Tag Archives: alumni

From the Dean — June 2014

Dear Colleagues,

Alan Grant, dean

Alan Grant, dean

At the end of the spring semester the campus is filled with excitement as we round out the year with commencement activities. This year, more than 650 CALS students received undergraduate degrees at the ceremonies held on May 16 and 17. Another 80 students received graduate degrees at the Graduate Student Commencement.

Congratulations to our graduates and to the faculty, advisers, mentors, and those who contributed to the success of our graduates during their time here as students. I also want to thank the faculty and staff who helped in planning the commencement-related events.

On the afternoon of May 16, following the University Commencement, the college Outstanding Senior ceremony and reception was held. Stephanie Myrick was recognized as the 2014 College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Outstanding Senior for her exceptional academic achievement and leadership. Stephanie received her B.S. degree in applied economic management with minors in civic agriculture and food systems and leadership and social change. Other outstanding seniors were honored from each department in the college. We are pleased to welcome our new alumni.

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Outstanding Alumni and Hall of Fame awards among many recognitions at Alumni Awards Ceremony

On March 21, Virginia Tech alumni were recognized at the Alumni Awards Ceremony held at the the Inn at Virginia Tech and Skelton Conference Center. Fifteen of the award recipients who attended were from out of state; 200 guests attended the awards ceremony and 226 attended the dinner.

Kimberly Lane Tabor Kreitlow of Apex, N.C., received the Outstanding Recent Alumni award during the Virginia Tech College of Agriculture and Life Sciences recent award ceremony.

Lane earned her Ph.D. in entomology in 2004 from Virginia Tech and received the award for her extensive research and forensic work in the field.

Outstanding Alumni award

“We are pleased to present this award to Dr. Kreitlow for her significant achievements,” said Alan Grant, dean of the College. “Her work has had a lasting impact on the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and she continues to make significant contributions to the field of forensic entomology.”

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Save the date

March 4: Seed Starting Workshop with Holly Scoggins

  • Time: 10 a.m. – noon
  • Location: Peggy Lee Hahn Garden Pavilion
  • Price: $15 Friends of the Garden and Hale YMCA members/$20 general public
  • Contact: Stephanie Huckestein (vtgarden@vt.edu | 540-231-5970)

March 4: Mini Hoophouse Construction at the Hale YMCA Community Garden

  • Time: 1:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
  • Location: Hale YMCA Community Garden
  • Price: $15 Hale YMCA Gardeners and Friends of the Hahn Garden/$20 general public
  • Contact: Stephanie Huckestein (vtgarden@vt.edu | 540-231-5970)

March 19: Abundant Mini Gardens: Intro to Growing Abundant Fruit and Year-Round Vegetables in Small Raised Garden Beds

  • Time: Noon – 1 p.m.
  • Location: Peggy Lee Hahn Garden Pavilion
  • Price: Free
  • Contact: Stephanie Huckestein (vtgarden@vt.edu | 540-231-5970)

March 21: AAEC Seminar Series – “The Marginal Non-Market Value of Cropland: Hedonic Analysis with Semiparametric Instruemental Variable Methods” with Chris Parameter

  • Time: 3 p.m.
  • Location: Fralin 102 auditorium
  • Contact: Ashley Clark (aclark06@vt.edu | 540-231-0913)

March 21: HABB1 Grand Opening

  • Time: 10 a.m., ceremony. 10:30 a.m. – noon, reception and tours
  • Location: Corner of Duck Pond Drive and Washington Street
  • Contact: Jamie Lucero (jlucero@vt.edu | 540-231-8000)

March 21: Alumni Awards Program

  • Time: 2 p.m., ceremony. 3 p.m., social. 6 p.m., reception. 6:30 p.m., dinner.
  • Location: The Inn at Virginia Tech and Skelton Conference Center
  • Contact: Jamie Lucero (jlucero@vt.edu | 540-231-8000)

March 25-27: Dean’s Forum on Global Engagement – Developing a Community of Excellence

  • Time: Begins at 10 a.m. on March 25, times vary for remainder of forum. The full schedule is posted.
  • Location: The Inn at Virginia Tech and Skelton Conference Center, Squires Student Center, The Center for the Arts
  • Contact: Glenda Scales (540-231-9754 | gscales@vt.edu)

March 29: Garden Flow with Karen Rexrode

  • Time: 10 a.m. – noon
  • Location: Peggy Lee Hahn Garden Pavilion
  • Price: $15 Friends of the Garden/$20 general public
  • Contact: Stephanie Huckestein (vtgarden@vt.edu | 540-231-5970)

