Larry Van De Valk, director of the Empire State Food and Agricultural Leadership Institute (LEAD New York) was recently honored by the International Association of Programs for Agricultural Leadership (IAPAL) with their Outstanding Leadership Program Director award. The award was presented at IAPAL's annual meeting in Jackson Hole, WY on October 16, 2009. Read the full press release.

Professor Bill Camp was honored by the National Association of Agricultural Educators, Inc. with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his significant contributions to agricultural education at the state, regional, and national levels. One recipient from each of the six NAAE regions will be recognized with a plaque at the 2009 NAAE Convention in Nashville, TN, November 17-21.

Lucas Fuess '10 was selected as the 2009 summer advocacy intern for the National Association of Agricultural Educators (NAEE). Read the full press release.

Emily Weinstein '10 was featured in the Winter 2009 issue of The Research Paper, Cornell's undergraduate research magazine for her work with Professor Dawn Schrader regarding relational and social aggression among adolescents. Read the full article on page 13 of The Research Paper.

The Empire State Food and Agricultural Leadership Institute, or LEAD New York, accepted 30 members into its two-year leadership development program, which trains individuals for leadership positions in the agricultural industry. “We had another strong pool of very qualified applicants,” said Larry Van De Valk, LEAD NY director. “Selection to the program is competitive, and it is an honor to be chosen for one of our limited number of class positions.”

Diversity is prized among LEAD NY participants. The 13th class consists of 12 women and 18 men; 10 producers, 10 agribusiness members, and 10 non-profit or public-entity staff; people from as far west as Chautauqua County and Lake Erie, north to Essex County, and southeast to New York City; and people from ages 25 to 57. In addition, a wide range of food and agricultural industry sectors are represented in the new class, including field crop, vegetable, dairy, livestock, and maple production, agricultural lending, food processing, cooperative management, feed, and farm supply businesses, and government agency, educational, and non-profit organizations.

LEAD NY, sponsored in part by CALS, is a two-year leadership development program, consisting of 50 days of seminars, workshops, and field travel experiences in and out of New York, including an out-of-country study trip. Its curriculum focuses on four major areas: leadership skill development, including public speaking, meeting management, and listening skills; civic engagement and participation in public policy; deeper understandings of agricultural issues and New York’s role in the global food system; and networking with other leaders in state, national, and worldwide agriculture and food industries. Many of the 313 program graduates are leaders in New York’s agriculture industry.

Bill Camp, professor of agricultural science education, earned the top award at the annual meeting of the American Association for Agricultural Education(AAAE) in Louisville, Ky., on May 19-22. Camp received the Outstanding Agricultural Educator Award for his lifetime contributions to the field. The award, AAAE’s highest honor, is based on excellence in teaching undergraduates and graduate students, significant research and scholarship related to agricultural education, and service to the field. In addition, Camp delivered the annual “Distinguished Lecture,” an 80-year-old tradition of the AAAE. In his talk, “Toward an Intellectual Common for Agricultural Education,” Camp urged the AAAE to establish an open access web site for the free exchange of course materials, video clips, recorded lectures, and other scholarly content. As a result of the presentation, a committee was formed to implement the proposal.

On May 11, 2009 the department held its annual Award Ceremony and Graduation Recognition Reception. Among the award winners were Donna Moore, PhD '08, who was presented with the Marvin and Ruth Glock Research Award for her outstanding doctoral thesis research and PhD candidate Meg Gardinier who received the 2009 Julian E. Butterworth Doctoral Research Award. View the program from the event for a complete list of award winners and graduates. Congratulations to all!

Professor Emeritus Verne Rockcastle has published his autobiography,"Acorn to Oak," a compilation of personal experiences, accomplishments, and professional activities at Cornell and the Department of Education. The 235-page hardcover book spans Rockcastle's early years in public school to his many years of teaching at Cornell and authoring science programs for children and sourcebooks for public school teachers and parents.

