Cocktails and Cuisine supports scholarships

LSU College of Agriculture students Faith Par­ish and Sam Nichols, left, spoke about how they have benefited from a scholarship from the Dean’s Scholarship Fund during the third annual Cocktails and Cuisine Benefiting Schol­arships at the Baton Rouge Gallery on Oct. 21. Attendees included alumni and friends as well as Frankie Gould, second from right, director of communications for the LSU AgCenter, and Cynthia Nicholas, Sam Nicholas’ mother. Event sponsors included Zen-Noh Grain, ConAgra Foods/Lamb Weston, Bracy’s Nursery, Black Gold, Louisiana Agricultural Consultants Asso­ciation, Elizabeth and David B. Means III, Don Welge, Associated Food Stores, Louisiana Land Bank, Monsanto, Louisiana Rice Growers Associ­ation and Louisiana Association of Conservation Districts. The event raised more than $20,000 for scholarships.

Meeting brings minorities together

Members of the LSU chapter of Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sci­ences, MANRRS, (front) KeVonn Faulkner, Chrys­tal Kerbo, Norlethia Harris, (middle) Janae Tatum, Alexandra Ruiz, (back) Greer Darden, Shanara Dyson and Samantha Smith participated as the LSU College of Agriculture hosted a regional MANRRS meeting on Oct. 28-30. About 60 stu­dents and advisers attended from MANRRS chapters at LSU, Southern University, Alcorn State University, Prairie View A&M University, Texas A&M University and Texas State University.

“The goal of this meeting is to encourage diversity and inclusion and promote the development of leadership skills that our members can use in their careers in agriculture and related sciences,” said Tim Sandles, diversity coordinator for the college.

Jamaican students study in food science lab

Ronamae Bradford and Dellecia Roberts, grad­uate students from the University of the West Indies at Mona, Jamaica, spent a month at LSU in Subramaniam Sathivel’s food science lab. The two, along with another graduate student, Tushane Taylor, conducted research for their master’s theses.

Sathivel, a food processing and engineering professor, also is an adjunct professor for the Food and Agro-Processing Technology pro­gram in the Department of Chemistry at the University of The West Indies, where he teaches a food processing technologies class over sev­eral weekends.

“These students are pursuing master’s degrees in Food and Agro-Processing Technology while they work in the Jamaican food industry and the Bureau of Standards Jamaica,” Sathivel said.

Bradford and Roberts are both working with the probiotic Lactobacillus plantarum. Bradford developed a milk powder with probiotics, while Roberts is adding probiotics to apple juice. Tay­lor is creating a Jell-O-like product that contains an oral rehydration solution to help treat chil­dren with illnesses such as diarrhea that lead to dehydration. The students paid their way to come to LSU and conduct their research. The LSU AgCenter and College of Agriculture helped arrange their visit.

College of Agriculture participates in national initiative

Leslie Blanchard, assistant dean of the LSU Col­lege of Agriculture, talks about the college’s Governor’s School for Agricultural Sciences during the America the Bountiful meeting at the U.S. Department of Agriculture headquar­ters in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 6. Blanchard, Karl Binns, with the University of Maryland East­ern Shore, and Riley Pagett, with National FFA, were on a panel on agricultural engagement with K-12 students.

The initiative to expand and diversify the U.S. agricultural workforce is sponsored by the USDA and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and includes the LSU College of Agriculture, along with other federal agencies, private sector stakeholders and edu­cators. Nearly two dozen participants outlined ways to encourage more individuals to pursue a career in agriculture.

The Governor’s School for Agricultural Sciences, which debuted in 2016, is a one-week residential program for academically talented high school seniors interested in agricultural sciences.

Ag Week spotlights agriculture on campus

Emily LeBlanc, Kayleigh Price and Shelby Evans, members of the agriculture sorority Sigma Alpha, set up a photo booth and passed out Mardi Gras masks in Free Speech Alley during Ag Week on Oct. 17-23 to raise awareness about agriculture. Each mask had an agriculture fact on the back. A sign on their table said “Remov­ing the mask of agriculture.”

Ag Week on campus included activities for stu­dents, faculty, alumni and agriculture busi­nesses and industry. Student organizations held socials, set up information booths, displayed animals and held a scavenger hunt to create awareness of agriculture.