Davis College
News/Events

A agricultural engineering alum is among those who will be honored as “Most Loyals” during the 62nd annual Mountaineer Week, a celebration of Appalachian Heritage, Nov. 7-15, on West Virginia University’s campus:

The Most Loyal Alumni Mountaineer exemplifies faithfulness to the ideals and goals of the University and exhibits support for WVU activities and operations through leadership and service.

Edward “Jed” and Nancy DiPaolo of Spring, Texas, have been longtime active leaders and faithful supporters of WVU.

Mr. DiPaolo graduated from WVU in 1976 with a degree in agricultural engineering. He spent more than 25 years with Halliburton Co., serving in numerous positions including group senior vice president of global business development. He is currently chairman of JNDI Corp.

For more information on all of the “Most Loyals,” visit WVU Today. For information on this year’s Mountaineer Week celebration, click here.

Jacek Jaczynksi, associate professor of food science and technology in West Virginia University’s Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design, will examine “Isoelectric Behavior of Food Proteins” in his contribution to the Davis-Michael Seminar Series at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 11, in 1001 Agricultural Sciences building.

Proteins carry electrostatic charges on their surface. These charges can be modified by pH adjustment. When a food protein is in a solution and the charges are modified, the protein solubility can be turned on or off. At a protein-specific pH, the net electrostatic charges equal zero and the protein precipitates, resulting in minimum protein solubility. By understanding protein solubility properties, food proteins can be selectively solubilized in food systems. This fundamental biochemical principle is the basis for continuous protein and lipid recovery system developed in our food science laboratory at WVU.

For more information on the Davis-Michael Seminar Series and a full schedule, visit WVU Today.

The West Virginia University Equestrian Club jump-started its season with back-to-back wins in shows held during the month of October.

Comprised of two teams – Western and Hunt Seat (English) – the club has 57 members from over 20 majors.

The Western Team defeated eight universities in two shows on Oct. 3, while the Hunt Seat Team defeated 12 teams on Oct. 4.

The three shows were held at the WVU Reedsville Farm in Preston County and riders from all schools competed on a total of 40 horses – including eight recently acquired by the Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design. Three of those horses were donated to the college, while the other five were purchased to further develop the equine management program.

The following weekend (Oct. 9-10), the Western Team traveled to Indiana University of Pennsylvania and the Hunt Seat Team to Slippery Rock University. Both were victorious.

Each team competes against the same schools during the regular show schedule and different schools during zones, semifinals and nationals.

Western riders show in Horsemanship and Reining classes while Hunt Seat riders show in Equitation on the Flat and Equitation Over Fences (jumping). Equipment, saddles and clothing differ between both styles of riding as well.

Riders are separated into divisions based on their abilities. For scoring purposes, each division earns points toward a team’s total score.

“Show scoring is unique in that novice riders are just as important as those who are more advanced when it comes to determining the team’s final score,” said Holly Spooner, club adviser and Extension equine specialist and assistant professor in the Davis College.

Standings from each show culminate at the end of the year and may lead teams to regional and national competitions. Last year, the Western Team placed sixth at the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association National Competition.

The teams will next compete Nov. 7-8 – the Western Team at Rutgers University and the Hunt Seat Team at Stone Gate Farms. The Hunt Seat Team will host another show a the WVU Reedsville Farm on Nov. 15.

Daily Athenaeum reporter Jessica Compton covers a seasonal community service project undertaken by the WVU chapter of the American Society of Interior Designers:

Alex Gockel, a freshman interior design major, said creativity was her favorite part of the project.

“The whole idea of decorating Christmas trees for others is great,” she said. “It’s a fun way for us, as design students, to interact and have fun with our creativity.”

Click here for the full story. For more on the Friends of WVU Hospitals, click here.

Update: “Festival of Trees” coverage at WBOY.

Unique new products are being made from recycled WVU Band uniforms by the Fashion Design and Merchandising Product Development class in our Division of Design and Merchandising:

And don’t forget that this year’s A-WEAR-Ness Campaign for the Homeless continues through Dec. 2!

The WVU Chapter of the Society of American Foresters will host Thomas M. Schuler, a research forester with the USDA Forest Service in its Northern Research Station in Parsons, W.Va. Schuler will speak on “Early Forest Exploitation and Uneven-Age Management Research in the 20th Century” at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 4, in 316 Percival Hall on the Evansdale Campus. Refreshments will be served, and the event is open to all WVU students, faculty and staff. For additional information, email the organization.

