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IPAN News & Publications
AGNR Study Abroad Brochure
(Click on brochure to open)
January 2010
Nigeria
Mark Varner met with Nigeria's former Ag Minister, Chief Bamidele F. Dada, who is now Chair of Pacesetter Farms in Nigeria. They discussed sustainable agriculture.
Moldova
Adel Shirmohammadi, Bob Hill and Ray Miller met with Moldova's Minister of Agriculture, Valeriu Cosarciuc. Both Adel and Bob worked in Moldova previsouly.
New Summer Study Abroad Course in Taiwan, with National Taiwan University
The 2010 Biodiversity, Agriculture and Culture of Taiwan (BACT) course explores the natural resources of Taiwan, the ocean and mountains, and the biodiversity of Taiwan. Cultural tours include field work in bamboo and the tea culture, and enjoying the night market folk culture. Taiwan
Website: http://bioagri.ecaa.ntu.edu.tw/ciaeae/BACT/index.html
Date: June 28-July 24, 2010
Tuition: waived
Living Expenses: approx. $2,000 US
Application Due: March 8, 2010 (send application to AGNR's IPAN office)
Contact: Dick Weismiller in AGNR, International Programs in Agriculture and Natural Resources (IPAN)
Tel. 301-314-2563 Office: UMD, 1114 Symons Hall, College Park, MD 20742
Upon completion of the course, students will be awarded 3 academic credits from NTU, which can be transferred to UMD.
An Application can be found on the website above, or by contacting Dr. Weismiller.
November 2009
China Ag. University visits UMD
A 25 member delegation from China Agricultural University (CAU), Beijing, visited AGNR on Monday, Nov. 30, to learn more about AGNR's academic programs, Extension and research. The CAU administrators also met with 10 of the 2+2 students who transferred from CAU to attend UMD.
The AGNR and CAU counterparts met and talked about their programs. Above, Dr. Leon Slaughter, Associate Dean of AGNR's Academic Programs, talked with Ms. Haiyan Hong, CAU's Director of Student Affairs Office and Mr. YuZhi Tan, Deputy Director of the Educational Administration Office. They talked about UMD's Honor programs, selection process, program sizes, student selection process, scholarships, and faculty involvement.
Many of AGNR's Chinese faculty helped translate, and an agricultural economics graduate student, Sean Sylvia, who is fluent in Chinese, also helped with translation.
AGNR employs several CAU graduates in its Animal & Avian Science department, and Nutrition and Food Science department. Two of AGNR's faculty are graduates of CAU, Juizhou Song, assistant professor in animal and avian science, and Xiaoping Zhu, associate professor in Vetmed.
Photos of the meeting can be found at:
http://agnr.zenfolio.com/ipan-china
AGNR visits China Ag. University
Prof. Mark Varner in Beijing to meet China Agricultural University students interested in learning about the CAU-UMD 2+2 program in which CAU students transfer to UMD for their last two years of college. Here Prof. Varner is answering a question from a student.
Paper presented in China, on new Watermelon Wilt
Dr. Kate Everts presented an invited talk at the International Cucurbitaceae meetings in Changsha, China in late September. The title of the presentation was “Detection of New, More
Virulent Race of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. niveum in Watermelon in Maryland, U.S.A.” Coauthors were Dr. Xin-Gen (Shane) Zhou, formerly a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Maryland and now faculty member at Texas A&M, and Benny D. Bruton USDA-ARS Lane, OK.
The talk reported on the identification of a new race of F. o. niveum, the first new race reported in over 30 years. Dr. Everts also recently received grant funding to continue work on F. o. niveum, the cause of Fusarium wilt of watermelon, from the State of Delaware’s Specialty Crops Research Initiative program.
MOU with Indian university
UM AGNR signed a memorandum of understanding with G.B.Pant University of Agriculture & Technology, India . The agreement allows for student and faculty exchanges and collaboration on research.
AGNR Faculty attend China agricultural trade fair in Yangling, present papers on 4-H, watershed management
Kendra Wells, 4-H Youth Development extension specialist with UM's College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, delivering a presentation on 4-H at an agricultural conference and fair in Yangling, China. Extension and 4-H is not widely practised in China. Kendra, Dr. Mark Varner and Dr. Richard Weismiller were invited to attend the conference by Northwest Agriculture & Forestry University in Yangling, China.The China Yangling Agricultural Hi-Tech Fair is the largest and oldest agricultural trade fair in China. Many scientists and representatives from agricultural companies attend the fair to hear about the latest developments in technology and products.
October 2009
China Agricultural University's Prof. Xu Ji making a presentation about the CAU-UM 2+2 transfer program to an audience of students at the Beijing university. Prof. Xu Ji is UM's coordinator at CAU to recruit students for the 2+2 program (see CAU 2+2 for more info). Currently, 13 CAU students have transferred to UM-AGNR for their final 2 years of undergraduate education.
I-series signature courses
The new I-series signature courses include the study of agricultural globalization, taught by Prof. Chris Walsh. The course will be offered for Spring 2010 registration.
Specialty Crops: Plantation Agriculture to Globalization.
We are what we eat. Do you care what you eat and where it is grown? Will growing fresh fruits and vegetables in developing countries improve the economy of those countries, while it fills the need for healthy lifestyles in developed nations? Specialty Crops will explore the worldwide food engine through the study of fruits and vegetables that play a part in our daily lives.
