VOLUME 2023, ISSUE 1 01/17/2023 |
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| A MESSAGE FROM OUR DEAN Dear Aggies and friends of the ACES College, Welcome to a new year and to the Spring semester. We look back at 2022 and we see all the tremendous accomplishments that the college has achieved through its faculty, staff, and students. We look at 2023 with a great sense of optimism, looking forward to producing additional impacts in the lives of New Mexicans, and to the global impact that NMSU and New Mexico can have. We are very optimistic of the legislative session in which we have submitted plans for some additional faculty and facility improvements. We hope that by late April we will be able to open the new facilities, the three new Agriculture buildings that we have been mentioning and indicating before. |
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We look forward to inspiring more students and NMSU stakeholders to work more closely with the college, our faculty, science centers, and extension offices. We are looking at what is needed the most and what can we accomplish. In this newsletter, you can see all the plans and programs that we are starting to work toward in 2023. As usual, we are open to your suggestions, comments, and your feedback. Have a great start to this new year and Go Aggies! |
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Rolando A. Flores Galarza Dean & Chief Administrative Officer |
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As part of the finalists’ visits to campus for interviews, NMSU will host open forums for each candidate throughout January, with opportunities for discussion and input from faculty and staff, graduate and undergraduate students, and the broader community. All of the forums will take place in the Corbett Center West Ballroom and will also be webcast using Zoom at the links in the schedule below. More information about each finalist, including résumes, cover letters and feedback forms, can be found at https://talent.nmsu.edu/hire/open/provost-search-finalists.html. For more information, contact Dean Rolando A. Flores Galarza, search committee chair, at 575-646-3748 or acesdean@nmsu.edu. Open forum schedule Dr. Adolfo Santos: Thursday, Jan. 12 - 10 to 11 a.m.: Open forum for community members (Zoom)
- 1:30 to 2:30 p.m.: Faculty and staff forum (Zoom)
- 2:45 to 3:45 p.m.: Graduate and undergraduate students forum (Zoom)
Dr. G. Eric Skipper: Thursday, Jan. 19 - 9:20 to 10:20 a.m.: Open forum for community members (Zoom)
- 1 to 2 p.m. Faculty and staff forum (Zoom)
- 2:15 to 3:15 p.m.: Graduate and undergraduate students forum (Zoom
Dr. Alan L. Shoho: Monday, Jan. 23 - 9:15 to 10:15 a.m.: Open forum for community members (Zoom)
- 1 to 2 p.m. Faculty and staff forum (Zoom)
- 2:15 to 3:15 p.m.: Graduate and undergraduate students forum (Zoom)
Dr. John Z. Kiss: Thursday, Jan. 26 - 9:15 to 10:15 a.m.: Open forum for community members (Zoom)
- 1 to 2 p.m. Faculty and staff forum (Zoom)
- 2:15 to 3:15 p.m.: Graduate and undergraduate students forum (Zoom)
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Understanding plant physiology in response to environmental stressors, such as drought or high-saline water sources, is an ongoing research effort by Ivette Guzmán. An Associate Professor of Horticulture in the Plant and Environmental Sciences Department at New Mexico State University, Guzmán strives to understand environmental impacts on crop photosynthetic processes, agricultural and water resilience pathways for arid and semi-arid regions, and how to manage food quality in an ever-changing environment. Her research hopes to discover innovative ways to obtain crop yields that have increased nutritional and medicinal value to enhance human health and well-being. She is advising an undergraduate NMSU horticulture Maximizing Access to Research Careers (MARC) student, Chris Gomez, on research measuring photosynthetic rates on different types of onions treated with saline water. Preliminary results show that some types of onions are more tolerant of high saline treatments. Results will be presented at the American Society of Horticultural Science annual conference in 2023. This work will provide growers with information on what onion varieties would do best in the Southwest. Please contact Dr. Sam Fernald at afernald@nmsu.edu for more information. |
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Spring 2023, Water Resource Economics – AEEC-ECON 384V Professor Frank Ward will be teaching a 3-credit course in Spring 2023, titled "Water Resource Economics." It is an upper division general education course that is suitable for undergraduates, requiring only one previous class in Principles of Economics. This course will be of interest to students interested in water science, water technology, and water policy, especially those seeking water-related careers. We've all seen recent news of drought in New Mexico and torrential rains and flooding in California. Most professional careers in our part of the country require some knowledge of water. This is a general education class, AEEC/ECON 348V, taught from 12 noon to 1:15pm, Tuesday and Thursdays in room 336, Gerald Thomas Hall. Those who would like the full syllabus can email Professor Frank Ward at fward@nmsu.edu. |
