements.

“For a class to becomea university studies course,faculty members have tosubmit a course proposaland explain how the courseis going to meet the variousand specific criteria forwhichever course categorythey want,” Wangberg ex-plains. “This process in-volves extra work for fac-ulty members because theyhave to pay attention togeneral education criteria

College’s menu of University Studies classes offers variety of tastes

by Shelli Boyd, InternOffice of Communicationsand Technology

when planning theirclasses.”

Professor AlanSchroeder went to the extrawork of making his ag lawclass a university studiescourse. “I wanted this classto be part of the programbecause I wanted studentsto get more credit for allthe writing and researchthat law requires,”Schroeder says. “No matterwhat their major, it is im-portant for all students toknow about the law even ifit’s just to become moreknowledgeable about howto find information.”

According toWangberg, the College ofAgriculture’s contributionto USP has broadened themenu of class choices avail-able to students and addedto the rich diversity ofclasses the university offers.

“It’s important for stu-dents to focus on morethan their major,” he says.“Our college’s class oppor-tunities enrich the collegeexperience and allow stu-dents to get a variety oftastes. This may be the onlytime in students’ lives thatthey can devote to somespecific area like an agricul-tural science.”

Plant Sciences Lecturer Dave Wilson’s agroecology class, AECL1000, satisfies one of the biological sciences requirements of theUniversity Studies Program.

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P RO G R A M N OT E S

Ag and AppliedAg and AppliedAg and AppliedAg and AppliedAg and AppliedEconomicsEconomicsEconomicsEconomicsEconomics

Assistant ProfessorDonald McLeod was nomi-nated for and has accepteda temporary position inWashington, D.C., withthe U.S. Department ofAgriculture CooperativeState Research, Education,and Extension Service as aNational Program Leaderfor Natural Resource andEnvironmental Economics.The term of the positionwill be from June 1through December 15,2003. He will be helpingto provide national leader-ship in developing strate-gies, program information,and resources to foster in-novative approaches fortackling issues involvingnatural resources, the envi-ronment, land use, landstewardship, and rural/ur-ban interface that commu-nities across the nation arefacing. It is significant thata member of the faculty isreceiving the opportunityto make an important con-tribution to natural re-source issues at the nationallevel.

Office AssociateDebbie Stark was awardedthe Ag Council Outstand-ing Staff Award for 2002.She was chosen by mem-bers of the student organi-zation for the student ser-vices she provides and thestudent-friendly atmo-sphere she cultivates in thedepartment.

Associate ProfessorAlan Schroeder, chair of theWyoming MediationBoard, has indicated thatthere has been a small in-crease in the number ofrequests for mediation inWyoming during the lastseveral months. The boardexpects an increase in theserequests if drought condi-tions persist in the state thissummer.

Professor Larry Held isrecovering from the strokehe suffered in August. Al-though he is still uses awheelchair, he is doingsome walking, speaks well,and is making good overallprogress. He frequentlyspends time in his office,where he keeps up with hisresearch and his graduatestudents’ programs. Thedepartment anticipates thatHeld will return to his nor-mal teaching duties in thefall.

Animal ScienceAnimal ScienceAnimal ScienceAnimal ScienceAnimal ScienceFriday public seminars

(ANSC 5890) from 12 to12:50 p.m. offered by theDepartment of Animal Sci-ence during the spring se-mester have given attendeesinformation about impor-tant research projects andissues of interest. Coordi-nated by Professor StephenFord, the weekly events alsofeature a $3.00 lunch at11:30 a.m. with meat pre-pared by graduate studentsin the department’s meatlaboratory.

The final sessions May2 and 9 will feature presen-tations by animal scienceinterns about their experi-ences and by UW graduatestudent Rebecca Atkinsonabout ruminant nutritionresearch in sheep.

Other graduate stu-dent presentations includedKim Vonnahme on placen-tal research in pigs, AlexWolf on destruction meth-ods for Salmonella spp.,Michelle Gottsch on tumorstudies involving ewes, andBilly Myers on work relat-ing to digesta flow markersin sheep.

Department ProfessorTod Hansen spoke on thestructure/function of apregnancy-associated pro-tein, and Assistant Profes-sor Donal Skinner of theDepartment of Zoologyand Physiology introduced“Progesterone: The Forgot-ten Steroid.” JohnEtchepare, director of theWyoming Department ofAgriculture, discussed hisperspectives on the currentsituation in the state.

Other seminar speakersrepresented the NationalCattlemen’s Beef Associa-tion, the Center forWomen’s Health Researchand the Department ofObstetrics and Gynecologyat New York University,and the Animal Reproduc-tion and BiotechnologyLab at Colorado State Uni-versity.

