February 2015

Feb 5, 2015

Chill out with JuVn8 grape smoothie

When Kendra Stallings first saw bottles of JuVn8 smoothies on the shelf at a Food Lion in Emerald Isle, she couldn’t contain her excitement. At the beach for a family vacation, Stallings showed the smoothies to her parents, who each then announced to anyone within earshot, “My daughter made these!” Stallings earned her NC State master’s degree from the Department of Food, Bioprocessing and Nutrition Sciences this past May. 

Feb 5, 2015

Important implications: CALS team studies the distinct inflorescence structure of the dogwood

Dr. Bob Franks of NC State University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences has a bone to pick with those who determined that the dogwood is the state flower of North Carolina. “It actually should be called the ‘state inflorescence,’” Franks, associate professor of plant and microbial biology, said with a laugh. And Franks would know, having spent the past five years working on a National Science Foundation-funded grant to study the inflorescence architecture, or variation in the arrangement of flowers, of the dogwood. 

Feb 5, 2015

Extension farmworkers health and safety education program connects growers, immigrant farm workers and communities

Thanks to the first two years of a $125,198 Philip Morris International pilot project grant, Cooperative Extension is helping migrant workers avoid agricultural health and safety dangers, such as pesticide poisoning, heat stroke and green tobacco sickness. 

Feb 5, 2015

CALS research sheds light on toxic arsenic problem in Southeast Asian well water

Every day, more than 100 million people throughout South and Southeast Asia drink well water contaminated by toxic levels of arsenic. But two NC State University scientists are conducting fundamental research aimed at changing that. 

Feb 5, 2015

Extension’s facilitation team adds value to communities

Fa.cil.i.tate: to make easy or easier. Thanks to the efforts of N.C. Cooperative Extension’s facilitation team, planning, implementing and collaborating have become easier for groups and counties across the state. 

Feb 5, 2015

Reunion, Soilbration bring alumni, friends back to CEFS

What do Firsthand Foods CEO Jennifer Curtis, University of Georgia faculty member Suzanne O’Connell and Western Illinois University Organic Research Director Joel Gruver have in common? All developed a passion for what they do now through earlier work with the Center for Environmental Farming Systems. 

Feb 5, 2015

Collins, Talley honored as 2014 CALS Distinguished Alumni

NC State University graduates William K. Collins and Windell L. Talley were named the 2014 College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Distinguished Alumni at the CALS Alumni Awards Reception and Ceremony, Sept. 5. 

Feb 5, 2015

Barrett Kays breaks new ground in career spanning soil science and landscape architecture

Dr. Barrett Kays may never have outgrown the near-universal childhood love of playing in the dirt, but he’s not out making mud pies. Instead, the NC State University alumnus is designing soils that support some of the nation’s most complicated landscape architectural projects. 

Feb 5, 2015

Remembering T. Carlton Blalock, former CES director and National 4-H Hall of Fame laureate

Dr. T. Carlton Blalock, 89, who served as director of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences’ Cooperative Extension Service from 1978 to 1981, passed away Sept. 16. 

Feb 5, 2015

Full STEAM ahead: Alternative admissions program benefactors host students and families

Just a few months after making a $3 million gift to the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences to seed an innovative rural student access initiative, Joe and Debbie Gordon got to meet some of the students their generosity directly impacts. In August, the Gordons hosted students from the STEAM program and their families at a reception at their Raleigh home.