Agronomy Fall Field Day | Sept. 20. 2019
It was a beautiful Friday and the perfect day to be a part of the 2019 Agronomy Fall Field Day at the Kansas State University North Farm. At this event Dr. Krishna Jagadish, Dr. Raju Bheemanahalli, and Mr. Nathan Hein had the pleasure of leading two short lectures with questions and answers with over 40 different people. The crowd included growers and researchers from both the academic and private industries. Our brand new High Night-time Temperature Heat Tents were on display and the focal point of the sessions. Dr. Jagadish gave an overview of the reasoning behind the study, Dr. Bheemanahalli presented our results and what we expect to accomplish with them, while Mr. Nathan Hein gave an overview of the construction and operation of the heat tents. It was a very enjoyable event and we cannot wait for the next one!
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Visiting Scholar Dr. Camila Rebolledo | Jun. 5, 2019
The Crop Ecophysiology Lab was happy to host Dr. Camila Rebolledo for a two-day tour of our facilities and experiments. Dr. Rebolledo is a physiologist at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and studies abiotic stresses on rice. Dr. Rebolledo has recently taken on the project of building the same heat tent as in our HNT study, and wanted to get a better look at the structure and our experimental design. We really enjoyed having Dr. Rebolledo and we look forward to working together again in the future!
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GROW & EXCITE! | Jun. 5 - 7, 2019
The Crop Ecophysiology Lab was pleased to partner with the Office for the Advancement of Women in Science and Engineering and their GROW (Girls Researching Our World) and EXCITE! (Exploring Science, Technology, and Engineering) programs to hold four seminar classes over a period of three days.
During this time we were able to reach out to over 40 youth and help encourage them to pursue a career in STEM. The young women were given the chance to tour our brand new High Night-Time Temperature Phenotyping Facility and get some hands on experience flying a drone. It was a wonderful event for all and we look forward to participating again next year.
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Champions of Change | Feb. 23, 2019
The Crop Ecophysiology Lab had the privilege of running a workshop during the GROW (Girls Researching Our World) event called "Champions of Change". At this event we were able to conduct four small group sessions with 10 - 12 middle school aged girls and help them to understand what DNA is, how it works, and how it is different between plants and humans. We also were able to connect the link between DNA and crop research and how DNA helps breeders develop new plants.
The students were given the opportunity to break down a strawberry using a chemical lysis buffer (water, salt, and soap) and then after straining the chunks of strawberry, they were able to use cold alcohol to extract the DNA. This activity was not only safe, but also a lot of fun and messy because sometimes smashing strawberries can get everywhere. The students were also excited about how the DNA looks like snot and how much they were able to get from each strawberry!