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Updates
Department and School Updates
The LSU College of Agriculture is comprised of 10 departments and schools that house many prestigious faculty and talented students.
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Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness Lynn Kennedy, Department Head lkennedy@agcenter.lsu.edu
Department of Agricultural and Extension Education and Evaluation Michael Burnett, Department Head mburnett@agcenter.lsu.edu
School of Animal Sciences Phil Elzer, Director pelzer@agcenter.lsu.edu
Department of Entomology Michael Stout, Department Head mstout@agcenter.lsu.edu
Department of Experimental Statistics Allen Rutherford, Interim Department Head druther@lsu.edu School of Nutrition and Food Sciences Allen Rutherford, Interim Director druther@lsu.edu
School of Plant, Environmental and Soil Sciences Michael Stout, Interim Director mstout@agcenter.lsu.edu
Department of Plant Pathology and Crop Physiology Lawrence Datnoff, Department Head ldatnoff@agcenter.lsu.edu
School of Renewable Natural Resources Allen Rutherford, Director druther@lsu.edu
Department of Textiles, Apparel Design and Merchandising Bruce Cameron, Department Head bcameron1@lsu.edu
The mission of the Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness is to generate, apply, and disseminate knowledge on a wide range of issues important to agribusiness, agricultural production, marketing, policy, natural resource use, and rural areas in Louisiana, the nation, and the global community. By employing the highest scholarly standards in the teaching, research, and outreach/extension programs that are integral to the purpose of the land-grant university system. The department has 12 tenure-track faculty members and three instructors. They are currently in the process of hiring for the forestry economist position. Their faculty are highly productive and are doing outstanding work in teaching, research, and extension.
Highlight: Undergraduate program enrollment has doubled over the past few years, with 137 undergraduate students enrolled in the 2020-21 academic year.
The Department of Agricultural and Extension Education and Evaluation (AEEE) prepares and supports highly qualified agricultural and extension professionals to teach, lead and serve youth and adults. This past year, AEEE received a $260,000 grant from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) to develop professional development training for agriculture teachers in Louisiana that will help them to incorporate biotechnology and coastal/ environmental science into their programs.
Graduate students and faculty presented research papers and posters at virtual conferences and claimed many awards.
Highlight: Richie Roberts received article of the year for the Journal of International Agricultural and Extension Education.
The School of Animal Sciences’ mission is the generation, preservation and dissemination, and application of basic and applied knowledge in animal sciences for the benefit of the university, the citizens of Louisiana, the nation, and the global community. As part of the state’s flagship institution, the School of Animal Sciences’ vision is to be a premier animal sciences program, challenging faculty, staff, and students to achieve the highest levels of intellectual and personal development.
Since the last program review, the school has hired three tenure-track professors and three instructors. They have expanded the number of animal handling courses. The school now has a single undergraduate degree in animal sciences with four concentrations (animal products processing, animal production, pre-veterinary medicine, and science and technology).
Highlight: National Institutes of Health awarded grants to two assistant professors in the school: Xing Fu received $409,000 to work with muscle tissue development and Carl Jiang received $1.2 million to work with placental trophoblast development.
Department of Entomology
The historical mission of the Department of Entomology is to develop innovative and transformative solutions for the entomological problems facing Louisiana and the world. Entomology has evolved toward a greater emphasis on fundamental insect biology and environmental sustainability. New faculty hires with interests in insect vision, social behavior, and neurophysiology reflect this shift in emphasis. The focus of their teaching programs is expanding with the planned addition of an undergraduate program in plant health management (a joint venture with the Department of Plant Pathology and Crop Physiology). The Department of Entomology at LSU is well-positioned to contribute to the sustainable management of noxious and harmful insects in the state of Louisiana and the scientific understanding of the most diverse group of organisms on earth.
Highlight: The productivity of the faculty in the LSU Department of Entomology was outstanding in 2020. Over 40 refereed journal articles were published, and over $4 million in new funding was obtained, including several highly competitive USDA grants. The Department of Experimental Statistics continues to train master’s-level graduate students to work in government agencies, industry, and academia. Their statistical consulting services continue to serve the campus with sound statistical advice. In the coming year, the department will begin accepting students into a new doctoral degree program. The department is also in the early stages of creating an online master’s degree for non-traditional students. They are currently searching for a permanent department head.
Highlight: Brian Marx published a statistical book titled “Practical Smoothing: The Joys of P-splines” with Cambridge University Press.
