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"This is a confession. I started out as a respectable sort of ecologist studying rain forests and then at some point my road turned and I ended up where I am today, lost among the belly buttons." Ecologist, Rob R. Dunn talks about The Belly Button Project, part of his research on The Wildlife of Your Body ... It's a Citizen Science project, and you can join! Check out the web site at: and on Twitter: https://twitter.com/YourWild_Life No comment yet.
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Biologist, Dr. Rob Dunn of the College of Agriculture & Life Sciences (CALS) at NC State University blogs on lessons humans might draw from animals: "One of my racquetball buddies, Dave Tarpy [CALS honey bee specialist] ... studies honeybees decisions. Tarpy was a postdoctoral researcher with Tom Seeley and so has learned Seeley’s democracy-documenting ways, but Tarpy is more interested in queens than Seeley is. How do these solitary leaders become who they are? What allows some queens to succeed over others when there is a power vacuum in the hive?" Delete the scoop?
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A crowd of 600-700 fruit and vegetable growers from the Carolinas will gather on Nov. 26-28 for the 27th annual Carolina Vegetable and Fruit Expo. Via NCSU CALS Delete the scoop?
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Keynote speaker for the Expo is Richard Linton, recently appointed Dean of the College of Agriculture at North Carolina State University.
Many CALS researchers will speak on fruit & vegetable production, grafting technologies, enterprise budgets, risk management and more.
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North Carolina has awarded $1.2 million in specialty crops grants, some of which targets organic production.
" North Carolina State University received five of the grants, some geared directly toward improving the states already thriving organic farming enterprise. The state is one of few in the Southeast with an ongoing organic crops research and outreach program.
"Chris Reberg-Horton, who heads the North Carolina State organic crops program, says these crops are growing in size and economic importance to North Carolina and the Carolina-Virginia region. ... " Delete the scoop?
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Scientists give you all their data in the hopes that you will outsmart them ...So you want to be a scientist? Here is your chance...."
Dr. Rob Dunn blogs in Scientific American on the first release of data from the Belly Button Project, his team's Citizen Science project, charting new territory in the study of the microbiology and ecology of the human navel ...
Belly Button Diversity 2.0 http://bbdata.yourwildlife.org/
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“You have to see it to believe it.”
"So said new College of Agriculture and Life Sciences dean Richard Linton on the fifth leg of his statewide tour, of the North Carolina Research Campus in Kannapolis.
“I’ve seen photos online and even watched a video tour, but they don’t do this place justice,” Linton said. “It’s just incredible.”
Dean Linton visited the David H. Murdock Research Institute (the DHMRI) and the Plants for Human Health Institute (PHHI), part of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at NC State University, as well as industry research labs housed at the site.
Read more at the link above. Delete the scoop?
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"A new N.C. State University milking center was cause for celebration for North Carolina’s dairy industry Friday Nov. 9. More than 100 people came out to view the new building designed to enhance the university’s teaching, research and extension programs in both food and animal sciences.
"The center includes milking stalls where about 150 cows are milked twice a day, producing 1,000 gallons a day of milk that’s trucked to Schaub Hall and used in Howling Cow ice cream and other dairy products. ..."
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North Carolina State University recognized innovation at the school on Wednesday,...
Among those recognized are food scientist, Dr. Josip Simunovic, for his research on thermal processing of food, and the team of Dr. John Cavanagh, an expert in protein structural biology, and Dr. Christian Melander, who together founded Agile Sciences, a company whose product defeats bacterial biofilms. Cavanagh & Melander were recognized as among the University's Innovators of the Year. Delete the scoop?
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The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences created its Office of Sustainability last year to encourage sustainable efforts within the college, and the office has recently developed tools to connect students and faculty to important sustainability...
CALS Sustainability Officer, Dr. Danesha Seth Carley, explains her program's new initiatives. Delete the scoop?
