Three Departments Have New Leaders

The College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences has welcomed three new department chairs in recent months.

"All three of our new chairs are recognized as leading scientists in their fields," said Bobby Moser, vice president of agricultural administration and dean of the college. "With their experience, knowledge, and vision, I'm confident they will help us move their departments and the college toward eminence."

Scott Shearer, Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering

Scott Shearer began as chair of Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering on July 1. A native of Tipp City, Ohio, and an alumnus of the department (BS 1981, MS 1983, and PhD 1986), he most recently served as professor and chair of the Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering at the University of Kentucky. His research focuses on precision agriculture technologies.

Richard Linton, Food Science and Technology

Richard Linton began as chair of Food Science and Technology on August 15. He arrived from Purdue University, where he served as professor of food safety and director of the Center for Food Safety Engineering. He and Shearer plan to work together to meet with food processors around the state to foster more collaboration and research to meet their challenges.

Terry Niblack, Plant Pathology

Terry Niblack began as chair of Plant Pathology on August 16. She previously served as professor in the Department of Crop Sciences at the University of Illinois. Niblack, whose research has focused on the soybean cyst nematode, will guide the department as it begins a new undergraduate degree in plant pathology and a new master's degree in plant health management. Niblack plans to teach the introductory plant pathology course beginning in autumn 2012, when the university converts to a semester calendar.

-- Martha Filipic

Walking in the Path of Excellence

Named Distinguished University Professor in 2011, Rattan Lal exemplifies what CFAES is all about.

During his 20-year tenure at the helm of the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences, Dean Bobby Moser has challenged his faculty to do work that not only sets them apart in their field nationally and internationally -- but that also, in the spirit of the land-grant university mission, makes a difference in people's lives.

Rattan Lal's 24-year career at The Ohio State University has been a steady, resounding answer to that call for excellence. And last April, the university chose to reward his career with its highest recognition for individuals with truly exceptional records in teaching, research, and service: Distinguished University Professor.

"Dr. Rattan Lal has raised the stature of this institution with work that is world-renowned and of enduring significance," Ohio State President Gordon Gee said. "Emanating from a laboratory in Columbus, his insights have reduced hunger on the other side of the globe. He is the epitome of a Distinguished University Professor. Like the soil he studies, he is essential."



A soil scientist in the School of Environment and Natural Resources and director of the Carbon Management and Sequestration Center, Lal has dedicated his life to looking for ways to improve agricultural productivity and sustainability -- studying soil fertility, climate change, and the restoration and rehabilitation of degraded soils.

"When people are poverty stricken, desperate, and hungry, they pass on their sufferings to the land," Lal told the university's Board of Trustees upon accepting his award. "Thus, it is essential to make sustainable soil management be not only an important engine of economic development, but also be integral to any strategy that addresses issues of food insecurity, increases in energy demand, declines in environment quality, and increases in risks of global warming."

Read more at http://go.osu.edu/LalAward.

-- Mauricio Espinoza

College Ambassadors: Good for Recruitment, Personal Growth

For Darryl Pronty, an animal sciences major from Cleveland, being a member of the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences' Ambassadors Team has been "one of the highlights of my collegiate career."

Pronty is one of 27 current CFAES students -- 14 newly selected in 2011 -- who support the critical goals of recruitment and industry relations on behalf of the college. They carry on this work, however, a little differently than admissions staff. For Jill Tyson, coordinator of prospective student services at CFAES and advisor to the Ambassadors Team, that's the point of the 12-year-old program.

"The ambassadors bring a student's perspective, a student's touch," said Tyson, who was herself an ambassador during her years as an undergraduate student at CFAES. "Because of that, they can relate to prospective students in a way staff and faculty may not."

Because they are "a professionally poised" group of students who are carefully selected following an application and interview process, Tyson explained, ambassadors also serve a public relations role interacting with parents during campus tours and representing the college at industry-related activities.

Pronty also sees the diversity of the Ambassadors Team as an asset to the college. "Unlike many of the other team members, I come from an urban background," he said. "Prospective students from an urban background who might be interested in our college, then, have a person to relate to. I feel that in a way I help expand areas of recruitment for CFAES."

The team is not only good for the college, but also for the students who volunteer their time. "Each time that I get together with the team I learn something new," Pronty said. "CFAES has greatly contributed to my personal growth and has provided me with opportunities that I don't think I could have gotten elsewhere. Being part of this team is one of them."

Learn more about the Ambassadors Team at http://go.osu.edu/E9k.

-- Mauricio Espinoza

Savoring Success: College makes substantive changes as a result of Q2S

As the college moves from a quarter- to semester-based system in 2012, there's much more in store than changes on the calendar.

As part of the transition, departments in the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences reviewed their curriculums. Among the changes that resulted:

-- The college is offering three new majors: culinary science, meat science, and plant pathology.

-- The major in agricultural and extension education has split into two: agriscience education and community leadership.

-- Current majors in crop science, landscape horticulture, and turfgrass science have combined into one: sustainable plant systems.

-- ATI is offering four new associate of science programs: agricultural systems management, biochemical sciences, sustainable agriculture, and renewable energy.

In addition, several new minors also have been approved, especially in environment and natural resources, said Jill Pfister, assistant dean, Academic Affairs, as well as a new dairy certificate program, and a veterinary technician specialization in Animal Sciences in which a student can earn both a bachelor's and an associate degree of applied science at Columbus State Community College. Additional changes are being made in the graduate programs, she said.

"The university uses CFAES as an example of a college that really did take the transition seriously and didn't just convert our classes to a semester system," Pfister said.

The adoption of the semester system is occurring at universities and colleges across the state. Initiated by the Ohio Board of Regents, the move will make it easier for students to transfer between Ohio schools. Being on semesters also eases administrative tasks somewhat, Pfister said: "There will be three graduations and three master schedules per year, not four."

Advisors are helping current students navigate their way from quarters to semesters, Pfister said. And a student-developed website, http://myswitch.osu.edu, offers additional guidance.

 -- Martha Filipic

CFAES Hires New Assistant Dean

Jeffory Hattey has joined the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences as an assistant dean of academic programs.

He was previously a professor of soil and environmental sciences and the Dillon and Lois Hodges Professor of International Agriculture at Oklahoma State University, where he received numerous awards for his work as a teacher and advisor.

A primary goal in his new position, he said, "is to ensure the faculty and students in the college are globally recognized for their excellence in academics and research. The transitional period higher education is experiencing is a tremendous opportunity for CFAES to enhance its reputation as the land-grant to the world by preparing students to solve global 21st-century problems."

He said a second goal is to enhance student mentoring in academics, research, and outreach to prepare them for graduate school and career leadership.

"A final goal," Hattey noted, "is to assist CFAES faculty as they design and deliver effective educational programs for this new paradigm where students work with international peers via virtual and traditional classrooms."

Also at Oklahoma State, he was undergraduate academic and advising coordinator in the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, director of the Environmental Sciences Program, and chair of the General Education Assessment Task Force. His awards include the 2010 Soil Science Society of America's Soil Science Education Award and the 2008 U.S. Department of Agriculture's Southern Region Excellence in College and University Teaching in the Food and Agricultural Sciences Award.

"I look forward to learning about the dreams, ambitions, and goals of others in CFAES, then helping them chart a path to ensure those dreams become reality," he said. "I'm excited to be a part of the outstanding tradition of excellence built by the faculty, staff, and students of Ohio State and to make some small contribution to the legacy for the next generation."

-- Adam Cahill and Kurt Knebusch