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 "Outdoor
Classroom" Program - September 2005
NPARL Biological Science
Technician Deb Waters
participated in a two-county “Outdoor Classroom” program September 20-21
for eighth-grade students from rural and urban schools in eastern
Montana. Waters did a
hands on presentation on insect identification, while using the
program’s outdoor meeting site as her laboratory. Students were given
nets to sweep for insects which they then identified and learned more
about their roles in the ecosystem. The two-day Outdoor Classroom event,
now in its third year, is sponsored by the Richland and Roosevelt (MT)
County Conservation Districts and targets 8th grade students in both
counties. (13 photos) |
 Grasshopper
Research - July 2005
ARS Research Entomologist Stefan
Jaronski and Biological Science Technician
Rob Schlothauer
are testing pathogenic fungi on grasshoppers and Mormon crickets.
The research involves infecting a series of grasshoppers and Mormon crickets separately with either the beauveria or metarhizium species
fungi. The impact on the insects are being recorded and analyzed to determine whether both or either of these pathogenic fungi
could be used as a biological control agent. (4 photos) |
 E-rase
Your E-waste Event - June 2005
More
than four tons of electronic waste products were collected during the
community-wide “E-rase your E-waste” event held in Sidney this past
Friday and Saturday, June 24-25, 2005. Altogether 93 computers and 73 monitors were
recycled during the two-day event along with 42 printers, six fax
machines, six slide projectors, five electric typewriters, four
television sets, three microwaves, three copiers, two scanners, a VCR
and an old turntable, according to organizers. Also included in the mix
were assorted keyboards and other smaller computer components,
scientific scales, and even an old DNA gene sequencing unit. (8
photos) |
 Froid
Research Farm Tour - June 2005
The
2005 Froid Research Farm Tour was Thursday, June 23, and more than 90
area individuals showed up at the USDA-ARS Froid Research Farm located 8
miles North of Culbertson. Sheridan County Extension Agent, Terry
Angvick, spoke about alternative dryland rotational crops being grown in
the area and Montana State University Extension Entomologist, Sue
Blodgett, talked about rotational benefits in managing pest insects.
Both Angvick and Blodgett were guest speakers at the event along with
USDA-ARS NPARL Soil Scientists Jay Jabro,
Upendra Sainju,
Jed Waddell,
and Weed Ecologist Andy Lenssen. The NPARL scientists discussed a
variety of soil and crop studies underway including soil horizons and
soil moisture, no-till cover crops, weed, disease and yield studies, and
rotational crop studies such as the alternate vs. stacked durum study.
(8 photos) |
Quarantine Groundbreaking Ceremony - May 2005
NPARL
celebrated on Wednesday, May 4, 2005, with many of it's long-time
supporters and members of the local community at the Groundbreaking ceremony for
the new Quarantine and Greenhouse facility. The ceremony included
Montana Senator Conrad Burns along with nine other guest speakers, the
Sidney Veterans of Foreign Wars, members of Montana's National Guard,
and also the local high school choir, "Something Special," and
middle school jazz band, "White Heat." After the ceremony NPARL
employees gave virtual tours of the Quarantine and Greenhouse facility
and enjoyed refreshments with all attendees in the Tech Transfer Room.
Click here for
photos from the event! (20 photos) |
 MonDak
Ag Days - January 2005
NPARL's
Soil Scientist Dr. Jed Waddell
and Agricultural Systems Research Leader
Dr. Robert Evans both spoke at
the 2005 MonDak Ag Days in Sidney, January 14-15.
Dr. Waddell started the program
with a talk to area farmers about irrigation and nitrogen management in
malting barley, which is a joint research project with Busch Ag and
Montana State University. Dr.
Evans later provided an update on lab activities, including
information on a new cropping systems research experiment in the area.
NPARL also featured an informational booth at the event, to highlight
areas of research as well as to answer questions and provide handouts.
(5 photos) |
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 Sugar
Beet Root Maggot Research - August 2004
NPARL
Entomologist, Stefan Jaronski, and Biological Science Technician,
Rob Schlothauer, collected sugar beets on August 26, 2004, from experimental
plots located next to the Busch Ag Resources malt barley facility in
Sidney. After collecting and cleaning the sample beets they're
then able to evaluate and record the damages caused by sugar beets root
maggots such as holes and multiple tap roots, which ends up curbing the
growth and sugar production of the beets. (6 photos) |
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 Froid
Research Farm Tour - June 2004
NPARL
researchers from the Ag Systems Research Unit were among the featured speakers at the 2004 Froid Research
Farm Tour held Thursday, June 24 at the Eastern Montana farmsite.
Their topics included: Forage rotation study by Weed Ecologist Andy Lenssen; Phosphorous effects on nitrogen fixation by peas
by Soil Scientist Jed Waddell; Nitrogen and carbon pooling in soils
by Soil Scientist Upendra Sainju; and Soil aggregation by Microbiologist TheCan
Caesar. Two other speakers at the event were MSU Cropland
Specialist Fabian Menalled and MSU Extension Entomologist Sue Blodgett.
