Posted on July 23, 2018 by rhallberg
The Department of Entomology & Plant Pathology at North Carolina State University invites applications for a 12-month tenure-track position at the Assistant Professor level in Plant Nematology. This faculty position is located on the main campus in Raleigh and carries responsibilities for extension and research. The successful candidate is expected to develop an internationally recognized program focusing on the ecology, epidemiology, population biology and management of plant-parasitic nematodes in agricultural systems, implementing contemporary diagnostic technologies, and developing integrated disease management strategies for established and emerging plant parasitic nematodes in North Carolina. The Plant Nematologist will have strong foundation in hypotheses-driven research aiming at enhancing strategies for nematode management. The agricultural commodity emphasis for this position will be soybean, corn, cotton, tobacco, and sweetpotato, but the incumbent will be encouraged to apply their expertise to other field, fruit, ornamental, turfgrass and vegetable crops to support cooperative extension and research efforts as needed. The incumbent is expected to develop an area of relevant expertise while maintaining a breadth of knowledge regarding plant parasitic nematodes. Continue reading →
Filed under: employment | Tagged: assistant professor, entomology positions, NC State University, plant nematology | Leave a comment »
Posted on July 23, 2018 by rhallberg
The North Carolina Cooperative Extension Animal Agriculture Agent Training Conference is August 6-8. Continue reading →
Filed under: news | Tagged: agent training, animal agriculture, Animal Extension, NC State Extension, NC State University | Leave a comment »
Posted on July 23, 2018 by rhallberg
by Dee Shore, NC State University
Design of the Plant Sciences Building at NC State University is progressing, and so is the NC Plant Science Initiative (PSI) that the building will serve. Scientists from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and their partners near and far are ramping up interdisciplinary plant research.
Dr. Amy Grunden, of CALS’ Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, is one of them.
Earlier this year, Grunden helped develop a workshop for faculty members at NC State and three Danish universities – the University of Copenhagen, the Danish Technical University and Aarhus University. Continue reading →
Filed under: featured | Tagged: Amy Grunden, NC State University, plant sciences, Plant Sciences Initiative, regulatory sciences | Leave a comment »
Posted on March 15, 2018 by rhallberg
by Dee Shore, NC State University
With a grant from the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research’s Pollinator Health Fund, NC State University scientist David Tarpy is researching the impact of pesticide exposure on honeybee colony disease prevalence and reproductive potential.
Tarpy, a professor of entomology and plant pathology and the NC State Extension apiculturist, recently received a $217,000 grant from FFAR, a nonprofit established through bipartisan congressional support in the 2014 Farm Bill. The FFAR grant is being matched by a graduate fellowship from the North Carolina Agricultural Foundation Inc., supporting a Ph.D. student in the NC State Apiculture Program, Joe Milone. Continue reading →
Filed under: news | Tagged: david tarpy, honey bee health, NC State University, NIFA, pollinator health, Pollinator Health Fund, pollinator protection, USDA | Leave a comment »
Posted on February 22, 2018 by rhallberg
Researchers at NC State University recently published a paper about wild bee abundance in relationship to urban warming.
The paper challenges the idea that planting more flowers will attract more pollinators. Although the number of larger bees do increase as flower populations increase, populations of small bees tend to decline at some of the hottest sites. Continue reading →
Filed under: featured | Tagged: climate change, global warming, honey bee, NC State University, pollinator attraction, pollinator protection, urban warming, wild bees | Leave a comment »
Posted on February 15, 2018 by rhallberg
If you are an undergraduate science major who is interested in pursuing a career in STEM, there is an exciting new opportunity to develop your skills while studying the interface between microbes and bees. BeeMORE is a USDA-funded Research and Extension Experience for Undergraduates who are interested in significantly advancing their research skills in the field, the laboratory, or both. Continue reading →
Filed under: employment | Tagged: BeeMORE, honey bees, internships, NC State University, paid internships, pollinator internships, pollinator jobs, pollinator protection, USDA | Leave a comment »
Posted on November 21, 2017 by rhallberg
A group of extension specialists at NC State University have helped growers use integrated pest management to transition away from a toxic fumigant while maintaining their yields. Decreased use of the fumigant has had positive environmental consequences as well: the decreased use has led to lower bromine levels in the atmosphere, accounting for one-third of the measured decrease in ozone depleting halogens above the Antarctica.
The transition away from the pesticide methyl bromide began in 2005, in response to scientific data linking it to decreasing ozone levels in the atmosphere. Developed countries banned methyl bromide under the Montreal Protocol, an international treaty signed in 1987 to protect the stratospheric ozone layer. In the United States, the USDA National Institute for Food and Agriculture devised a funding mechanism to help scientists gradually wean farmers away from methyl bromide use. Each year, scientists would apply for “critical use exemptions” to specify how much methyl bromide they felt farmers in their state would need while they searched for alternatives. The funding mechanism was called the “Methyl Bromide Alternatives Program.” Continue reading →
Filed under: featured | Tagged: climate change, Frank Louws, fumigants, integrated pest management, methyl bromide, Methyl bromide transitions, NC State University, NOAA, ozone layer, pesticides | Leave a comment »