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Structured Decision Making for Fish & Wildlife Management Professor Abby Lawson will be teaching a 3-credit introductory course in Spring 2023 entitled, "Structured Decision Making for Fish & Wildlife Management". This is an introductory course that is suitable for new graduate students. This course will be of interest to graduate students interested in conservation, applied ecology, and environmental sciences, especially those seeking careers with an applied focus that may involve working with stakeholders. Catalog information; Dr. Abigail (Abby) Lawson, FWCE 535, Special Topics: Structured Decision Making for Fish & Wildlife Management, section M03 This is an in-person class that meets on Monday and Wednesday, 1:30pm-2:45pm in Knox Hall, room 146. Please alert potentially interested students. For more information, contact Professor Dr. Abigail (Abby) Lawson at ajlawson@nmsu.edu. |
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Academics Program Update Fall 2022 was a solid semester for the students and faculty in the College of ACES. We are very proud of the 95 undergraduate and 32 graduate students who earned their degrees and graduated in December. Congratulations to these newest members of the ACES alumni group, the Sam Steel Society. In Fall, ACES also welcomed a new group of freshmen and transfer students into our family. Nearly 250 of these students participated in our ACES 1120 Orientation class, which was taught for the first time by Dr. John Townsend of our Agricultural Economics and Agricultural Business Department. The culmination of this course was the ACES Welcoming Ceremony, where the students were recognized and celebrated as the newest members of our ACES family. We now look forward to an awesome Spring 2023 semester. Enrollment in our undergraduate and graduate programs remains strong. We continue to move toward returning to and soon surpassing pre-COVID enrollment levels. As always, ACES faculty and staff are committed to supporting each and every student, empowering them to explore, gain knowledge and develop their unique passions and talents. While we are just beginning the semester, ACES looks forward to graduation in May, when we will host the Sam Steel Society Induction Ceremony and celebrate our students' achievements. For more information, contact Associate Dean & Director of Academic Programs Dr. Donald Conner at deconner@nmsu.edu |
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AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION (AES) |
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A Message from the AES Director In 2023, the Agricultural Experiment Station will continue to support fundamental and applied science and technology research to benefit New Mexico’s citizens in the economic, social, and cultural aspects of agriculture, natural resources management, and family issues. AES will continue to pool resources to support post-doctoral researchers, research scientists, undergraduate and graduate students, and improve critical infrastructure at our 12 agricultural science centers located throughout the state, as well as identify ways to purchase important equipment needed to modernize our laboratory spaces on main campus. This spring, AES will host townhall meetings to bring researchers together to discuss the 19 research umbrellas identified. These umbrellas will support the four ACES pillars and allow for quick response teams who are prepared to respond to research needs and funding calls. National Impact Database Submissions Thank you to all the faculty who submitted an impact statement to be submitted into the National Impact Database (NIDB) towards the end of last year. NMSU AES successfully submitted 14 impact statements that will become available for public viewing. These impacts can be used to be elevate land-grant research across the US. In previous years NMSU AES has had impact statements chosen to be used in NIDB summaries and stories and used for leveraging land-grant funds from Congress. Click below to visit the NIDB, and use the search filters to find NMSU AES impact stories. https://landgrantimpacts.tamu.edu/impacts/search. For more information, contact AES Program Operations Director Claire Montoya at ccortner@nmsu.edu. |
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ANIMAL AND RANGE SCIENCES |