April 4: AAEC Seminar Series – “Estimating Farmers’ Willingness to Change Tillage Practices to Supply Carbon Emissions Offsets” with Ben Gramig

  • Time: 3 p.m.
  • Location: Fralin 102 auditorium
  • Contact: Ashley Clark (aclark06@vt.edu | 540-231-0913)

October 11: Hokie BugFest

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Save the date

Feb. 4: Winter conference on no-till conservation farming

  • Location: Rockingham County Fairgrounds, 4808 S. Valley Pike, Harrisonburg, Va.
  • Registration form available online
  • Contact: Matthew Yancey (yancey@vt.edu | 540-564-3080)

Feb. 5: Winter conference on no-till conservation farming

  • Location: Olde Dominion Ag Complex, 19783 US HWY 29 South, Chatham, Va.
  • Registration form available online
  • Contact: Sean Duff (sduff@vt.edu | 540-483-5161)

Feb. 5: Fabulous Plants, Fantastic Combinations, Lunchtime Learning series – Free Garden Walks and Talks

  • Time: Noon – 1 p.m.
  • Location: Peggy Lee Hahn Garden Pavilion
  • Price: Free
  • Contact: Stephanie Huckestein (vtgarden@vt.edu | 540-231-5970)

Feb. 14: AAEC Seminar Series – “A 7 Billion Dollar (Great Lakes) Fish Tale” with Gregory Poe

  • Time: 3 p.m.
  • Location: Fralin 102 auditorium
  • Contact: Ashley Clark (aclark06@vt.edu | 540-231-0913)

Feb. 18: Live broadcast of the National Conference on cover crops and soil health

  • Time: 10 a.m. – noon
  • Location: Fralin Auditorium
  • Contact: Elizabeth Rucker (egrucker@vt.edu | 540-231-4490)

Feb. 18: Phosphorus lessons and legacies – stories from an itinerant soil scientist with USDA-ARS Pasture Systems and Watershed Management Research Unit Research Leader, Peter Kleinman

  • Time: 3:30 – 4:30 p.m.
  • Location: 108 HABB1
  • Price: Free
  • Contact: Justin Barone (jbarone@vt.edu | 540-231-0680)

Feb. 27: 2014 VCE Professional Development Conference

  • Location: The Inn at Virginia Tech and Skelton Conference Center
  • Contact: Joe Hunnings (hunnings@vt.edu | 540-231-9409)

Feb. 28: AAEC Seminar Series – “Hunger and Hope: Escaping Poverty and Achieving Food Security in Developing Countries” with George Norton

  • Time: 3 p.m.
  • Location: Fralin 102 auditorium
  • Contact: Ashley Clark (aclark06@vt.edu | 540-231-0913)

March 21: HABB1 Grand Opening

  • Time: 10 a.m., ceremony. 10:30 a.m. – noon, reception and tours
  • Location: Corner of Duck Pond Drive and Washington Street
  • Contact: Jamie Lucero (jlucero@vt.edu | 540-231-8000)

March 21: Alumni Awards Program

  • Time: 2 p.m., ceremony. 3 p.m., social. 6 p.m., reception. 6:30 p.m., dinner.
  • Location: The Inn at Virginia Tech and Skelton Conference Center
  • Contact: Jamie Lucero (jlucero@vt.edu | 540-231-8000)
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Ninth annual Scramble for Scholars

2013 Scramble for Scholars

The ninth annual CALS Alumni Organization Scramble for Scholars Golf Tournament was held at the Pete Dye River Course of Virginia Tech on Friday, Oct. 18. Sixty-nine golfers and 12 sponsors helped to raise almost $7,000 for the CALS Alumni Organization Excellence Fund to support experiential learning opportunities for our students.

Five department teams competed: The Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, the Department of Crop and Soil Environmental Sciences (2 teams), the Department of Dairy Science, and the Department of Plant Pathology, Physiology, and Weed Science. The AAEC team of Steve Blank, Jason Grant, Randy Flinchum, and Jim Overfelt took home the first place prize in the department team competition. Congratulations and thank you to all participants!

Make sure to save the date for next year’s tournament, which will be during fall break.

– Jamie Lucero

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Hurry! Registration for Scramble for Scholars ends soon!

Last year's winning team.

Last year’s winning team.

TIME IS RUNNING OUT…REGISTER TO PLAY IN THE 9TH ANNUAL SCRAMBLE FOR SCHOLARS TODAY!