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Family andFamily andFamily andFamily andFamily andConsumer SciencesConsumer SciencesConsumer SciencesConsumer SciencesConsumer Sciences

Increasing numbers ofstudents are taking advan-tage of the opportunity toearn a bachelor of sciencedegree with a child devel-opment option through thedepartment’s distance learn-ing flexible enrollment andonline curriculum offeredin cooperation with CasperCollege.

There are currently 38distance students activelypursuing the degree plusperhaps twice that manywho will come on boardwith community collegetransfer credits. When thedepartment outreach pro-gram began nearly threeyears ago, there were 20participants.

Online courses havebecome so popular that anoffering of FCSC 4124(Children with SpecialNeeds) closed in two hoursin the fall. FCSC 2131(Family Relations) had along waiting list. Becausethreaded discussions in chatsessions are an importantpart of online courses, it is

often difficult to increaseinstructors’ student loads.

The department is cur-rently answering 10 to 15requests for informationper week. Many of the in-quiries come from womenwho are home raising chil-dren or from women withfull-time jobs who are seek-ing a career change. Partici-pants come from all overthrough the world, many ofthem military spouses whocan log on wherever theyare.

FCS also offers a certi-fication curriculum forpeople interested in becom-ing early childhood pro-gram directors. Plans areunderway to develop a newdistance degree in familylife education.

The public lecturesentitled “Beyond Silk andHoney: Developing InsectSystems for Biomedical Ap-plications” and “SpiderSilk: An Ancient Guide tothe Future” drew highschool as well as college andcommunity audiences.

The professors also vis-ited several classes at thethree institutions to discussmodern biological researchand to recruit both under-graduate and graduate stu-dents. They were hosted atthe Sheridan and Caspercolleges by faculty membersinvolved in the UW-sup-ported Experimental Pro-gram to Stimulate Com-petitive Research and theBiomedical Research Infra-structure Network.

The department is alsoseeking to attract graduatestudents through personal-ized recruiting CDs thatintroduce prospective en-rollees to UW and to thetypes of research and op-portunities available in mo-lecular biology.

Plant SciencesPlant SciencesPlant SciencesPlant SciencesPlant SciencesProfessors Fred Gray

and Dave Koch attendedthe 8th International Con-gress of Plant Pathology inChristchurch, NewZealand, and presented re-search results on two Wyo-ming projects involving theintegrated control of thesugar beet cyst nematodeand the effect of fall harvestmanagement practices onVerticillium wilt. Morethan 1,300 participantsfrom 62 countries attendedthe week-long event, whichtakes place every five years.The next Congress will bein Italy in 2008.

Prior to attending theconference in NewZealand, they joined Pro-fessor James Krall in a two-week tour of southern Aus-tralia studying agriculturalresearch and productionpractices related to sustain-able agriculture. At theWaite Institute nearAdelaide, they learnedabout research being con-ducted on forage legumecrops, particularly in thedevelopment of varieties

P RO G R A M N OT E S

Molecular BiologyMolecular BiologyMolecular BiologyMolecular BiologyMolecular BiologyProfessors Don Jarvis

and Randy Lewis traveledto community colleges inWyoming and also to Mon-tana State University inBillings during the springsemester to present publiclectures and to recruit stu-dents to the University ofWyoming.

25

with resistance to disease,nematodes, and insects.Grain legumes (pulse crops)and forage legumes are usedto a greater extent in croprotations there than inWyoming.

The team visited sev-eral experiment stationsand stayed at Australianfarms, noting differences inproduction systems. Aus-tralians commonly mixgrazing practices, using ei-ther both animal species inthe same pasture or follow-ing cattle with sheep. Graz-ing is carried on moremonths of the year, andfarmers produce and feedless hay and silage. Theycommonly integrate foragesand livestock into croppingrotations. In the wool-pro-ducing Hamilton region,there is an attempt to inte-grate crops into forage/sheep operations. Cattleand sheep were observedgrazing fields of forage tur-nips.

Krall, who also touredin New Zealand, noted thatthe country has changedfrom a sheep-based to adairy-based economy in thelast ten years. Some landformally devoted to peren-nial pasture has been con-

verted to corn silage pro-duction to support thedairy industry.

The visit of the De-partment of Plant Sciencesfaculty members with theirAustralian colleagues aug-ments an ongoing collabo-ration between scientists inthe two countries on thepossible utilization of a“wheat-annual medic rota-tion system” developed inAustralia for possible use ineastern Wyoming.

Wyoming.” During thefinal session May 8, semi-nar coordinator and Assis-tant Professor K. J. Reddywill summarize and con-clude the series. He spokeon “Chemistry of Coal BedMethane Discharge Waterin Semi-Arid EphemeralStream Channels” duringone of the other seminars.