Congratulations to Meg Gardinier who has been selected as a Spencer Dissertation Fellowfor her research related to education. For additional information about the award you can visit the Spencer Foundation website. The department would also like to congratulate Xenia Meyer who was among 47 finalists for the Spencer Foundation Dissertation Fellowship for Research Related to education. The selection was made from a group of approximately 600 highly qualified candidates from all disciplines and from more than 100 graduate institutions. Xenia's application was found to be in the top 8%.

Agriculture teacher Derek Hill '06 talks about Tully High School's Produce Project where students are growing green while supplying produce to their own cafeteria.   For additional information about this unique program, read Students Grow Lunch from the November 26 issue of The Post-Standard.

Congratulations to Cornell's Collegiate FFA (Future Farmers of America) members who once again demonstrated professionalism and competence by winning the New York State Farm Bureau Collegiate Discussion Meet held at Morrisville State University. Five undergraduate students, Kaylie Ackerley, Lucas Fuess, Allyson Jones-Brimmer, Alison Keggan, and Julia Porter all advanced to the semi-finals with Fuess, Jones-Brimmer, and Porter advancing to the final round. In the end, Julia Porter won the discussion meet. She will represent the New York State Farm Bureau at the American Farm Bureau Young Farmers and Ranchers Leadership Conference in Sacramento, CA, in February. If successful at the AFBF convention, Julia will win a $2500 scholarship. Good luck Julia!

Professor John Sipple will presented the keynote talk at the National Rural School-Based Health Symposium held October 17-18 in Cooperstown, NY. The topic of his talk was based on the importance of community collaboration in better serving the educational, health, and social needs of children in rural communities.

On October 6-7, Professor John Sipple presented at the On the Same Page Summitin Albany, NY. The goal of the summit was to stimulate  policy and action to increase family engagement in public education. Nearly 100 leaders from across New York State (including higher education Deans of Education, BOCES, BIG 5 superintendents, NYSED staff, staff from Policy Institutes, school boards, and the teachers union) participated along with parent leaders. 

Governor Patterson signed into law the new New York State Center for Rural Schools on Friday, September 26, 2008. This Center, to be housed at Cornell University, will 1) facilitate communication, information, and expertise, 2) bolster research capacity on a variety of issues facing rural communities and their schools, and 3) conduct and motivate research to assist rural schools and their communities and New York State. Building on the expertise and networks of the NYS Rural Education Advisory Committee and the Rural Schools Association of NYS, the center will assist Cornell to carry out its Land Grant Mission by informing and studying educational issues of importance in rural communities.

Professor Scott Peters has been named as an Associate Editor for the Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement, which is published quarterly by the University of Georgia's Institute of Higher Education. He will be editing the "Practice Stories from the Field" section of the journal. Click here for more information about the journal, including submission guidelines.

Professor Scott Peters has signed a contract from Michigan State University press to publish his next book, Critic and Leader as Well as Servant: Higher Education's Roles in the Public Work of Democracy." Co-authored by Theodore Alter from Penn State University, the book will contribute to an emerging debate about the nature, meaning, value, and significance of American higher education's public purposes and work. The book is scheduled to be published in early 2010.

Professor Scott Peters will be giving the opening keynote lecture in "Sustaining the Earth: Public Scholarship in the Arts and Humanities", a semester-long symposium sponsored by Iowa State University's Center for Excellence in the Arts and Humanities. His lecture titled, Cultivating and Sustaining Democratic Publics: Civic Professionalism and the Pursuit of Sustainability in the Arts and Humanities." Click here for additional information about the series.

LEAD New York Class 12 will be traveling to Spain for their study trip in February 2009. LEAD New York is a two-year program of seminars, workshops and field travel designed for committed individuals who wish to step-up and make a difference in New York State's food and agriculture industry. LEAD New York alumni include growers, lenders, shippers, retailers, educators, marketers, consultants, and others. The program helps participants improve their skills in communication, leadership, issue analysis, and networking.