The tour also included a visit to the Dry Prairie Rural Water construction site with
Clint Jacobs and the Dane Valley Saline Seep Project with Montana
Salinity Control representative Jane Holzer. (5 photos) |
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 CERT
Training - March 2004
Altogether,
53 persons were certified under the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT)
training program held March 19-21 at the NPARL. Among the graduates were NPARL employees,
Deb Waters and Jeannie Lassey, and some employee's family members, while two
more NPARL employees, Safety Officer
Jackie Couture and Location Administrative Officer Mellissa Brockes, were among
the 10 emergency personnel coordinating and presenting at the event.
The CERT
training is designed to promote a partnering effort between emergency
personnel and the people they serve by training members of their
neighborhoods, community organizations and workplaces in basic emergency
preparedness and response skills. (13 photos) |
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 ARS
50th Anniversary - November 2003
In
celebration of the Agricultural Research Service's 50th Anniversary, NPARL
hosted an in-house potluck luncheon for all employees and their families
on Nov. 3, 2003, a special open house "Decades Party" for the public on
Nov. 6, 2003, and teamed up with local grocery stores on the week
following National Agriculture Day, March 20, 2004, to display posters
next to foods that have benefited from agriculture research over the
years. (15 photos including 5 .pdfs also available for viewing) |
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 Malt
Barley Loading Facility Dedication - August 2003
On
August 12, 2003, a dedication ceremony took place for the new Busch Ag
Resources malt barley loading facility located just north of Sidney.
The new site provides area producers with a new cropping option,
including area sugar beet growers who can easily add it to existing
rotations. (4 photos) |
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 Nesson
Valley Groundbreaking Ceremony- August 2003
The
MonDak Irrigation Research and Development Project's groundbreaking
ceremony took place just west of Williston, North Dakota, on August 7th,
2003. More than ten guest speakers joined local farmers, media
personnel and people from the area to welcome this new irrigation project,
incorporating research work by three different agencies from two different
states. (10 photos) |
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 EARC
Field Day - July 2003
NPARL
irrigation researchers Dr. Robert Evans and
Bill Iversen participated in
the 2003 MSU Eastern Ag Research Center Field Day held in July. They discussed devices used to measure the water
content in soil and the future of the Agricultural Research Service.
(6 photos) |
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 Plant
Presentation for Kids - July 2003
NPARL
Botanist, Dr. John Gaskin,
presented a PowerPoint Presentation to 23 kids on "amazing" plants for
the Summer program held at the Sidney Public Library, July 23. He
also taught the kids about invasive weeds by explaining how they
naturally distributed themselves,
the dangers that can come along with seeds that travel too far and what
everyone can do to help prevent the spread of invasive weeds. (5
photos) |
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 Froid
Research Farm Tour - June 2003
The Froid Research Farm Tour held on June 26
featured several guest speakers including MSU Entomologist Sue Blodgett; a
member of the MT Dept. of Agriculture Monty Sullins; MSU-Bozeman
Researcher Andrew Lenssen, and NPARL Researchers,
Robert Kolberg, Verlan Cochran,
and Rene France.
After the tours a barbeque supper was put on by the Roosevelt and
Sheridan County Conservation Districts. (7 photos) |
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 Heritage
Day Parade - June 2003
NPARL's P.E.S.T.S.
(Precision Entomological Sweep Net Technical Specialists) Drill Team
marched in the annual Heritage Day Parade on June 14th and won the
Judge's top award in the "Fun" category. The eight-member team
performed a series of precision routines along the mile-and-a-half
parade route including the "fancy
sweep;" and the "conga line." (5 photos) |
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 Brown
Bagger Seminar Series - Winter 2002-2003
NPARL's
new Brown Bagger seminar series takes place every other Friday from
noon to 1 PM in the Tech Transfer Room. This provides a great
opportunity for scientists to give presentations on their current
research to the public and their fellow co-workers. Here are
photos from previous 2002-03 seminars. (4 photos) |
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 "Haunted"
Open House - October 2002
NPARL
and the Sidney Area Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture teamed up to
give local business leaders and their families a glimpse of the lab’s
new facility as part of the Chamber’s "Business After Hours" program.
Visitors to the lab were treated to tours and refreshments, courtesy of
the lab employees. The evening featured a Halloween theme.
(7
photos)
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 Teachers
Tour - October 2002
Elementary
and secondary education teachers from across Eastern Montana attended
classes at the local high school as part of Education East, an annual,
two-day, teacher in-service program held October 17-18 in Sidney, MT.
NPARL was a featured tour stop with scientists from both the Pest
Management and Agricultural Systems Research Units giving presentations,
along with scientists from Montana State University’s Eastern
Agricultural Research Center which shares the Sidney facility. Here tour
participants learn about grasshopper research being conducted at the
lab.
(4 photos) |
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 NPARL
Dedication Ceremony - August 2002
Click
on this picture to view photos from our Dedication Ceremony that was
held on Saturday, August 10, 2002 to celebrate the completion of our new
21,470-square foot lab/office complex. The ceremony was open to
the public and included a formal program and an official ribbon cutting
along with tours of the facility, refreshments, music and special
displays. (60 photos) |
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USDA-ARS-NPARL
P.O. Box 463 Sidney, MT 59270 PH: 406.433.2020 FAX: 406.433.5038
For accessibility
questions or other concerns, please e-mail: webmaster[at]sidney.ars.usda.gov
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