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Marie Davidian, a statistics professor at North Carolina State University, connected the seemingly unrelated topics of statistics and the Human Genome Project by explaining their role in determining the best ... Delete the scoop?
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The decision to spray for Hessian fly in a fall wheat crop is not an easy one."
CALS Entomologist, Dr. Dominic Reisig, explains. Delete the scoop?
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CALS Biological & Agricultural Engineers and Agricultural Economists have received a grant of $203,775 from the NC Department of Environment & Natural Resources (DNER) for Phase II of a project in Cary, NC. Phase I created rain gardens and other rainwater harvesting systems at schools. The next phase of the project will focus on stormwater controls along greenways and in community parks.
Project researchers are economists, Dr. Christy Perrin, Dr. Patrick Beggs & Dr. Layra Taylor, and engineers, Dr. Kristopher Bass & Dr. William Hunt, III.
Here's how the researchers describe their project:
"The Black Creek Watershed Association (BCWA), coordinated by NC State University with technical assistance from the Town of Cary since 2006, has achieved several milestones in its pursuit of delisting Black Creek from the 303(d) list of impaired waters.
"An initial watershed assessment and restoration plan was completed in 2009, followed by acceptance of the plan by EPA in lieu of a TMDL. The assessment showed that the creek is impaired by high volume and velocity stormwater runoff flows that have altered the natural flow regime and negatively impacted biotic communities. The partnership created a residential outreach and engagement program that resulted in many residential practices that are reducing stormwater runoff through backyard raingardens, and wetlands.
"Public stormwater retrofits have been installed at schools, a neighborhood clubhouse, and a private greenway. In-stream flow monitoring and modeling produced 3 years of data and a hydrologic model for assessing target runoff reductions. This proposal will leverage successes achieved to reach a new significant landowner audience- commercial and institutional landowners.
"BCWA is known through public outreach events and networking with members' organizations (Rotary clubs, homeowners' associations). The network will help to convene a commercial/institutional steering committee to develop and implement an outreach, sponsorship, and recognition program. A retrofit project will be identified and implemented on a commercial property, and retrofits that were previously identified within the project BMP Site Atlas will be constructed on Town of Cary and Wake County schools properties. Simple changes to existing bioretention will be installed and monitored to increase infiltration.
"Additional stream flow monitoring and modeling will further hone a retrofit target by testing pre-post BMP flows, and will test a new milestone of disconnecting 200 acres of imperviousness to reach effective 10% impervious cover in the watershed. Ultimately, this project will lead to a greater capacity of the community to fund and implement stormwater retrofit projects, and to better understand the type and cost of retrofits needed to move towards a more natural stream flow regime." Delete the scoop?
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CALS food scientist, Dr. Gabriel Keith Harris, studies functional foods, and components such as antioxidants found in chocolate.
He will speak on the science of chocolate and current research on this beloved food at the Science Cafe, NC Museum of Sciences Nov. 29. RSVP. Delete the scoop?
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Much has changed in the 15 years since state officials first got serious about finding a cleaner way to treat the waste from North Carolina’s 9 million-plus hogs. But much hasn’t.
But Dr. Williams, who is closely involved in the regulatory process, states that a new waste treatment system "seems to meet nearly every criterion to be named an official 'Environmentally Superior Technology' under the 2000 [Smithfield, NC] agreement"; and while the method may need tests for ammonia removal capacity, the technique is promising.
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"New College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Dean Richard Linton has been criss-crossing North Carolina on a whirlwind tour of the state since Oct. 23. But on Nov. 8 he was back in the heart of the Triangle, as he toured sites at the Research Triangle Park. He capped off the event, as well as his statewide tour, with remarks he delivered at an evening alumni reception at the N.C. Biotechnology Center."
Dean Linton toured BASF, Bayer CropScience and the NC Biotechnology Center, all of which have close ties to the College of Agriculture & Life Sciences at NC State University.
