
 Read: article on
artificial diet for beneficial insects.
Read: More
about Perry Cregan's research.
Read: More about
Hanna's turfgrass.
Read: More about
Landolt's lures. Read: More
about Bailey Mitchell's research.
Read: More about
edible films.
Researchers Honored for Transferring TechnologyBy Kathryn Barry
Stelljes May 1, 2001BURLINGTON, Vt., May 1--Nine
scientists from Agricultural Research
Service laboratories in California, Georgia, Maryland, Mississippi and
Washington today will receive 2001 Awards for Excellence in Technology Transfer
from the Federal Laboratory
Consortium, meeting here this week. The FLC is honoring 112 individuals with this award at its annual meeting.
The winners come from 21 laboratories in seven federal agencies. The
consortium, a network of more than 700 federal research laboratories, helps
move technologies from these labs into the marketplace. ARS researchers have contributed technologies with wide-ranging
applications, from improved soybeans and bermudagrass, to programs for
analyzing and reducing environmental contaminants, to biologically based pest
management tools," said Floyd P. Horn. Based in Washington, D.C., Horn is
administrator of ARS, the U.S. Department of
Agriculture's chief scientific research agency. Award winner Allen Cohen, an ARS entomologist working at Mississippi State,
Miss., developed an artificial diet for mass production of beneficial insects.
These insects act as predators or parasites of insects that harm agricultural
crops. Cohens work reduced the cost of the feed for raising beneficial
insects from $300 to $1,500 per kilogram to less than $2 per kilogram. ARS geneticist Perry B. Cregan at Beltsville, Md., developed more than 600
genetic markers and associated chromosomal maps for soybeans. His was the first
laboratory in the world to demonstrate that these specific types of markers,
known as simple sequence repeat DNA markers, could be used to identify genes of
interest in plants. The technique allows the USDAs
Plant Variety Protection
Office to ensure that protected varieties are genetically unique. ARS geneticist Wayne Hanna at Tifton, Ga., developed TifEagle and TifSport,
two new patented turfgrass varieties with improved resistance to cool
temperatures and to mole cricket damage. Last year, at least 50 percent of all
new and renovated golf course greens in the United States that use bermudagrass
chose TifEagle. The new turfgrasses require less pesticides and water than
those typically used for golf courses and recreational fields in the southern
United States, while providing the superior surfaces necessary for golf and
other sports. ARS entomologist Peter J. Landolt of Wapato, Wash., developed new lures to
attract insects. One of the lures attracts several species of pestiferous wasps
and yellowjackets, representing the first effective lure for German
yellowjackets and European paper wasps. Another lure attracts several moth
pests of agricultural crops. The lures rely on sugars and other natural
compounds, and will allow private companies to develop control measures such as
attract-and-kill traps that use only minimal amounts of pesticides. ARS agricultural engineer Bailey Mitchell of Athens, Ga., designed an
electrostatic space charge system that removes dust and microorganisms from the
air of poultry- producing facilities. The system was shown to be more than 95
percent effective in laboratory and field tests. The air-cleaning system will
make poultry products safer by reducing the amount of harmful microbes like
Salmonella that can get transferred from the poultry house to the meat. ARS chemists Attila E. Pavlath, Dominic W.S. Wong and Wayne Camirand
(retired) of the agencys Western
Regional Research Center at Albany, Calif., developed edible films that
have led to new products in diverse arenas. Pavlath is also currently serving
as the president of the American Chemical
Society. The first film, a calcium-based coating, keeps cut apples, pears and other
lightly processed produce fresh for up to 28 days in appropriate packaging. The
produce coating--now developed by a private company into a commercial dip--has
helped increase the use of cut fruit in school lunch programs and salad bars.
The second film provides a protective coating for cows udders. The
spray-on coating, also successfully commercialized by a private company,
protects the cows from contracting mastitis-causing bacteria. ARS soil scientist Martinus T. van Genuchten of Riverside, Calif., led the
creation of a state-of-the-art Windows-based computer software package called
HYDRUS. This program allows users to study and predict how water and dissolved
chemicals move in soils and groundwater. More than 5,500 copies of the software
have been distributed. The user-friendly computer program has been widely
adopted worldwide as a tool for improving water quality, reducing agricultural
chemical runoff and managing municipal waste. Several large and small companies have licensed ARS patents stemming
from the work of these award winners. Their research exemplifies the main goal
of the Federal Laboratory Consortium--that is, to help federal agencies move
research from the laboratory to the consumer, Horn said. The FLC also announced that it has selected John P. Jordan of ARS as
Laboratory Director of the Year for 2000. Dr. Jordan is director of the
ARS Southern
Regional Research Center in New Orleans, La. He was cited for numerous
contributions to technology transfer as director of SRRC. Contact: Kathryn Barry Stelljes,
ARS Information Staff, phone
(510) 559-6069, fax (510) 559-5882, [email protected]. Read: More about
HYDRUS.
Story contacts Wayne W Hanna Bailey W Mitchell U.S. Department of Agriculture |