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Dr. Ivory W. Lyles |
Dr. Anne R. Sortor joined Extension on August 1 as assistant director of Family and Consumer Sciences. She previously served as regional program leader for the University of Tennessee Extension's Family and Consumer Sciences and 4-H Youth Development, overseeing 31 counties, a position she held for more than eight years.
We are very pleased to have Dr. Sortor on board to lead our state Family and Consumer Sciences educational efforts. She has the depth and skill set we need to continue our efforts to improve the lives of our neighbors in Arkansas. Among Dr. Sortor's strengths is her dedication to the mission of the Cooperative Extension Service. She comes to Arkansas with more than 29 years of experience in extension, having worked as an agent, specialist and administrator.
A native of Spartanburg, South Carolina, Dr. Sortor earned a B.S. in Home Economics Education at South Carolina State University, a master's in Agricultural Education at Clemson University and a doctorate in Human Ecology from the University of Tennessee.
"The core of extension is basically the same in every state," she said. "The way we implement programs and our structures may vary, but I believe I have a strong enough background that my learning curve won't be as steep."
Dr. Sortor's goal is to promote the work being done by specialists and agents to continue to meet the needs of Arkansans.
"We want to market ourselves and help people understand what our program emphases are and help our neighbors live a better life," she said.
A welcome reception for Dr. Sortor is scheduled on August 17 at 1:30 p.m. in the educational wing classrooms 1 and 2 of the Little Rock State Office. I hope you can join us and help me welcome Dr. Sortor to Arkansas.
- Ivory W. Lyles
Award Endowment Created in Memory of Dr. Lynn R. Russell
I am pleased to announce that Dr. Ivory W. Lyles and the administrative leadership team have established an endowed fund in memory of the late Dr. Lynn R. Russell. The Lynn R. Russell Endowed Award for Professional Excellence will provide an annual award to an employee(s) of the UA Division of Agriculture Cooperative Extension Service pursuing professional development opportunities.
Applicants for the Lynn R. Russell Endowed Award for Professional Excellence shall have more than three years of service within the UA Cooperative Extension Service and shall enroll in an accredited graduate program or pursue an educational program that will further develop the applicant's professional skills. Each applicant shall submit a two-page proposal that details the program in which he or she shall enroll or pursue and that defines the professional goals the applicant plans to achieve. With the first award to be announced in 2008, the notice and guidelines for interested applicants will be publicized at a later date.
If you wish to make a contribution in Dr. Russell's memory to this endowment, you may do so by writing a check to "The UA Foundation, Inc.," designating the "Russell Endowment" on the check's "memo" line. You may mail your donation to the Development Office of the UA Cooperative Extension Service, P.O. Box 391, Little Rock, AR 72203. Notification of your memorial contribution will be sent to Dr. Russell's family.
– Merritt Royal
Honorary and Memorial Gifts
The following memorial gifts were recently received in support of programs and funds within the UA Cooperative Extension Service. This list covers gifts deposited June 1-30, 2007.
In memory of Lynn Russell
Mary "Portia" Short
In memory of Kenneth Scott
Mary "Portia" Short
In memory of Lynn Russell
Marsha A. Goetting
Pat and Roy Hayden
Bill and Chris Miller
William L. Russell, Jr.
Mary Shaver
UA CES Administrative Leadership Team
Honorary or memorial donations may be forwarded to the Development Office, Cooperative Extension Service, P.O. Box 391, Little Rock, AR 72203. To ensure that proper notification is sent, please also include in whose honor or memory the gift is made and the mailing address of the person to receive the notification.
– Merritt Royal
Gardisser Selected for Induction into Arkansas Aviation Hall of Fame for 2007
The Arkansas Aviation Historical Society has selected Dr. Dennis R. Gardisser as one of the three inductees into the Arkansas Aviation Hall of Fame for 2007. The other inductees are Mr. Jack Stell and Mr. Adolphus H. Bledsoe, Jr.
The Twenty-Eighth Annual Arkansas Aviation Hall of Fame Banquet and Induction Ceremony will be held in Little Rock on November 15, 2007.
The Arkansas Aviation Historical Society was founded in 1979 with three missions: to preserve the history of aviation in Arkansas; to sponsor the Arkansas Aviation Hall of Fame; and to operate the Aerospace Education Center, which opened on June 10, 1995.
Congratulations, Dr. Gardisser, on this great honor.
– Ivory W. Lyles
4-H Career Orientation Curriculum Wins National Award
Career orientation can make a lifetime of difference in a high school student, but educators in Arkansas faced two major problems: a high turnover rate for teachers and lack of a textbook or usable curriculum.
Two extension agents, Debbie DeRossitte of Craighead County and Earleen Brecheen of Van Buren County, created a solution, and their efforts earned them the first-ever Denise Miller 4-H Innovator Award from the National Association of Extension 4-H Agents. The two applied for and received a $5,000 grant to create what would become the 4-H COnnection.
Brecheen and DeRossitte, marrying their teaching experience to their extension careers, saw that career orientation and 4-H shared many common goals. After putting two and two together, the two came up with 4-H COnnection, a complete curriculum that includes 19 4-H project books that cover the 16 CO Career Clusters, including self-awareness, workplace skills, entrepreneurship and community leadership.