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The Department of Animal and Range Sciences has acquired a registered flock of Southdown sheep, and the first offspring were shown at the Arizona National Livestock Show in Phoenix, Arizona on December 30, 2023. The animals were prepared and shown by members of the NMSU Sheep Show Team. The members of the team that participated at Phoenix were Mackenzie Lightfoot, Micah Lightfoot, and Grady Hodnett. They exhibited four ewes, and two placed in the top five in their class. This was a great experience for our students, who were able to network with sheep industry leaders. For more information, contact Department Head Shanna Ivey at sivey@nmsu.edu. |
3rd place Southdown ewe at Arizona National Livestock Show shown by NMSU Show Team. Left to Right Adam Summers (advisor), Grady Hodnett, Mackenzie Lightfoot, and Micah Lightfoot. |
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NMSU Creates Pipeline Program to Train Minority Students for Agricultural Workforce New Mexico State University will train more undergraduate and graduate students from underrepresented groups for competitive agricultural careers through a new program jointly operated by the University of California, Chico. The program, funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture, establishes a pipeline between the two institutions for minority students pursuing bachelor’s and master’s degrees in animal science. The grant was part of a $14 million investment in Hispanic-serving higher education institutions to support Hispanic student learning experiences in the agricultural and human science sectors. The program aims to recruit animal science majors from underrepresented groups to Chico State to complete their undergraduate studies and prepare them to enter graduate school at NMSU. Undergraduate students at Chico State will visit NMSU during the summers to complete research internships on the Las Cruces campus as part of an initiative to expose participants to research experiences in preparation for graduate school. |
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NMSU researchers examine history of chile pepper wilt disease in published paper A century ago, an assistant biologist at what is now known as New Mexico State University discovered a novel pathogen that posed a significant threat to the state’s budding chile pepper industry, kickstarting decades of critical research to understand and combat the disease. Leon Hatchig Leonian, an internationally renowned researcher known for his work in plant diseases, plant breeding, and fungi physiology, first described Phytophthora capsici, a soilborne microorganism that causes “chile wilt,” in September 1922 during his tenure at New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, now NMSU. The history of this research is described in a recently published journal article by Dr. Soum Sanogo. Sanogo, who leads NMSU’s Soilborne Disease Research Program, works closely with NMSU’s chile pepper breeder, Dennis Nicuh Lozada, who directs the Chile Pepper Breeding and Genetics Program, on research related to P. capsici. Lozada also contributed to the paper, published last month in the journal Phytopathology. To read the paper, visit https://nmsu.news/chile-pepper-wilt-disease. |
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INNOVATIVE MEDIA RESEARCH & EXTENSION |
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| Water Markets Game in Process Farmers, ranchers and other water managers can use water trading, banking and markets to share water resources and use them more efficiently. The department is collaborating with NM Water Resources Research Institute, Plant and Environmental Sciences, Agricultural Economics and Agricultural Business, and the USDA Southwest Climate Hub to create a game designed to help players understand these newest water management strategies. The team attended the Secure Water Future collaborative meeting at the University of California, Berkeley this month to begin designing the game as part of the larger goals of the project, "Securing a climate resilient water future for agriculture and ecosystems through innovation in measurement, management, and markets," funded by USDA-NIFA (Award No. 2021-69012-35916) and led by University of California, Merced. |
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This five-year project aims to understand, enable, and envision water management strategies, empowered through data-enabled decision-making, for agricultural and ecological systems. For more information, contact Dr. Barbara Chamberlin at bchamber@nmsu.edu. |
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PARTNERSHIP FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF CANCER RESEARCH (PACR) |
