Rain Bird, a company that is a world leader in irrigation products and services, has a contest that will award more than $50,000 in grants to innovative water conservation projects, and a team of SAES students guided by Dr. Manuel Reyes, associate professor of bioenvironmental engineering, has a project in the running for a top-rung grant of $10,000. Reyes and his students are calling their project, “Natuculture: Biomimicry in Urban Landscapes,” and it outlines additional touches on converting a high-traffic area near the SAES’s Sockwell Hall into a water and carbon dioxide system that will restore biological diversity to the eco-system by utilizing a rainwater harvester and solar power.
Rain Bird’s “Intelligent Use of Water Awards” has $1,500, $5,000 and $10,000 funding categories, with each level reflecting the technological sophistication that entrants should expect. The company conducts its Water Awards program by giving submissions an initial screening, and then posting those that are declared finalists onto a website for public evaluation and online elections that will determine the winners. Once submitted and approved, a project is a candidate for prize money and the election is under way. Reyes and the team of SAES students have made it past phase I of the competition, and they now need support from faculty, staff, fellow students, friends and admirers from all walks of life with access to the Internet. The limit is one vote per day, per project, per voter. The SAES team has its sights set on one of three $10,000 prizes when the election comes to a conclusion on March 15. The winners will be announced on World Water Day, March 22.
French accent for Aggie pride
SAES students interested in a study abroad program in Montreal set for July 2 – 20 should tackle the application process as soon as possible. Those accepted will study international agriculture as well la langue française, and their instructor for the former will be a familiar face: John Paul Owens of the Dept. of Agribusiness, Applied Economics and Agriscience Education. The University of Quebec at Montreal is host institution for the program, which will include more than 100 other students from around the world in addition to A&T.
The class in international agriculture will acquaint students with the relationships among agricultural systems in the United States and other countries, and the impact of developments in global agriculture on domestic production and policies. Students will attend classes in the mornings and the afternoons will be reserved for expanding cultural horizons. The program will offer students many opportunities to supplement their classroom work with cultural outings in the world's second largest French-speaking city, and field trips to Laval, Quebec City and the Canadian capital, Ottawa. McGill University is also a collaborating institution for the program. Students can apply to the Montreal program through the Office of International Programs.
There will be some funding support from USDA grants for a limited number of SAES students traveling to Montreal for the summer program. USDA funding also will support a mid-summer international experience for SAES students in 2012. Dr. Osei Yeboah, interim director of the L.C. Cooper Jr. International Trade Center, will be coordinating a program that will take SAES students to Ghana for coursework and cross-cultural enrichment.