Proceeds benefit alumni activities and the newly established CALS Alumni Organization Excellence Fund to support experiential learning outside of the classroom

When: Friday, Oct. 18, 2013  (FALL BREAK)

Where: Pete Dye River Course of Virginia Tech, 8400 River Course Dr., Radford, VA 24141

Schedule:

  • 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.  Registration, lunch, and Putting Contest
  • 1 p.m.  Shotgun Start — Four-person Captain’s Choice

Please join us after 18 holes for appetizers and awards in the clubhouse. Prizes for putting contest, longest drive, closest to the pin. Award for top department/unit team

SPECIAL RATES FOR CALS DEPARTMENT/UNIT AND STUDENT TEAMS

  • Current Faculty/Staff Rate $100
  • Student Rate $50

Fee includes: cart, green fees, lunch, drink tickets, mulligans, putting contest, door prize, and awards reception

REGISTRATION FORM

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Photos: 2013 Scholarship Banquet

Scholarship banquet photo gallery >>

The 23rd annual College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Scholarship Banquet was held on September 12, 2013, to honor the college and its departments’ scholarship recipients, generous donors, and dedicated faculty.

In attendance were 219 students and their guests, 57 donors, and 63 members of the faculty.

Alan Grant, dean, and Susan Sumner, associate dean and director of academic programs, both shared messages of appreciation highlighting the significant impacts the generosity of donors have on the future of our college and the successes of our students.  Dean Grant also provided a brief update on the state of the college and introduced the new College of Agriculture and Life Sciences video. Student Government Association President, Brent Ashley, a senior majoring in dairy science and animal and poultry sciences, shared a message on behalf of the student body.

Each year student representatives for the undergraduate and graduate programs are asked to prepare remarks and share the opportunities they have been afforded as a result of receiving scholarships or other funding.  Gabrielle Fundaro, a doctoral degree candidate in the Department of Human Nutrition, Foods and Exercise, spoke on behalf of the graduate student scholarship recipients, and Lacey Koontz, a senior majoring in agribusiness represented the undergraduate students.  A donor is also invited to address the audience to share his or her story of what sparked the motivation to give financial support to the college. This year’s guest was Amy Iager, a 2002 alumna of dairy science and director of research and development at Gema.

The number of college-level scholarship recipients has grown from 236 in 2006 to almost 250 in 2013. In 2012 the college and departments together awarded over $1 million in scholarships.

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Photos: 8th annual CALS Fall Kickoff picnic

On Sept. 4, more than 1,000 faculty, staff, and students gathered on the Ag Quad for the 8th Annual CALS Fall Kickoff Picnic. See slideshow >>

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Fall Fest Homecoming tailgate welcomes alumni back to campus

IMG_0202 IMG_0339 IMG_0403Well before the pouring rain soaked fans in Lane Stadium on Sept. 21, 200 alumni, faculty, staff, and students of the college gathered on the Litton-Reaves Hall lawn for the annual CALS Fall Fest Homecoming Tailgate. Sponsorships from Smithfield and First Bank and Trust Company supported faculty, staff, and students to attend at no charge. Guests enjoyed a catered meal, tailgate games, and a visit from the HokieBird. The newly renovated alumni awards and donor walls were unveiled in the Litton-Reaves Hall lobby. Special thanks to the following departments, student clubs, and industry organizations from across the state who set up exhibits:

  • CALS Alumni Organization
  • Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics
  • Department of Agricultural and Extension Education
  • Department of Animal and Poultry Sciences
  • Department of Crop and Soil Environmental Sciences
  • Department of Entomology and Hokie Bugfest
  • Department of Horticulture
  • Family Nutrition Program
  • BARC
  • Collegiate Young Farmers
  • Food Science Club
  • Virginia Tech Beef Leadership Council
  • 107.1 PSK
  • Homestead Creamery
  • Smithfield Foods
  • Stanburn Winery
  • Turkey Knob Apples
  • USDA, NASS
  • Virginia Diner
  • Virginia Christmas Tree Growers Association
  • Virginia Cattlemen’s Association and the Virginia Beef Industry Council
  • Virginia Nursery and Landscape Association
  • Virginia Poultry Federation
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Connections email wins first place at conference

connectionsCongratulations to Jamie Lucero on winning first place in electronic newsletters at the National Agricultural Alumni and Development Association conference in June for the Connections alumni newsletter. A team involving Lucero, Dave Hunt, David Stanley, Susan Gill, and Josh Chambers is responsible for producing the monthly letter, which is distributed to more than 14,000 alumni, current and retired faculty, and staff from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

See the Connections archives on the alumni site.

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