2022 marked the 20th Anniversary of the Partnership for the Advancement of Cancer Research (PACR), an NIH-funded collaboration between NMSU and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center. This program, housed in ACES, is one of the longest-standing NCI PACHE programs in the nation and is improving cancer health equity through research, education, training and community engagement. PACR has secured $17.5 million in direct funding for NMSU, with nearly $2.5 million awarded specifically towards outreach. It has supported 47 research projects, generated 176 publications, and provided cancer health education to more than 22,000 New Mexicans. This month, PACR submitted its grant renewal application for another five years (2023–2028). The application includes four research projects spanning basic and population sciences, and five cores providing resources and training for faculty, staff, and students. PACR involves faculty from every NMSU college and is proud to support four faculty from ACES/CES in the renewal application. For more information, contact Communications Specialist Kaitlin E. Briggs at kenglund@nmsu.edu. |
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Scholarships from Industry Partners The School of HRTM ended the year with tremendous support from our industry partners. On November 14, three students were recognized with $2,500 Tom Willis Memorial scholarships at the New Mexico Restaurant Association’s Hospitality Industry Awards Dinner at the Embassy Suites in Albuquerque. On December 14, four students received $1,000 scholarships from the Greater Albuquerque Hotel & Lodging Association at its holiday lunch at the Sheraton Uptown. On December 1 at the El Paso Hotel & Lodging Association’s Banquet of the Bell, HRTM Director, Jean Hertzman accepted a $12,000 donation to kickstart the group’s endowed scholarship fund. In addition, Republic National Distributing Company of New Mexico added $5,000 raised at its annual golf tournament to its endowed scholarship. We cannot thank these organizations enough for their generous contributions to helping finance our students’ academic and professional goals. |
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NMRA Tom Willis Memorial Scholarship recipients Makayla Montoya, Joshua Jackson, and Paloma Hernandez-Perez with donor Chrissy Willis and Dr. Jean Hertzman |
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Dr. Jean Hertzman receives a scholarship check from Carleen Garcia, President of the El Paso Hotel & Lodging Association. |
| GAHLA Scholarship winners Kamili Burnett, Joshua Jackson, and Makayla Montoya with Dr. Jean Hertzman and Chef Pete Mitchell. Not pictured, scholarship winner, Alejandro Esparza |
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2023 NM COTTON GROWERS CONFERENCE |
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The 2023 Annual New Mexico Cotton Growers Conference will be taking place on Wednesday, January 25, 2023, at the Ruidoso Convention Center, Ruidoso, NM from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm. Tentative topics for the 2023 conference are still being finalized, but will likely include: - Fertilizer pricing outlook
- EPA updates and pesticide infractions
- Update on pink bollworm and boll weevil eradication efforts
- 2023 economic outlook on cotton
- Industry updates
... and many more To view the Cotton Newsletter and access the registration form, click on the following link : Cotton-Newsletter-Volume-13-Number-3-December-2022_Final.pdf (nmsu.edu) To register for the conference, please send completed forms/questions to: Patrick Sullivan, NMCGA, 1946 S. Valley Drive, Las Cruces, NM 88005. Email: nmbollweevil@zianet.com; Phone: 575-541-0584; Fax: 575-541-0788 |
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| In nearly five decades of teaching at New Mexico State University, retired animal science professor Neil Burcham touched the lives of hundreds of students and colleagues, and had a lasting impact on the livestock industry in New Mexico and across the United States.
Burcham, who passed away in December at age 81, was an associate professor of Animal Science in the Animal & Range Sciences Department in the College of Agricultural, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences for 48 years before retiring in 2017. During his time at NMSU, many said that he was the most influential professor they’ve ever had. |
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He came to New Mexico State in 1969, to teach Animal Science & Swine Production in the Ag Department. He was the coach for the Judging Team for many years and was in charge of the breeding program for the college ranch until his retirement in December 2017. He loved teaching & helped many students find jobs through the years, many of whom became close personal friends. |
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IRD 2022 WINTER NEWSLETTER |
COLLEGE OF ACES MAGAZINE – FALL 2022 ISSUE |
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The College of Agriculture, Consumer and Environmental Sciences is an engine for economic and community development in New Mexico, improving the lives of New Mexicans through academic, research, and Extension programs. |
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