Theoretical Agriculture

Saturday Morning at University Park Before the Ohio State Game

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Williams) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:05:00 +0000

Things were looking pretty nice this past Saturday morning at 7:15am at Old Main. Seemed like a good day to dispatch Ohio State at Beaver Stadium. Oh well... My dog Junior yielded his squirrel interest long enough for me pull the iPhone out of my pocket to make this picture. He's not really all...

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ASI Building on a Fall Morning

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Williams) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 05:08:00 +0000

A digital image processed on the iPhone as output from a toy camera. Peering through a stairwell window in the Ag Administration Building I wondered why I let so much of the fall slip by without venturing out with a camera. Now the leaves are almost downand winter whispers across campus. For now...

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Alumni Fellow John Gearhart

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Williams) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:15:00 +0000

I attended a seminar last week by stem cell researcher and recently named Alumni Fellow, John D. Gearhart, a 1964 graduate of Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences. Dr. Gearhart's talk "Instructing Ourselves to Rebuild Our Bodies" dealt with the remarkable progress being made in...

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Leaves Are Falling

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Williams) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 19:14:00 +0000

My dog Junior ate my cellphone yesterday. Chewed off the antenna and added some teeth marks. It provided just enough motivation for me to upgrade to an iPhone. After succeeding in connecting to the College's email server I tried out the camera. Behold the first image from the iPhone. It only...

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Photo Shoots

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Williams) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 14:16:00 +0000

This morning we were making photographs to support the College's fund raising activities for the United Way. Alyson, a junior majoring in Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, was modeling one of the sweatshirts on sale with proceeds going to the United Way. If you are interested in purchasing...

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Snow on Mount Nittany

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Williams) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 21:25:00 +0000

It seems the earliest snow on record has arrived in Happy Valley. Puts a damper on the leaf colors as snow brings down branches and trees across the region. A line of snow clung to the top of Mount Nittany at lunchtime today. The homecoming parade starts at 6pm today and things are wet with more...

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Arrival of Winter

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Williams) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 20:16:00 +0000

On my way to an assignment I stopped to look at the snow. October 15 and it looks like winter. I was expected a few more weeks of 70 degree weather. For any alumni looking at this I should remind you that I was standing over what was once Parking Lot 80, that infamous winter desert that East...

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4-H National Youth Science Day Experiment

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Williams) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 19:17:00 +0000

Yesterday young people across Pennsylvania were busy making biofuel as part of 4-H National Youth Science Day. I caught up to this young scientist in the Food Science Building as she and a partner were busy experimenting with ethanol production. While waiting for one of the experiments to run I...

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Text Messaging

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Williams) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 15:24:00 +0000

Between classes outside the auditorium in the Forestry Building. Text messaging is a common site on campus. I wish I had time to stick around and shoot this picture when class lets out. It's amazing how the campus transforms when all the students are outside the classroom.

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Ag Hill Olympics at Penn State

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Williams) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 08:23:00 +0000

Last weekend I spent a few minutes at the Ag Olympics in the Snider Agricultural Arena. The Ag Olympics is a student run event where clubs and organizations compete against each other in a wide range of odd and sometimes humorous events. In the above picture two students compete in an ice cream...

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Another Quiet Place to Study

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Williams) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 18:52:00 +0000

I made this photograph this morning during a break in an assignment in the Forestry Building lobby. Students have access to a collection of large, body consuming leather chairs in which they can relax and study. Add wireless internet access and a student can cover a lot of academic work from this...

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Relaxing at the HUB

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Williams) — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 08:09:00 +0000

The Hetzel Union Building, Penn State's center of student activities, is an oasis for students to have lunch, study, or catch a fast nap before heading to calculus class. With comfortable furniture, afternoon light and some heavy organic chemistry reading I can easily see myself needing a bit of...