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On Rob Dunn's Wildlife of the Body Citizen Science in The Belly Button Project:
"If you were told you had an ecosystem living in your belly button, it might come as a bit of shock. Well, you probably do. These are just a few of the samples that Belly Button Biodiversity (BBB), a group of scientists from North Carolina University in Raleigh and the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, have taken from themselves as well as students, science bloggers and others. BBB want to strike down the "bad bacteria" stereotype and teach the world that many bacteria are harmless, helpful and a lot of times just hanging around, mooching off your body." Delete the scoop?
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"Thanksgiving is busy for Bobby Vick. While completing his Ph.D. in the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering (BAE), he frequently visits Vick Family Farms, his uncle’s homestead in Wilson, N.C. That’s where the NC State student branch of the American Society of Biological and Agricultural Engineers (ASABE) buys the Covington sweet potatoes that are then sold for $10 per box during its annual sweet potato sale. On Monday, Vick transported 2,000 pounds back to Weaver Laboratories to accommodate around 200 orders." ... CALS research, which enabled producing sweet potatoes year-round, and developed innovative food processing methods, enabling new products, help make the project possible and contribute to the strength of the industry in North Carolina. Delete the scoop?
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Ecologist, Dr. Damian Shea, finds that weather oil is less toxic, as new chemical analyses show that weather reducing oil's propensity to shed polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) into water ... Delete the scoop?
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"Dr. R. Wayne Skaggs, a National Academy of Engineering member and retiring William Neal Reynolds and Distinguished University Professor of biological and agricultural engineering, with his wife, Judy, has created an endowment to support the continued research in his field of water, soil and plant systems management. The Wayne and Judy Skaggs Endowment for Water Resources and the Hydrology of Poorly Drained Lands was created Nov. 9 at N.C. State University’s McKimmon Center. The endowment was signed as part of festivities in commemoration of Skaggs’ career. ..." Delete the scoop?
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"Multi-university project asks how organic farmers can control these pests and protect their crops."
Organic farmers are particularly challenged when faced with the destructive Brown Marmorated Stink Bug.
College of Agriculture & Life Sciences researchers at NC State University join the effort. Delete the scoop?
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"Researchers have discovered which bacteria species are most commonly found in our bellybuttons, but have still not discovered what governs which species will be found on which people. These are the first published findings of the Belly Button Biodiversity project led by NC State’s Dr. Rob Dunn."
You can read the free, open acess paper here:
"A Jungle in There: Bacteria in Belly Buttons are Highly Diverse, but Predictable" by: Hulcr J, Latimer AM, Henley JB, Rountree NR, Fierer N, et al. (2012) PLoS ONE 7(11): e47712. http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0047712
The Belly Button Diversity Project is part of the larger Dunn initiative called Your Wildlife.org. See:
and on Twitter: @YourWild_Life
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Science Careers visited with researchers at the collaborative North Carolina Research Campus (NCRC) in Kannapolis, NC, a joint venture of several North Carolina universities. The innovative campus, designed to foster interdisciplinary research, includes the Plants for Human Health Institute (PHHI), part of the College of Agriculture & Life Sciences at NC State University.
Among other researchers interviewed were PHHI researchers, food scientist Mary Ann Lila, molecular geneticist Allan Brown, metabolic engineer Xu "Sirius" Li, and pharmacogeneticist Slavko Komarnytsky, The group studies health-promoting properties of foods and food-derived products. Among the crops studied are berries and broccoli. Delete the scoop?
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Kudzu bugs are a new pest in the south, making their debut in our area this past spring most notably on wisteria vines.
They are a pest of soybean and other crops and sometimes make a nuisance of themselves in homes.
Urban pest specialist, Dr. Mike Waldvogel, explans. Delete the scoop?
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Check out these great photos from our 2012 Fall Agroecology Education Farm: Farm to Fork Reception!
The Agroecology Farm is part of the Center for Environmental Farming Systems (CEFS), part of the College of Agriculture & Life Sciences at NC State University http://www.cefs.ncsu.edu/whatwedo/academic.html
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