CSS News 2003-04 pdf - Dept. of Crop and Soil Sciences ...

Put Me in the
Game, Coach!
So Coach Doba thinks he has it tough
filling positions when players get injured?
We have been continually challenged to
offer the best academic experiences possible
to our students and we are indebted to
several key instructors who have filled the
ranks as faculty retire, positions are lost to
budget cuts, and other faculty take professional
leave. Dr. Cathy Perillo has played an
essential role in teaching many soils courses
while creating some exciting new courses in
sustainable agriculture. Dr. Chris Pannkuk is
lending his international experiences to our
course on World Cropping Systems with Dr. Steve
Ullrich, while Dr. Lynne Carpenter-Boggs, Kathy
Colin-Peck, and Blake Ketchum have stepped up
to fill temporary voids created during faculty
professional leaves being taken by Dr. John Reganold
and Dr. Alan Busacca. Dr. Colin Campbell, scientist
with Decagon Devices, Inc., generously offers his time
and energy to instruct Environmental Biophysics,
a course established by his father, Dr. Gaylon Campbell.
Dr. Perillo, Dr. Joan Davenport and Dr. Stevens taught
Soil Fertility as I stepped into the Chair position. Special
thanks to Joan and Bob for all of that travel between Prosser
and Pullman, and to other faculty such as Dr. Craig Cogger
and Dr. Eric Miltner for making the occasional trek to Pullman to deliver guest lectures! Dr. Gwen Stahnke developed two
web-based courses for our ever growing turf program (61% of CSS undergraduate majors) which she manages from Puyallup.
Dr. Kim Campbell, USDA-ARS wheat geneticist, continues to donate her time and energy in instructing our undergraduate
seminar course and team-teaching our graduate crop breeding course while directing the Central Asia project that was initiated
by Dr. Tom Lumpkin prior to his departure.
• Bill Pan, Chair
ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT
Kathy Colin-Peck speaks on the subject of organic
gardening and farming
Dr. Dave Somers earned a B.S. in Soil Science in 1974 from the University of Maine, and his
M.S. and Ph.D. in 1978 and 1983, respectively under the mentorship of Drs. Andy Kleinhofs
and Bob Warner. He was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Plant Genetic Manipulation
Group, Botany Department, University of Nottingham, UK in 1983 before accepting a
position at the Department of Agronomy and Plant Genetics, University of Minnesota as
assistant professor in 1984. In 1993, Dave accepted an endowed chair position in the Department
of Agronomy and Genetics titled “Applications of Molecular Genetics to Crop Improvement.”
In 1999, he was inducted as Fellow of the Crop Science Society of America and the American Society of Agronomy.
Recently, he received the Award of Merit from the Minnesota Chapter of Gamma Sigma Delta, the Honor Society of
Agriculture.
Dave has already achieved high distinction in science and he gives much of the credit to his training and experience at
Washington State University, although I must add that his native intelligence and drive for achievement and perfection
also has much to do with it. The Department of Agronomy and Genetics at the University of Minnesota is very fortunate
to have Dave as a faculty member and the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences at Washington State University is very
proud to have him as an alumnus.
Dave enjoys fishing as a compelling hobby, particularly with a fly. While at WSU, he became an avid steelhead fisherman
and we spent many an enjoyable hour together on the river and often discussed science while driving back and forth. I
think that some of our better research ideas evolved from those discussions. Dave continues his love affair with fishing,
but the opportunities in Minnesota are more limited. Therefore, he makes occasional trips back to Washington state to
fish for steelhead. Dave is married to his long-time sweetheart Ann and they have three lovely daughters who are almost
grown up now.
• Andy Kleinhofs, Professor/Scientist
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