Mississippi State University and Oktibbeha County officials gathered last Friday [Feb. 4] to cut the ribbon on the Blackjack Road project adjacent to the Starkville campus. Shown, left to right, are Nic Parish of Burns Construction, Oktibbeha County Supervisor Marvell Howard, Northern District Transportation Commissioner John Caldwell, Supervisor Joe Williams, MSU President Mark Keenum, Board of Supervisors President Bricklee Miller, Supervisor Orlando Trainer, County Engineer Clyde Pritchard, and MDOT State Aid Road Engineer Jerry Gilliland. PHOTO: Megan Bean | Public Affairs
Basu elected as officer of national bee group
A Mississippi State University scientist has been elected to be secretary and treasurer of the national bee group, the American Association of Professional Apiculturists (AAPA), from 2022–2024. Priyadarshini (Priya) Chakrabarti Basu is an assistant professor who joined the Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Entomology and Plant Pathology last year. Her research focuses on physiology, nutrition, molecular ecology, neuroethology and toxicology of bees as well as understanding and mitigating the impacts of various stressors on bee pollinators. In addition to her research, Basu has taught graduate and undergraduate courses since 2010. Last fall, she began working on a project to build a pollen database to catalogue the nutrition profiles of over 100 bee-pollinated plants. This project is a partnership with colleagues at Oregon State University and is funded by a $500,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agriculture and Food Research Initiative.
DAFVM Spotlight Employee: Diane Ham
For more than 13 years, Diane Ham has been educating children and adults in her community about health and healthy lifestyles. As a nutrition educator with the Extension Office of Nutrition Education, she enjoys helping people learn how nutrition and daily activity promote good health. “I love what I do,” she said. “I care about my community and the people in it. I want to help people be successful in making healthy lifestyle choices. I have always been interested in health and fitness, and this job is the perfect fit for me.” When people think about healthy lifestyles, weight loss is usually the first thing that comes to mind. While some of the programs help individuals lose weight, Ham and her fellow educators offer a wide range of programs.
DAFVM Spotlight Employee: Natalie Ray
Extension agents never know what the day holds, but that’s part of the appeal of the job for Natalie Ray. “This job is very diverse,” said Ray, a 4-H and family and consumer science agent in Clay County. “You never know what questions will come in. There is no way we can know everything about everything. But we rely on each other and outside experts to help us answer questions. If we don’t personally have an answer, we can find someone who has the answer.” Although Ray does a lot of instructing as an Extension agent, she said she also learns a lot. “The best advice I can give anyone interested in a career with Extension is to get out and do as much as you can in all areas. Try new things. Don’t be afraid to work and get your hands dirty because you will learn so much.”
ORED launches seed funding and internship programs to grow research success
The Office Research and Economic Development is pleased to announce the launch of two new pilot programs designed to grow research success at Mississippi State University: the Advancing Collaborative Research Program (ACR) and the Faculty Leadership Internship Program (FLIP). Consistent with ORED goals to spur interdisciplinary research and establish new partnerships within and beyond the institution, ACR is meant to encourage both internal and external collaborations; enable new teams and/or new lines of research; and advance high-potential, high-impact activities to the next level. As part of developing talent and leadership within the MSU research enterprise, ORED is piloting the FLIP -- a six-month program designed to provide faculty with an in-depth, first-hand experience that broadens and deepens understanding of how research administration operates.
MSU celebrates Black History Month with special events in February
Mississippi State is hosting a variety of programs on the Starkville campus to commemorate Black History Month, including a series of interdisciplinary conversations on race, racism and class, and a lecture by a former president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, or NAACP. The 2014-2017 president of the NAACP, Cornell William Brooks, is a special guest for The Orators Lecture Series on Feb. 21, at 4 p.m. in Colvard Student Union’s Fowlkes Auditorium. Brooks is the professor of Practice of Public Leadership and Social Justice at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. The series, begun by MSU’s Shackoul’s Honors College, invites speakers that represent various campus disciplines and topics to engage the university community in research, course work, and public forums.