School of Nutrition and Food Sciences
The School of Nutrition and Food Sciences continues to be a comprehensive program with teaching, research, and extension. They train food science professionals in food quality, processing, and safety for the food industry. They also train nutrition professionals in nutrition science, community nutrition, and clinical nutrition to improve the health and well-being of all citizens. Academic and educational programs at the undergraduate and graduate level integrate basic and applied sciences with outreach.
Highlight: Zhimin Xu was awarded the 2020 Manfred Kroger Award from the Journal of Food Science. Subramaniam Sathivel was named to the World Food Logistics Organization’s (WFLO) Scientific Advisory Council (SAC), Global Cold Chain Alliance. Jack Losso was awarded a U.S. patent for a method of collagen extraction from calcified alligator tissues. Achyut Adhikari was honored with a USDA-NIFA Multistate Excellence in Research award. Erin McKinley was named one of the top 100 registered dietitians in leadership chosen for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Leadership Institute’s Training Program.
School of Plant, Environmental and Soil Sciences
Faculty in the School of Plant, Environmental, and Soil Sciences direct programs of research, extension, and instruction in diverse areas of plant and crop science that include horticulture, soil science, precision agriculture, plant breeding, weed science, and environmental management. Over the past several years, the school has expanded its research and instruction programs to include emerging areas of interest in the plant sciences. A medicinal plant sciences concentration has been added to the plant and soil systems major, and an instructor was hired to coordinate the development of an online certificate program in medicinal plants. Courses in precision agriculture are being developed and incorporated into the curriculum, and a second faculty member in the area was recently hired.
Highlight: Lisa Fultz was awarded the Sedberry Undergraduate Teaching Award. Lauren Lazarro was awarded the outstanding reviewer of the year award for weed technology. The Distinguished Service Award recognized David Picha’s career achievements from the Association for International Agriculture and Rural Development.
Department of Plant Pathology and Crop Physiology
The Department of Plant Pathology and Crop Physiology continued to excel on many academic and professional levels in 2020. Faculty and students published over 40 refereed manuscripts in highimpact journals such as Phytopathology, Plant Disease, and Mycologia, as well as over 50 mass media/non-refereed publications; gave over 40 research presentations (mostly virtually) locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally; had over 3,400 official extension contacts and competed for over $1 million in grants to support their research and outreach.
The department’s master’s and doctoral graduate students were highly engaged in research and professional development. Their efforts and outstanding contributions continue to infuse the department with vitality and enthusiasm while helping to answer basic scientific questions and solve plant disease problems of importance to the people of Louisiana.
Highlight: Zhi-Yuan Chen received the LSU AgCenter’s Doyle Chambers Award. Vinson Doyle was promoted to associate professor. Raj Singh received the Friends of IPM Educator Award and the LSU AgCenter’s Denver T. and Ferne Loupe Extension Team Award. Rodrigo Valverde received the Erasmus + STAFF mobility teaching scholarship. Jon Richards received a $500,000 USDA-AFRI grant to characterize resistance to narrow brown leaf spot on rice caused by Cercospora janseana.
Since March 2020, the School of Renewable Natural Resources has altered its curriculum because of the COVID-19 outbreak. At that time, they transitioned a majority of in-person classes to an online format. Health precautions put in place during the pandemic made faculty examine what activities they could continue to do safely. In response, they have continued most historic teaching activities by creating smaller laboratory classes, doing fieldwork closer to campus, and creating virtual field experiences. Despite this challenge, there are many reasons to be optimistic about the future of all Renewable Natural Resources programs. They have faced many challenges over the years and have always emerged better from the experience. The department solicits your help in making potential students aware of the unique opportunities they offer and your continued financial support.
Highlight: Megan La Peyre’s student Caleb Taylor received a prestigious Knauss Fellowship, which comes with a one-year paid fellowship to work on natural resource policy in Washington, D.C.
The Department of Textiles, Apparel Design and Merchandising prepares students for professional careers in the textile and apparel industries, which are interconnected and global in nature. Both the apparel design and merchandising concentrations were revised with the addition of new courses and resequencing of current classes to improve the graduate outcomes of students to make them more competitive in the ever-changing textile and apparel industry.
Highlight: Chunmin Lang received an International Textile and Apparel Association Rising Star Award and was promoted to associate professor. Donna Sapp received an Outstanding Instructor Award from the LSU College of Agriculture Student Association.
