Crop Sciences Newsletter #120, October 11, 2006

PEOPLE IN THE NEWS

...Congratulations to Donald Ort, who received the Charles F. Kettering Award. This award, established by the Kettering Foundation in 1962, is intended to recognize excellence in the field of photosynthesis. In addition to researching plant responses to global atmospheric change, he is responsible for explaining how light energy is transformed into chemical energy, which is then used by plants to make biomass, such as carbohydrates and food.

FUNDING RECEIVED

...Several USDA grants were recently awarded to members of the department. Mohammed Babadoost received $38,179 for the project “Set Treatment for Controlling Internal Discoloration of Horseradish Root”. Susan Ratcliffe received $27,727 for the 5th National IPM Symposium; $98,922 and $25,583 for “A Transition From Integrated Pest Management Facilitator to Co-Director for the North Central Region”. Lila Vodkin received $175,560 for “Genomic Approaches to Adding Value to Agriculture” and Rick Weinzierl received $5,500 for the project “Establishing a Midwest Corn Earworm Migration and Insecticide Resistance Monitoring Network.”

...Michael Plewa received $50,000 from the Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant College Program for ADevelopment of a Comparative Toxicity Database for U.S. EPA”.

...Greg Noel received $8,000 from the North Central Soybean Research Program for the project “Investigations of Changes in Resistance of PI 88788 to Field Populations of Soybean Cyst Nematode (SCN) That Will Impact All NC States”. Glen Hartman received $21,250 from the same agency for “Sentinel Plots to Monitor the Spread of Asian Soybean Rust in the U.S. Soybean Production Regions”. Glen also received $52,944 from SDBC for ASoybean Research, IL 206-2009.

...Vera Lozovaya received $60,000 from the Consortium for Plant Biotechnology Research for the project “Identifying the Health Promoting Composition of Soy Seeds”.

FROM OUR OFFICE TO YOURS

...The College of ACES and Paul A. Funk Recognition Awards for 2007 Call for Nomination forms and instructions are available online.

...There will be a free seminar for all faculty on “Practical Mentoring of Graduate Students: Faculty Communication & Expectation Settings: How to Get Your Message Across” on Wednesday, January 10, 2007 in Illini Union rooms A, B, & C from 9:00 a.m. till 1:30 p.m. Lunch will be provided. Seating is limited, and advance registration is required. For additional information online.

...Information on the deadline for submitting 2007 Form W-4 for foreign nationals (nonresident aliens) and registration details for 2007 tax status update appointments and 2007 tax treaty benefit renewal appointments is available online.

DATES TO REMEMBER

Oct. 11-12, UI Extension Annual Conference, Decatur

Oct. 20, ACES Faculty Meeting and Reception for New and Recently Promoted Faculty, 3-5:00 p.m., LIAC Heritage Room

Oct. 30, Intent to Nominate forms due for College of ACES & Paul Funk Recognition Awards

Nov. 2, ACES Graduate Student Recognition, Levis Faculty Center, 3rd Floor

Nov. 2, 10:30-11:30 a.m., ACES Faculty Meeting, 149 NSRC, Program: “Global Campus”

Nov. 4, Salute to Agriculture Day, UI vs. Ohio State football game

Dec. 1, ACES Faculty Meeting Rescheduled to Nov. 2

Dec. 8, JBT Banquet; Illini Union A-B-C

Dec. 8, Supporting materials due for ACES Awards

Feb. 16, 2007, ACES Faculty Meeting 3-5:00 p.m., ILAC Heritage Room

Mar. 9-10, ExplorACES

Apr. 13, ACES Honors Symposium, 12 noon

Apr. 20, 3-5:00 p.m., ACES Faculty Meeting, LIAC Heritage Room

Apr. 22, ACES Student Awards Banquet, 12 noon, Illini Union

Apr. 23, College of ACES and Paul A. Funk Recognition Awards Banquet

May 13, UI Commencement

GRAD STUDENT BULLETIN BOARD

...CITES Training Services offers Student Technology Training (STT). STT workshops are taught to students by students at a very affordable price. The workshops are scheduled throughout the semester on weekday evenings. They are taught at the CITES Training Center, Suite 26 Illini Hall. Software currently being taught include Access, Excel, Powerpoint, Publisher, Word, Mathematica, SQL programming, Dreamweaver, EndNote, JavaScript, Photoshop, Flash and Matlab. Phone: 333-6285 or online.

