Recent CALS Spotlights

  • Arizona Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory

    The Arizona Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (AZVDL) is a service unit of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. One of the many research programs that make up the Agricultural Experiment Station, the lab is located at the West Campus Agricultural Center in Tucson.

    AZVDL is staffed by six veterinarians with advanced training in the specialty areas of pathology and microbiology. They are assisted by twelve staff with expertise in the areas of information technology, business office administration, specimen receiving, necropsy, bacteriology, serology, molecular diagnostics, cytology, immunohistochemistry and histology. Each of the veterinarians will have faculty appointments in the School of Animal and Comparative Biosciences.

  • Reducing Campylobacter Contamination

    Campylobacter is the second most common cause of human foodborne diarrheal illness in the U.S., causing an estimated 1.3 million cases annually and resulting in health care costs of somewhere between $800 million to $5.6 billion per year. The handling and consumption of poultry is considered to be the most significant risk factor in transmission of the bacteria to humans. To date, there is no vaccine available to industry to reduce the numbers of Campylobacter in poultry and intervention strategies remain insufficient. The laboratory of Bibiana Law, previously under the late Lynn Joens, is one of the leading research programs worldwide in the development of a vaccine to reduce the Campylobacter bacteria in chickens.

    The research on Campylobacter is supported by a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and Law is working with UA’s Office of Technology Transfer and industry to commercialize the vaccine. Additionally, the lab maintains close ties to CamVac, a collaborative organization of researchers seeking a global solution to the issue of Campylobacter in poultry. Other research includes the assessment of biofilms (groups of microorganisms adhering to a surface) in irrigation infrastructure in Yuma for the presence of Salmonella as a risk factor for contamination in fresh produce.

  • The Food Product and Safety Laboratory

    John Marchello, professor of animal sciences, teaches Food Safety and Microbiology, Introductory Animal Science, Honors Food Safety, and Meat Animal Composition, among other courses. His research studies over the years have involved various food safety issues with regard to meat products and other foods, and evaluation of meat animal carcasses for quality, cutability, chemical composition, tenderness and sensory evaluation. His outreach work is extensive; Marchello is frequently called upon to work with small businesses, consumers and county fairs on food safety issues, carcass evaluation, Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point Certification and live animal evaluation.

    As a child in Montana, Marchello’s experience with meat animals was extensive. He grew up in a small community where his dad owned a meat market. "We fed a lot of cattle and ran a lot of cattle on grass." In high school, he was heavily involved in FFA and had a large herd of Hereford cows. “In the market, I learned to process carcasses into various retail cuts and worked with consumers to improve selection of various meat cuts.”

  • The Race Track Industry Program

    Established in 1973 at the University of Arizona, the Race Track Industry Program (RTIP) is world renowned for its curriculum on the pari-mutuel racing and equine bloodstock industries. Program graduates - including two Kentucky Derby winning trainers - represent many of the “who’s who” in racing today. The educational reach goes beyond campus. Each year, RTIP faculty and students host one of the largest racing conferences on the international calendar; delegates representing 20 countries and six continents attended the Symposium on Racing and Gaming in December 2012.

    Wendy Davis, associate coordinator and advisor for the program, fell into the category of the typical “horse crazy kid” who was searching for an equine-based career and a college program that would prepare her for it. She found a perfect fit when, in high school, she met with an advisor for UA’s Department of Animal Sciences, Frank Whiting. He described a new program that wasn’t offered anywhere else in the United States and combined horses, business and racing. Davis didn’t need to go any further – this was it!  Not only was the curriculum “spot on,” but Whiting made a lasting impression that day of what an advisor and true mentor could be. “I remember the comfort I felt in making the transition to college life knowing that Dr. Whiting was there,” said Davis.

  • The CALS V Bar V Ranch Agricultural Center

    The V Bar V Ranch agricultural center, part of the University of Arizona College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, is a 71,000-acre public lands ranch located in central Arizona along the Mogollon Rim east of Camp Verde. The ranch ranges from 3,500 to 7,000 feet in elevation encompassing vegetation zones of high desert chaparral, pinon-juniper woodland and pine forest.

