Newsline for the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

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IN THIS NEWSLINE ISSUED January 31, 2008:

  1. UA-LED TEAM AWARDED $50 MILLION TO SOLVE PLANT BIOLOGY'S GRAND CHALLENGES
  2. 2007 CALS VEGETABLE REPORT AVAILABLE
  3. MESQUITE TREES FOR THE URBAN LANDSCAPE
  4. BEEHIVE OF ACTIVITY
  5. SOME IDEAS ON WATER
  6. CALS IN THE NEWS
  7. WHERE SCIENCE MEETS BUSINESS

1 UA-LED TEAM AWARDED $50 MILLION TO SOLVE PLANT BIOLOGY'S GRAND CHALLENGES

The National Science Foundation has awarded a University of Arizona-led team $50 million dollars to create a global center and computer cyberinfrastructure within which to answer plant biology's grand challenge questions, which no single research entity in the world currently has the capacity to address. The project will unite plant scientists, computer scientists and information scientists from around the world for the first time ever to provide answers to questions of global importance and advance all of these fields.

The five-year project, dubbed the iPlant Collaborative, potentially is renewable for a second five years for a total of $100 million.

"This global center is going to change the way we do science," says UA plant sciences professor and BIO5 member Richard Jorgensen, who is the lead investigator and director of the iPlant Collaborative. "We're bringing many different types of scientists together who rarely had opportunities to talk to one another before. In so doing, we'll create the kind of multidisciplinary environment that is necessary to crack the toughest problems in modern biology."

Richard Jorgensen, BIO5 Institute, raj@ag.arizona.edu

To learn more:
http://uanews.org/node/17900

2 2007 CALS VEGETABLE REPORT AVAILABLE

Despite a downturn in recent prices, vegetable production remains the largest contributor to Arizona's agricultural economy, exclusive of livestock production. The UA College of Agriculture and Life Sciences has produced a vegetable report every year for the past 20 years. The current report contains results from research conducted during 2007.

Highlights include information on plant pathogen and insect management practices, pesticide resistance, vegetable production practices, farm labor issues, and pest movement.

The 122-page report is available at the link below.

David Byrne, Department of Entomology, byrne@ag.arizona.edu

To learn more:
http://cals.arizona.edu/pubs/crops/az1438/

3 MESQUITE TREES FOR THE URBAN LANDSCAPE

Want to add a tree to your landscape? How about a mesquite? Mesquite trees are members of the genus Prosopis and the Fabaceae (legume or bean) family. Because of their attractiveness and drought tolerance, they are one of the "backbone" plants of many xeriscape plantings. They tolerate most soils with good drainage and grow well in full to reflected sun as well as in partial shade. Mesquites range in size from shrubs to large trees that grow to over 30 feet (10 meters) in height.

For information about how to select and maintain mesquites in the urban landscape,see the link to Aridus, the newsletter for the Desert Legume Program, below.

Ursula K. Schuch, Department of Plant Sciences, ukschuch@ag.arizona.edu;
Jack J. Kelly, Pima County Extension, jackelly@ag.arizona.edu

To learn more:
http://cals.arizona.edu/desertlegumeprogram/pdf/aridus19-2.pdf

4 BEEHIVE OF ACTIVITY

Consider the honeybee. With a brain the size of a rice grain, this insect nonetheless boasts the densest neuropile on earth--pure gray and white brain matter--small but tight, and stunningly dynamic.

Then consider that bee colonies can number nearly 50,000 residents by summer's peak, and a hive's foragers can cruise miles searching for food. Upon return, they communicate directions to juicy dining spots in an elaborate language known as the waggle dance.

To read more about UA research on honeybees, see the link to the article in the current UA Alumnus magazine.

Diana Wheeler, Department of Entomology, dewsants@ag.arizona.edu

To learn more:
http://www.arizonaalumni.com/Alumnus/w08/bees.html

5 SOME IDEAS ON WATER

Water issues have often divided this community, but our core views may be more similar than we thought. That is one of the conclusions I draw from sifting through almost 350 comments from the Community Conversation on Water held in late October.

The one-day program was designed first to inform and then to generate dialogue among the approximately 300 participants, not to develop solutions. We invited additional feedback through the distribution of a questionnaire at the forum as well as electronically.

Read the rest of the Arizona Daily Star opinion piece by Sharon B. Megdal, director of the UA's Water Resources Research Center, at the link below.

Sharon B. Megdal, Water Resources Research Center, smegdal@cals.arizona.edu

To learn more:
http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/219996.php

6 CALS IN THE NEWS

SHRIMP RESEARCH IN THE DESERT
The Sonoran Desert of Arizona might seem like an unlikely spot for shrimp farming. Why then is the federal government spending research dollars here to support it? The answer is to protect our health and create an environmentally sustainable domestic industry producing protein-rich, low-fat domestic shrimp.

The University of Arizona, together with partners in coastal states and the respected Oceanic Institute, has led the development of a robust domestic shrimp-farming industry by conducting critical research focused on improving diagnostic methods and tools to keep this popular seafood product free of disease.

From a letter to the editor by CALS Dean Colin Kaltenbach, in the Arizona Daily Star: http://www.azstarnet.com/opinion/219825

ARIZONA FARM BUREAU SALUTES FORMER EXTENSION AGENT LARRY TIBBS
When you hear the phrase "bleed green," those of us involved in 4-H know that we are referring to a person who lives and breathes 4-H. Fellow 4-H leaders, 4-H'ers and parents would like to pay tribute to Larry Tibbs for bleeding green all these years. He worked for the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension, Maricopa County for the past 12 years serving as a 4-H extension agent specializing in Large Livestock.

To read more from the Arizona Farm Bureau News tribute, go to page 8 at: http://www.azfb.org/news/pdf/AA_01-08.pdf

STATUS OF UA TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER
The University of Arizona improved on efforts to commercialize its technologies in several areas in 2007. The most recent figures released by the UA show the number of patent applications, faculty invention disclosures and licensing agreements were up last year from fiscal year 2006.

Article from the Arizona Daily Star features an update on the RediRipe apple sticker, developed through CALS: http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/biz-topheadlines/220701.php

7 WHERE SCIENCE MEETS BUSINESS

Medical school, academic research--or something else? Students majoring in the biological sciences often don't know about the wide range of jobs available in their field, and most college science programs don't prepare them to enter the workforce in nontraditional positions.

Thanks to an educational initiative spearheaded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, career options in the scinces are expanding nationwide. At the University of Arizona, the Professional Science Master's degree in Applied Biosciences prepares graduates for such varied careers a clinical trials administration, project management, forensics, controlled environment agriculture and other emerging fields.

Lindy Brigham, Academic Programs Administration, lbrigham@ag.arizona.edu

To learn more:
http://cals.arizona.edu/landandpeople/fall2007/article1.pdf

To find out about available CALS publications and upcoming events, go to http://cals.arizona.edu/. If you have questions or comments about NewsLine, send an email to newseditor@ag.arizona.edu. Previous issues can be viewed at http://cals.arizona.edu/pubs/newsline/previous-issues.html

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