Rotary Classic Rodeo back at Mississippi Horse Park
The annual Rotary Classic Rodeo is back at the Mississippi Horse Park Friday [Feb. 11] and Saturday [Feb. 12], featuring contestants from across the country. The Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association event begins at 7 p.m. each night. The rodeo is the Starkville Rotary Club’s largest fundraiser, and its proceeds support humanitarian, educational and community service activities. The Horse Park is a division of Mississippi State University Extension and is located at 869 East Poor House Road. “The committee has been working very hard to plan and prepare for this great rodeo,” said John Forde, Starkville Rotary Club president. “We want to thank our sponsors supporting this community event. We’ll also have dozens of our members working in volunteer roles each night of the rodeo. It’s a true team effort that has a substantial impact on our local economy.”
MSU Libraries offers a variety of information and resources for faculty, staff and students
The MSU Libraries offers a variety of information and digital literacy workshops throughout the semester. Whether you're looking for information and digital literacy skill development workshops for your students or you want to learn more about the research databases offered through the MSU Libraries, we have a workshop for you! Learn a new citation software (such as EndNote, Mendeley, or Zotero) or learn how to use Adobe Spark, Premier, InDesign and Illustrator.
Join the Center for Distance Education's 2022 community of practice sessions
The online faculty community of practice at the Center for Distance Education strives to bring together all faculty at Mississippi State University who want to learn more about what it means to teach online and how to improve their online teaching. We welcome new online faculty, established online faculty, and those who are thinking about teaching online to meet with us to discuss topics that are important in the world of online teaching. All meetings for the 2022 spring semester will be hosted in Coskrey Auditorium at Memorial Hall. The first session -- Do You Really Know Your Online Students? -- takes place Thursday [Feb. 10] at 2 p.m.
Community-Engaged Learning Fellows applications available for 2022-2023
Applications are now available for Mississippi State University's 2022-2023 Community-Engaged Learning (CEL) Fellows program. The CEL Fellows program supports instructional faculty and staff in integrating community-engaged learning into their formal or non-formal teaching. Sponsored by the Office of the Provost and Executive Vice President and the Center for Community-Engaged Learning, CEL Fellows learn community-engaged learning theory, course design and pedagogy. Community-engaged learning is a high impact educational practice that improves student engagement, learning and development, social responsibility, and active citizenship. Applications are due by Feb. 25.
Virtual Fulbright information session Feb. 23
The Office of Prestigious External Scholarships in the Judy and Bobby Shackouls Honors College invites the MSU community to an interactive group presentation to learn about student opportunities for U.S. citizens to pursue graduate or professional study, conduct research or teach English through the Fulbright program. During the session, attendees will find out about the types of Fulbright awards, application components, tips, and get questions answered. Following the program overview, attendees will enter a breakout room with their Fulbright Program Adviser(s) (FPA) to learn more about applying through their institution. The event will take place from 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Feb. 23.
Undergraduate Research and Creative Discovery website connects students, faculty
The Undergraduate Research and Creative Discovery website is designed to connect Mississippi State undergraduate students seeking research experiences or creative discovery opportunities with faculty who have projects and are interested in undergraduate help. Now is the time to submit (or revise) your entries to the URCD website at www.urcd.msstate.edu. This is open to faculty in all disciplines who are seeking undergraduate researchers. MSU research personnel can submit details about their project, and students can search for available opportunities. Students are seeking opportunities now, so please do not hesitate to share your projects. Questions can be directed to Director of Undergraduate Research Anastasia Elder at ace24@msstate.edu.
Smoke-free policy enhances healthy environment
Mississippi State University is a smoke-free campus. Official policy prohibits the use of any combustible or vapor products anywhere on campus property including university buildings, university grounds, university vehicles, parking areas and sidewalks. The smoke-free campus policy is part of the university's commitment to creating a healthy environment for all members of the campus community. Use of cigarettes, e-cigarettes, cigars, pipes, hookah or other similar devices are prohibited by this policy. The complete policy is available at www.policies.msstate.edu/policy/91301.
The Office of Public Affairs provides Maroon MEMO as a general information
resource for Mississippi State University employees.
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