    As a fully operating, working cattle ranch, the V Bar V affords University of Arizona faculty and students the opportunity to approach research in an applied, problem solving manner in combination with basic laboratory studies done on campus. Current research projects are focused on breed characterization from conception to consumption, range management/monitoring, range beef cow efficiency, heifer development, and estrous synchronization studies. Additionally, a Ranch Explorers Day is held every August as well as a variety of other training/information workshops for ranchers as the needs arise.

  • The CALS Aquaculture Pathology Laboratory

    The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences’ Aquaculture Pathology Laboratory (APL) is a self-supporting entity located in the Department of Veterinary Science and Microbiology on the University of Arizona’s main campus. The APL is an OIE (Office International des Epizooties = World Animal Health) Reference Laboratory and a U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) approved laboratory for testing of live shrimp and other products intended for export.

    The APL provides three types of services and a research function that is available to the domestic and foreign shrimp culture industries: 1) disease diagnostic, surveillance and reference lab services from our main diagnostic lab; 2) quarantine and disease challenge services at our West Campus aquaculture facility; 3) technical services and training to governments, companies and aquaculture cooperatives located in the U.S., Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, Oceania, and east and southeast Asia; and 4) a variety of applied research projects for U.S.-based and foreign companies.

  • UA Shares $9M Contract to Fight, Prevent Citrus Greening Disease

    The University of Arizona is part of a consortium sharing a $9 million contract from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to discover new ways of preventing and fighting citrus greening disease.

    Commercial and residential citrus growers dread this bacteria-caused disease because it kills every affected citrus tree. In heavily infested plants, only the leaf veins remain green while the remainder of the leaf turns yellow and eventually dies, earning the condition its alternative name, Huanglongbing disease – Chinese for "yellow dragon."
     
    In the U.S., major citrus growing areas are in Arizona, Florida, California and Texas, with oranges, grapefruit, tangerines, tangelos and lemons accounting for the bulk of cultivated citrus fruit. The disease-causing pathogen is transmitted by the Asian Citrus Psyllid, Diaphorina citri, a tiny insect distantly related to aphids and whiteflies, all of which use a syringe-like mouth apparatus to pierce plant tissue and suck out the sugar-laden sap.

  • UA to Host Water Security Experts at Annual Conference

    How can Arizona secure a safe, sustainable water supply for its current and future residents? The University of Arizona Water Resources Research Center will take on this complex issue at its annual conference on March 5.

    Organized in partnership with the U.S. Geological Survey, the WRRC’s conference – "Water Security, From the Ground Up" – will feature presentations and viewpoints from renowned water experts.

    The Water Resources Research Center is part of UA's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

    "This year's conference will address issues that affect every Arizona resident," said Sharon B. Megdal, director of the WRRC. "We've brought in prominent water professionals from Arizona, the Southwest, and around the world to speak on water sustainability, environmental implications of stressed water supplies, and policy options for decision makers."

  • Student teacher looks forward to having own classroom

    Although Kalea Taylor did not grow up on a farm, she hopes to inspire the next generation of farmers.

    A student teacher in Casa Grande Union High School’s ag program, Taylor brings her love of plant life to the classroom along with her first-hand experience with the National FFA Organization.

    “I loved FFA when I was in high school,” Taylor said. “It definitely jump-started my interest in agricultural education.”

    A student at the University of Arizona, Taylor expects to graduate in May with a degree in agricultural education.

  • UA Entomologists Partner with China to Thwart Bollworm Resistance to Bt Cotton

    University of Arizona entomologists are joining forces with scientists on the other side of the globe to protect cotton in China from potentially devastating insect pests.

    Xianchun Li, associate professor of entomology in the UA College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and Bruce Tabashnik, head of the department of entomology, are partnering with Chinese scientists to combat insect resistance to genetically engineered cotton plants.

    Li, Tabashnik and Kongming Wu, a top researcher with the Institute of Plant Protection at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences in Beijing, have obtained a grant from China’s National Science Foundation of 2.95 million Chinese yuan – equivalent to $475,000 U.S. dollars – to study resistance in pink bollworm in China and to develop strategies against it.