...The University of Illinois Ethics Office will administer the third annual online ethics training program from Oct. 4 to Nov. 2. To comply with the law and avoid internal disciplinary action, all University of Illinois employees, including graduate students, must do the ethics training during that time period, and the training takes less than one hour. The University of Illinois Ethics Office will contact you via your official campus e-mail account with your individual login instructions and password for the Oct. 4 start. For more information about the training requirements, you may go to online or call the toll-free Ethics Help Line at 866-758-2146.

UPCOMING DEADLINES

Oct. 15: October degree conferral (no commencement)
Oct. 16: Second half-session courses begin
Nov. 3: Last day to add a second half-session course
Nov. 10: Last day to apply for December Graduation
Last day to withdraw from a current term without a grade of W
Last day to elect credit/no-credit option for a semester course or to change from credit/no-credit option to a regular grade
Last day for student to drop a semester course without a grade of W

...For the Graduate College's Calendar of Events for Graduate Student Professional Development, see online. For past Grad Links bulletins, see online

...Building Relationships for the Future: Networking Skills: Thursday, October 5, 2006, 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., 407 Illini Union
CV Doctor! Event: Friday, October 13, 2006, 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., Espresso Royale, lower level of the Undergraduate Library
Dissertation Writing Workshop: Registration Required! Friday, October 20, 2006, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., 314 Illini Union. The workshop is open to all graduate students at any stage of the dissertation or master’s thesis.

...The 2006-2007 Thesis Handbook is now available online. You can also pick up a hard copy in the racks outside the Thesis Office at 206 Coble Hall, anytime Monday through Friday 8:00 a.m. - 4:45 p.m.

SEMINARS

Oct. 13, noon, Ken Salo,“reinventing environmental justice: neoliberal nature and the political ecology of social justice”, Latzer Hall, YMCA.

Oct. 13, 7:00 p.m., Dr. John Stone, Poet, Essayist, Cardiologist,“Writing a life: Notes of a doctorwriter”, Spurlock Museum, The Dr. Allan C. Campbell Family Distinguished Speaker Series.

Oct. 17, noon, Beth Amsbary, U of I Department of Theatre Alum/Founding Artistic Director of Seattle Public Theatre,“Corn, community, and tales of delightful growth”, Latzer Hall, YMCA.

Oct. 19, 4:00 p.m., Jonathan Elkind, Independent energy, environment, and security consultant and former Director for Russian, Ukrainian and Eurasian Affairs, National Security Council,“The globalization of energy resources: tapping Caspian oil and gas”, 3 Floor, L rd evis Faculty Center.

Oct. 20, noon, Jonathan Elkind, Independent energy, environment, and security consultant and former Director for Russian, Ukrainian and Eurasian Affairs, National Security Council, “Energy security and U.S. policy”, Latzer Hall, YMCA.

Oct. 26, 7:30 p.m., Grant Heiken, Independent consultant, author, geologist (retired) at Los Alamos National Laboratory, “Mega-Disasters: science, policy and human behavior: was the Bronze Age volcanic eruption of Thira (Santorini) a megacatastrophe? A geological/archaeological detective story”, Knight Auditorium, Spurlock Museum.

Oct. 27, noon, Jürgen Scheffran, Arms Control Disarmament and International Security, “Renewal energy: a contribution to energy security”, Latzer Hall, YMCA.

Oct. 31, noon, Sarah Mangellsdorf, Dean, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, “The view from Lincoln Hall”, Latzer Hall, YMCA.

Nov. 3, noon, Ximing Cai, “Will the world run out of water?”, Latzer Hall, YMCA.

Nov. 7, noon, Richard Herman, Chancellor, “Illinois 2056: imagining your university of the future”, Latzer Hall, YMCA.

Nov. 10, noon, James Herkert, Director of Science, The Nature Conservancy of Illinois, “Conserving the earth’s biodiversity”, Latzer Hall, YMCA.

Nov. 14, noon, Jim Nowlan, Visiting Senior Fellow, Institute of Government and Public Affairs, “Illinois politics: what’s next?”, Latzer Hall, YMCA.