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Name That Place

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Williams) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 09:49:00 +0000

You know the place in the picture? If you've been a student at Penn State you've probably passed by it many times but it is easy to miss the neat little architectural details. It's one of the chimneys on the Arts Cottage between Armsby and Ferguson Buildings. In another life if was the home of...

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Pattee and Paterno

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Williams) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 09:35:00 +0000

A bright, warm fall day on campus as a student walks past the entrance to the Pattee and Paterno Libraries. As more and more literature research is done online I hope students don't pass up the opportunity to lose themselves in this amazing place. I could have a second office there. Quiet, no...

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Bicycles Everywhere

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Williams) — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 09:30:00 +0000

Walking across campus I noticed dozens of bicycles chained to a railing alongside Osmond Laboratory. More students than ever seem to be traveling by bicycle. I don't remember so many when I was a student in the fall of 1972.

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Working at Beaver Stadium

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Williams) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 05:43:00 +0000

George is an undergraduate student in the Turfgrass Science program and has the opportunity to gain experience working on the wide range of athletic turf locations at Penn State. This picture was made just before new lines for the Temple game were painted on the field. In the past our students...

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Meeting New People

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Williams) — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 09:59:00 +0000

A picture made during a game of Cannonball at a recent meeting of the Penn State chapter of Minorities in Agriculture and Natural Resources Association (MANRA). Cannonball is a team building and ice breaking activity. I'm not sure about the results in the team building area but it sure loosened...

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Creamery Tour

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Williams) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 09:45:00 +0000

A picture from a recent tour at the Creamery Plant led by manager Tom Palchak. In this picture a group of visitors from Slovakia and the Czech Republic ask questions about cream cheese production. I saw the reflection of the wash water in one of the big cheese making tanks and had to make a...

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The Complexities of Golf Course Management

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Williams) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 08:24:00 +0000

Until this past weekend I had no idea how complicated management of a golf course can be. And I didn't expect work to begin at 4:30am. But it wasn't golf that drew me and John Kaminski, Assistant Professor of Turfgrass Science, to Merion Country Club this past weekend. We were there to take...

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Agribusiness Management Haunts

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Williams) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 08:03:00 +0000

No, it's not Halloween. Yet. But this photo of one of the staircases in the Business Building is one of the places where students in the Agribusiness Management Program take some of their classes. This program at Penn State offers students an opportunity focused on businesses that are part of...

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Climbing Trees at University Park

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Williams) — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 11:14:00 +0000

I can't remember the last time I climbed a tree. I do remember that I used to climb a lot of them. Last week the oak trees along Curtain Road across from the Creamery were alive with student climbers enrolled in Horticulture 201 -- Applied Aboriculture. Around 26 students get together twice a...

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Frequent Photo Sessions

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Williams) — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 11:08:00 +0000

Every day students, families and visitors gather at the Nittany Lion statue for a picture. These people had to wait awhile for their chance as I shot a group photo for the Ad Advocates. The weather was nice and the wait just heightened expectations for the kids who couldn't wait to climb on the...

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The Field Office

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Williams) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 12:22:00 +0000

At work near Beaver Stadium making a photograph for a new undergraduate recruiting campaign. This was one of ten images for ads reaching out to students who haven’t chosen a major. Each has a short headline (Field Office for the latest one) and poses a question to the viewer about their future and...

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The Club Fair in Ag Sciences

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Williams) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 13:35:00 +0000

Every fall the Penn State College of Ag Sciences holds a Club Fair to give students in the college and across the University a chance to visit with members of the clubs and organizations that are part of Ag Sciences. I was there shooting portraits for the upcoming issue of Science for Your Life,...

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Making Connections -- the Penn State Network

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Williams) — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 20:02:00 +0000

I made this picture at the end of summer semester and forgot about it. It was made during a field trip by the AG LEAP class at the Moshannon State Forest on the way back to the bus. Students had a chance to talk with the Forest District Manager about issues and activities to keep the forest...

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