2008 Department of Education Award Recipients:

Teachers of Agriculture Fund Award: 
Andrea Kavleski and Erica Seelman

Outstanding Teaching Assistant: 
Jessica Matthews-Duval

Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowship:
Rosalie Metro and Alison Remillard

Provost's Diversity Fellowship: 
Mariana Cruz

IREX Individual Advanced Research Opportunity: 
Meg Gardinier

Novak-Golton Awards: 
Julie Burns, Robert Humphrey, Xenia Meyer, and Maya Patel

Robert Noyce Scholarship:
Denise McKenna

Edward E. Sheldon Award for Women Teachers:  
Andrea Kavleski and Kristen Keryk

Laurence E. Palmer Award:  
Daniel Capps

Julian E. Butterworth Doctorcal Research Award: 
Robert Humphrey

Marvin and Ruth Glock Research Award: 
Kimberly Niewolny

Are New Yorkers Satisfied with the Public Education in their Communities? John Sipple and Robin Blakely present their findings in the January 2008 issue of The Rural New York Minute published by the Community and Rural Development Institute (CaRDI).

Professor John Sipple, Lisa McCabe, and Judith Ross-Berstein co-authored The Capacity of Early Childhood Care & Education in Rural New York State. featured in the January 2008 edition of Research & Policy Brief Series published by the Community and Rural Development Institute (CaRDI).

Barbara Crawford and doctoral students Robert Humphrey and Xenia Meyer are designing innovative curricula to help diverse students learn about evolution and science inquiry by using authentic fossil samples. The Spring 2007 edition of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences News features an article about their work titled, Informed Citizens: Improving Science Literacy by Teaching through Inquiry.

Deborah Trumbull and Travis Park are both featured in the Spring 2007 edition of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences News. Read Preparation for the Classroom: Cornell Teacher Education Program and More than Farming: New Directions for Agricultural Education here.

Jennifer Rivera, a January 2007 PhD graduate of the department's Learning, Teaching, and Social Policy Program, has been chosen to receive the Omicron Tau Theta Outstanding Dissertation Award. Rivera will receive the award and summarize her dissertation, titled “Test Item Construction and Validation: Developing a Statewide Assessment for Agricultural Science Education,” at the annual OTT Conference in Las Vegas this December. Omicron Tau Theta is the international honor society for career and technical education.

Rosemary Caffarella and co-authors Sharan Merriam and Lisa Baumgartner are the winners of a 2007 Cyril O. Houle World Award for Literature in Adult Education for their book, Learning in Adulthood: A Comprehensive Guide (Third Edition; San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2006). The Houle Award is given annually by the American Association for Adult and Continuing Education (AAACE) for a book published in English in the previous year that reflects universal concerns of adult educators, is relevant to adult educators in more than one country, and exemplifies outstanding literature in adult education. This is Caffarella's second Houle Award.

Deborah Trumbull and the Department of Physics' Rob Thorne have spearheaded successful efforts to obtain funding from the PhysTEC consortium. The project goal is to increase the number of highly qualified teachers of physics. The specific project goals are: to establish a network of institutions deeply engaged in the enterprise; produce more, better-prepared elementary, middle, and high school teachers committed to interactive inquiry-based approaches to teaching; provide compelling evidence of the importance and success of essential ideas and components; engage physics and education faculty in collaborating together with and developing essential program elements; and to promote and disseminate innovative programs, methods, and ideas. This joint effort at improving teacher preparation is facilitated by three of the most prominent national physics societies, the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT), American Institute of Physics (AIP), and American Physical Society (APS).

PhD student Hope Casto and Professor John Sipple co-authored School-Based Health Centers in NYS featured in the July 2007 edition of Research & Policy Brief Series published by the Community and Rural Development Institute (CaRDI).

View the CALS Career Development Office newsletter, Career Opportunities & Information. This weekly newsletter features information on internship and full-time job opportunities, fellowships and scholarships, on-campus recruiting, employer presentations, upcoming and special events and workshops.