Matt Wilson, associate professor of animal and nutritional sciences in West Virginia University’s Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design, will examine “Dietary Manipulation of Progesterone Catabolism” in his contribution to the Davis-Michael Seminar Series at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 4, in 1001 Agricultural Sciences building.

Wilson is the recipient of the Young Scientist Research Award for the Northeast Region of the American Society of Animal Science and American Dairy Science Association. He has also has been named an outstanding early career alumnus of Purdue University’s Department of Animal Science. Wilson will be recognized at a ceremony on Nov. 13 in West Lafayette, IN.

For more information on the Davis-Michael Seminar Series and a full schedule, visit WVU Today.

A couple of quick site updates:

• You can get details on the Davis College’s plans for December 2009 Commencement by clicking here.
• Our Dietetic Internship program has a new web site.

You can clean out your closet, help the homeless, and keep a lid on our burgeoning landfills at the same time with the help of the annual A-WEAR-ness Campaign for the Homeless.

West Virginia University’s Fashion Design and Merchandising 235 class will again be collecting worn, unusable garments and textile products from Nov. 2 to Dec. 2.

“Apparel that is usable will be recovered and distributed to help homeless individuals and families,” said Tracy Vash, a visiting assistant professor in the Division of Design and Merchandising in WVU’s Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design. “Goods that are torn or too worn will be baled at the Clarksburg Mission and then recycled.” The shelter will then sell the bales to a recycling firm. Proceeds will then go to support Mission programs and activities.

For the full story, including drop-off locations, visit WVU Today.

By James Thompson
Associate Professor of Soils and Land Use

It has been a wet fall on the Cumberland Plateau of central Tennessee, and there was no break in the rain last week when teams representing 12 different schools gathered in Crossville, TN, for the 2009 Southeast Regional Collegiate Soils Contest. Despite over an inch of rainfall during the week, which turned soil pits into small ponds, the students of the WVU Soils Team took every opportunity to study the local conditions and practice their soil judging skills as they examined soil profiles of the different soils found in the region.
The contest was hosted by the University of Tennessee—Knoxville. Other schools that participated were Auburn University, Clemson University, the University of Florida, the University of Georgia, the University of Kentucky, North Carolina State University, the University of Tennessee—Martin, Tennessee Tech, Virginia Tech, and Western Kentucky University.

The Team spent three days dodging raindrops while practicing for the contest, examining representative soils and landscapes of the area. The eight students that traveled with the Team are Ben Bennett, Katey Buckland, Josh Hall, T.J. Montgomery, Chris Orndorff, Katie Payne, Samantha Spencer, and Sarah Taylor. Other students on the Team are Victoria Bishop, Samantha Galloway, Kate Hendershot, Brittany Parks, Rebecca Rush, and Marc Wist.

While the WVU Soils Team has gone to the National Collegiate Soils Contest each of the last four years, finishing in the top five each year, the Team has never finished higher than third in the Southeast Regional. In fact, the Team has not won the Southeast Regional since 1981. In spite of the soggy conditions, the Team performed well, impressing their coach and themselves. When the results were announced, four WVU students placed in the top ten, with Katey Buckland (senior, Environmental Protection) finishing seventh, Sarah Taylor (senior, Agronomy) fourth, Chris Orndorff (senior, Agronomy) third, and Josh Hall (senior, Agronomy) second. This strong showing in the individual contest led WVU to a first place finish in the team competition. The Team will now begin to prepare for the National Collegiate Soils Contest, which will be held March 21-26, 2010, in Lubbock, TX. The other schools who finished in the top six and will represent the Southeast Region in the National Contest are Virginia Tech (second), Auburn (third), Clemson (fourth), Georgia (fifth), and Tennessee—Martin (sixth).

As always, I am extremely proud of the accomplishments of all of these students, and I hope that you will join me in congratulating them if you have them in any of your courses or if you interact with them in other ways. These students continue to build upon the past success of the WVU Soils Team, and students and faculty from other schools are noticing our students’ achievements. I believe this speaks to the quality of the training that these students receive from the Division of Plant & Soil Sciences. It also reflects the overall strength of the academic programs across the Davis College, because the Soils Team includes students from Animal & Nutritional Sciences, Plant & Soil Sciences, and Resource Management. Thank you for your support of these students, particularly when they are away from campus for extended periods at critical times during the semester.