The pair used a grant to fund pilot programs in eight schools. Following the pilot, the 4-H COnnection was offered as a teacher in-service to three educational cooperatives. Interest in the project spread statewide after the 4-H COnnection was presented at the Arkansas Career Orientation Teachers' Association conference in July 2006. Today, 55 counties are interested in the program, and 30 schools have already purchased the kits.
– Lamar James
Project to Organize Wind Energy Conference and Working Group
The Arkansas Energy Office recently received an Omnibus Award for Arkansas Wind Power Outreach. Maureen Rose and Dr. Mark Peterson's Breakthrough Solutions Program will provide contract services to the Arkansas Energy Office for the Arkansas Wind Power Outreach Project. This project offers potential economic breakthroughs for Arkansas rural landowners and energy consumers.
Wind Powering America is a program of the U.S. Department of Energy. Their website, http://www.eere.energy.gov/windandhydro/windpoweringamerica, includes information about the goals of the program nationally: "Wind Powering America is a commitment to dramatically increase the use of wind energy in the United States. This initiative will establish new sources of income for American farmers, Native Americans, and other rural landowners and meet the growing demand for clean sources of electricity."
Rose attended the 2007 Wind Powering America Conference and Exhibition, followed by the All States Wind Summit in Los Angeles in June.
Contract services began July 1 and include:
1. Identification of key stakeholders in Arkansas (utilities, decision makers, private and nonprofit organizations, rural landowners, federal and state agencies and organizations and others with an interest in this issue);
2. Organization of a Wind Energy Conference with information on modern wind generators, quantification of costs and benefits, and networking of people, organizations and resources for potential wind generation projects. This will be an opportunity to dispel myths and address market barriers to wind generation development. (Recent legislative updates to Arkansas's net metering law provide for larger systems, solar credits and "banking" of excess generation, encouraging Arkansans to invest in renewable energy generation.);
3. Formation of a Wind Working Group for Arkansas. The Wind Powering America program has groups in 34 states in 2006. The Arkansas Wind Working Group will emerge from the conference and other contacts with key stakeholders and will form a coalition to develop a statewide implementation strategy.
Extension faculty with an interest or expertise in wind energy issues are encouraged to contact Maureen Rose regarding this project.
– Maureen Rose
Kulkarni Attends MSU Cotton Ginning System Technology and Management Course
Dr. Subodh Kulkarni attended the Cotton Ginning System Technology and Management course offered by Mississippi State University, May 7-18, 2007. This two-week course included a series of lectures, hands-on laboratory work, demonstrations of cotton ginning in the USDA/ARS Cotton Ginning Research Laboratory at Stoneville, Mississippi, and a visit to a commercial cotton gin and cotton classing office. The training was focused on understanding various issues the ginners in the cotton belt are dealing with.
– Subodh Kulkarni
Kulkarni Presents Research Paper at Annual ASABE Meeting
Dr. Subodh Kulkarni attended the annual meeting of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers held in Minneapolis, Minnesota, June 17-20, 2007. He presented a research paper, "Spectral correlation of crop response to Soybean Cyst Nematodes," based on his Ph.D. work. He became a member of Alpha Epsilon and serves on the Cotton Engineering Committee (PM-23/7/3).
– Subodh Kulkarni
Saraswat Presents Poster at ASABE Centennial Meeting
Dr. Dharmendra Saraswat, assistant professor/Extension engineergeospatial technologies, who recently joined the Biological and Agricultural Engineering Department, attended the centennial meeting of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) at Minneapolis, Minnesota, during June 16-20, 2007. He presented a poster titled "Evaluation of image fusion, object based classification approach for citrus tree counting using QuickBird image." He is currently a member of ASABE and serves on three ASABE technical committees: IET-312 (Machine Vision), PM-48 (Fruit and Vegetable Production Engineering) and PM-54 (Precision Agriculture). This meeting provided Dr. Saraswat an excellent opportunity to interact and have detailed discussions with peers and also to identify future collaborators for undertaking joint research.
– Dharmendra Saraswat
PowerPoint Helps Shrink Images
If the pictures you insert into your PowerPoint slide show are large, your presentation may become slow and it may be more difficult to send or print your slides. PowerPoint allows you to compress pictures to save space and time.
1. Open PowerPoint.
2. Select File and then Open or the Open file icon and find the slide file you want to compress.
3. Right click on the first photograph or image and select Format Picture.
4. Select the Picture tab.
5. Select Compress.
6. Choose Selected pictures or All pictures in document (recommended).
7. Select Web/Screen.
8. Press OK.
9. Select Apply.
Save the edited file under another name in case you don't like the results. Run through your compressed slide show to make sure you are satisfied with the results.
– Nina Boston
Grants and Contracts
| Project Title | Award Amount | Principal Investigator | Granting Agency |
| The Use of Gypsum for Improved Cotton Productivity | $23,715.00 | Dr. Leo Espinoza | Cotton Incorporated |
| Evaluation of Sampling Procedures for Detecting Tarnished Plant Bug Populations in Cotton: AR | $21,800.00 | Dr. Gus Lorenz Espinoza | Cotton Incorporated |
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Total Awards |
$45,515.00 |
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© 2006 |
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University of Arkansas • Division of Agriculture |
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