Prof. Walsh served for fifteen years as the Undergraduate Program Coordinator for the Department of Plant Sciences and Landscape Architecture. His research focuses on fruit and vegetable production and food safety. He has been awarded "Excellence in Instruction" citations from the Agricultural Alumni Association of the University of Maryland and received awards from the American Society for Horticultural Science for his research and education programs.
I-series courses are designed to investigate significant issues with imagination and intellect with a belief that they will inspire future investigation and proved concrete mechanisms to implement innovative ideas. They will challenge students to wrestle with the Big Questions and examine the ways in which diverse intellectual traditions address them, offering students not only new intellectual domains to explore but also new ways to think about contemporary problems like the energy crisis as well as age old dilemmas like ecological sustainability.
Book Talk: Getting China and India Right
Please mark your calendar for an upcoming campus book talk by our colleague, Prof. Anil K. Gupta. Prof. Gupta and his co-author, Haiyan Wang will discuss their book “Getting China and India Right: Strategies for Leveraging the World’s Fastest-Growing Economies for Global Advantage” on Tuesday, October 20, at 4:30 in McKeldin 6137.
India and China are two emerging economies that because of their size and rate of growth offer companies huge opportunities--along with huge
challenges. Exploring the distinctive favorable features of these two economies, the book lays out a strategic action plan for organizations
that want to become global leaders in tomorrow’s marketplace.
Anil Gupta is Michael Dingman Chair in Global Strategy and Entrepreneurship at the Robert H. Smith School of Business. Haiyan Wang (UMCP MBA ’95) is Managing Partner of China India Institute.
The talk is a part of the series "Speaking of Books … Conversations with Campus Authors," organized by the University of Maryland Libraries. Refreshments will be served, and copies of the book will be available for purchase and signing.
Associate Dean for Research travels to Korea to present paper at Watershed Mgmnt conference
Dr. Adel Shirmohammadi, AGNR's associate dean for research, will travel to South Korea to present a paper and sit on a panel a the international Conference on Diffuse Pollution and Integrated Watershed Management, which is known as DIPCON 2009. Dr. Shirmohammadi's presentation is on his co-authored paper "Watershed Sustainability, Modeling, and Model Uncertainty." He will also sit on a panel on Nonpoint Sources Pollution. Dr. Shirmohammadi is also associate director of the Maryland Agricultural Experiment Station (MAES) for the University of Maryland College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (AGNR).
September 2009
AGNR's Dean Wei appointed Prof. Xu Ji to represent the University of Maryland's College of Agriculture and Natural Resources in recruiting students for the 2+2 program with China Agricultural University, Beijing.
Prof. Xu is the senior adviser for international relations at CAU. The 2+2 program between CAU and UM allows CAU students with 2 years of study to transfer credit to UM and obtain a B.S. degree at UM.
As coordinator for the 2+2 program, Prof. Xu will identify students for the program, provide information and work with officials at UM to transfer credit and enroll the students at UM.
"Exporting Maryland’s Sustainable Agriculture Expertise” on October 1
The Maryland-Asia Environmental Partnership (MD-AEP) is hosting a seminar “Exporting Maryland’s Sustainable Agriculture Expertise” on October 1, 8:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. at the McKeldin Library at UMCP. Sustainable agriculture is vital, as every corner of the earth continues to be faced by food and environmental challenges. AGNR has some great expertise to share in this regard with its profitable advanced farming systems which are environmentally sound and good for communities.
We are particularly excited about this event given the breadth of expertise that resides within the University of Maryland and the Maryland-Asia collaborations underway through the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources with China, India, Taiwan, Korea and other Asian countries. Agriculture today is a modern applied science requiring advanced knowledge and skill to successfully grow, process, market, service and protect plant, animal and environmental resources.
To register or view the itinerary, go to:
http://www.regonline.com/builder/site/Default.aspx?eventid=772065
ENST professor Ray Weil in Tanzania, sampling some boiled maize and groundnut porridge. Weil is a UM soil scientist on sabbatical. He also is a Visiting Senior Research Fellow for Earth Institute, Tropical Agriculture Program at Columbia University, NY.
August 2009
Undergraduates from Taiwan’s China Medical University completed a 3 week course on Food Biotechnology. The goal of the class was to introduce the students to the scientific, technical and practical aspects involved in genetically modified food products, cell culture and genetic engineering.
Dr. Martin Lo taught the 28 students about gene cloning, plant and animal biotechnology, diagnostic systems for detection of microbes, and industrial cell culture. The students went on field trips to Ascent Gene in Rockville, MD, and the bioprocessing facility at UM’s Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute (MTech) department. Although the students are native Chinese speakers, the classes were taught in English.
Dr. Martin Lo (center back row), with CMU students.
UM’s proximity to Maryland’s biotechnology corridors and federal government agencies overseeing food production and safety, make UM and the College of Agriculture & Natural Resources an excellent location for food biotech studies.
July 2009
Dr. Bettye Walters traveled to the Chengdu Panda Base, China, to discuss sending two students from Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine (VMRCVM) to Chengdu in Spring 2010. The students would assist with ultrasound diagnosis of panda pregnancy and other medical issues identified by the Panda Base.
For more information, contact Ann Leger
Last updated: 01/28/2010