Earlier in the semester,Professor Tom Thurow, de-partment head, spoke on“Risk Management Insteadof Crisis Management:Recognizing and Minimiz-ing Constraints to EffectiveDrought Policy.” ProfessorMike Smith’s topic was“Strategic Planning forDrought: ImplementationPlan.”

Other sessions were ledby graduate students RichJackson on “Plant Responseto CBM Product Water,”Jonathan Anderson on“Rainfall Erosion on Sur-face Mining Lands,” ChrisEllison on “Sediment Studyin Cold Desert Stream,”Gyami Shreshtha on “Rain-water Harvesting forNepal,” Bret Noecker on“Methods to MinimizeAcid Mine Drainage,”Jumram Li on “SeleniumSpeciation in Natural Wa-

ters,” Leah Burgess on“Management Options forColorado Butterfly Plant,”and Cotton Bousman on“Long-Term Monitoringon Silver Creek.”

RenewableRenewableRenewableRenewableRenewableResourcesResourcesResourcesResourcesResources

Discussions on impor-tant research and issues re-lated to water studies havetaken place throughout thespring semester as part ofthe department’s graduateWater Resources Seminarfrom 2:55 to 4 p.m. Thurs-days in Room 2024. Theevents are open to the pub-lic.

The May 1 seminarwill feature student MikeHenn talking about “For-age Behavior, Efficiency,and Habitat Selection byCattle on Plains PricklyPear Cactus in Eastern

Veterinary SciencesVeterinary SciencesVeterinary SciencesVeterinary SciencesVeterinary SciencesThe department has

converted a large storagespace at the Wyoming StateVeterinary Laboratory inWest Laramie into a class-room. Funds for the effortwere supplied by the UWOffice of Academic Affairs.The room can hold 40 stu-dents and is set up for wire-less Internet access. This isthe first time the depart-ment has had its own dedi-cated classroom environ-ment although laboratory-based teaching of under-graduates has been ongoingfor many years. The newspace is located close to thevarious specialty laborato-ries at the facility and willbe used for teaching under-graduates and for guest lec-tures.

P RO G R A M N OT E S

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Another modificationin the works in the depart-ment is the conversion of asuite of six animal carerooms into a specializedlaboratory in which fieldsamples from transmissiblespongiform encephalopathydiseases such as chronicwasting disease (CWD)and scrapie will be pro-cessed. The new laboratorywill house histology equip-ment for handling brainand lymph node samples aswell as specialized enzyme-linked immunosorbent as-say equipment for rapidimmunological diagnosis ofCWD. Co-localizing bothsets of equipment will helpcentralize testing for CWD.It will also ensure the effi-cient management and dis-posal of wastes generatedfrom CWD work. Fundsfor the modification arebeing supplied by the Re-search Office at UW.

AcademicAcademicAcademicAcademicAcademicProgramsProgramsProgramsProgramsPrograms

Associate Dean andDirector of Academic andStudent Programs JimWangberg is co-chairing anAcademic Summit TaskForce planning a nationalsymposium that will lookto the future to determinethe academic needs of stu-dents and the expectationsand needs of employers inthe fields of agriculture andfood science.

The task force falls un-der the umbrella of the Na-tional Association of StateUniversities and Land-Grant Colleges(NASULGC). The nationalorganization has directedrepresentatives of institu-tions to come together in asummit to coordinate ef-forts, share ideas, and envi-sion what the future will befor students and employersand what academic pro-gram changes should bemade to help make gradu-ates employable.

Currently in the brain-storming stage, the taskforce recently met in Wash-

ington, D.C., and will soonset a target date for thesummit.

horticulture, and financialmanagement. Highlights ofthe conference included asession on fire and droughtand keynote presentationsfrom national speakersabout diabetes and finan-cial health.

Since gaining stake-holder input is vital to thesuccess of extension pro-grams, nine area advisorycommittees have been orga-nized and have met to dis-cuss issues impacting theirgeographic locations in theareas of agriculture, naturalresources, youth and 4-Hprograms, nutrition, foodsafety, and management ofcommunities, finances, andsmall businesses. UW CESis currently conducting astatewide needs assessmentthrough a mail survey. Anadvisory committee ofWyoming county commis-sioners also provides direc-tion for CES on criticalissues.

CooperativeCooperativeCooperativeCooperativeCooperativeExtension ServiceExtension ServiceExtension ServiceExtension ServiceExtension Service

Zola Ryan joined theCarbon County extensionstaff as an area agricultureeducator with an emphasisin range management. Shehas a bachelor’s degree inrangeland resources fromOregon State Universityand is completing a master’sdegree in rangeland ecologyand management fromTexas A & M University.Her research there is focus-ing on a drought earlywarning system for theLaikipia District in Kenya,Africa.

UW CES joined withthe Colorado State Univer-sity CES and the ColoradoForest Service for in-depthtraining on the CSU cam-pus. The collaborative ef-fort provided education forstaff members working in4-H and youth develop-ment, nutrition, agricul-ture, natural resources,community development,

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AgriculturalAgriculturalAgriculturalAgriculturalAgriculturalExperiment StationExperiment StationExperiment StationExperiment StationExperiment Station

The Agricultural Ex-periment Station Competi-tive Grants Program wasinitiated in 1994 to provideseed funding for interdisci-plinary research and out-reach projects that ad-dressed one or more of thecollege’s focus areas. Duringthe succeeding eight years,43 projects have beenfunded for more than $2million. A recent survey offaculty members who havebenefited from the programindicated that the initialfunding was leveraged tosomething over $2.2 mil-lion as of 2001.

Projects funded in thepast range from traditionalproduction-oriented graz-ing and crop experimentsto the novel application oftraditional tools to tacklenew problems. For ex-ample, the program sup-ported the first descriptionof Brown Root Rot in al-falfa in the U.S. and initi-ated ongoing research thatis close to creating a resis-tant variety of alfalfa. The

1994 competition fundedpioneering work on grass-hopper control based onalternate strip and reducedinsecticide application. Thismethod has been developedto the point that adequatecontrol is achieved with lessthan one-half the pesticideof traditional treatmentsand with drastically loweredcosts. It is now the recom-mended mode of control bythe National GrasshopperManagement Board.

One of the first appli-cations of experimentaleconomics to agriculturalcommodity pricing wassupported by the programin 1994. The small originalstudy blossomed into a re-search focus that has re-ceived three major USDAand two internationalgrants and is the basis ofongoing collaboration withthe University of Saratov inRussia. Early support ofcost-effective, practical bo-vine diarrheal virus controlstrategies resulted in severalyears of industry fundingfor vaccine trials.

Ag DevelopmentAg DevelopmentAg DevelopmentAg DevelopmentAg DevelopmentSpring is a season for

rebirth. It is lambing seasonand calving season. It is thetime of year to prepare theground for next year’s crop.In the life cycle of the Col-lege of Agriculture, springis also a time for preparing.It is the time of year whenhigh school seniors con-sider their post-graduationplans. For current students,it is a time to review courseofferings for the comingyear and meet with theiradvisors to plan their classschedules. For many youngpeople, determining how tocover the cost of their edu-cation is also an importantpart of the planning pro-cess. Fortunately, the Col-lege of Agriculture is ableto help many of these stu-dents through its scholar-ship program.

This spring the collegehas offered 154 full andpartial tuition scholarshipsto students in all disciplinesand from a variety of back-grounds. Honorees werepicked by the Ag CollegeScholarship Selection Com-mittee. All of the awards

are sponsored by individu-als, businesses, or families.Next year the college willbe able to add at least twoadditional scholarships tothe list.

The college has re-ceived a bequest from ArdisRadichal to establish theUW “Jack” Radichal schol-arship fund. The Radichalsranched for many years inthe Wheatland canyon andwere well known in bothAlbany and Platte counties.Jack Radichal graduatedfrom the UW College ofAgriculture in 1943, andhis fund will provide twofull-tuition scholarships peryear for Wyoming highschool graduates who wishto attend the College ofAgriculture. Ardis Radichalsays it is her desire to “helpa person attend college whomight otherwise be finan-cially unable to do so.”

Vol. 12, No.2

Non-Profit OrganizationU.S. POSTAGE

PAIDUniversity of WyomingCollege of Agriculture

P.O. Box 3354Laramie, WY 82071-3354

EditorEditorEditorEditorEditorVicki Hamende

The University of Wyomingis an equal opportunity/

affirmative action institution.

Send comments orsuggestions to:Dean Frank D. GaleyP.O. Box 3354Laramie, WY 82071-3354(307) 766-4133agrdean@uwyo.edu

LLLLLayout and Designayout and Designayout and Designayout and Designayout and DesignTana Stith

Officials of the Wyoming Territorial Park, formerly the University of Wyoming Stock Farm,are planning an August 8 to 10 reunion in Laramie for persons who worked at the stock farmfrom the early 1900s through 1990 or who have connections to former employees of the old terri-torial prison.

For further information, contact the park at 975 Snowy Range Road, Laramie, WY 82070 ore-mail ollie@wyoprisonpark.org or sheila@wyoprisonpark.org.

Reunion planned for UW stock farm workers