K-State Current - March 4, 2021

K-State Current is a weekly news update for the Kansas Board of Regents to apprise the Regents on a few of the many successes and achievements made by K-State faculty, staff and students.

K-State News

College of Education receives national award for exemplary elementary education programming

The Kansas State University College of Education is the winner of a national award from the Association of Teacher Educators for developing innovative and collaborative elementary education programming .

Announced on the final day of its virtual annual conference , Feb. 13-17, the college was presented with the Billy G. Dixon Distinguished Teacher Program Award. The association established the award to honor outstanding teacher education programs that exemplify collaboration and emphasize exceptional quality .

The award highlighted three of the most recent programming efforts of the college's curriculum and instruction department : the Master of Arts in t eaching ; the online Bachelor of Science in elementary education ; and the Kansas Statewide Teacher Education Pathway for Underserv e d and Place-bound , or K-STEP UP, program .

" These programs reflect the efforts of our exceptional faculty who always seek ways to make our programs available to as many students as possible, " said Todd Goodson, professor and chair of the c urriculum and i nstruction department .

The online master ' s in curriculum and instruction, which includes the Master of Arts in t eaching, is ranked 10 th i n the nation by U.S. News and World Report.

The online bachelor ' s in elementary education was developed in 2016 and was recognized for its yearlong student teaching experience for place-bound students. This is a significant departure from how the teacher preparation program traditionally operated with future teachers completing a semesterlong internship at a school with a longstanding relationship with the college.

K-STEP UP is an innovative teacher pathway program that charts a student ' s path from high school to the student ' s local community college to the online teacher preparation program at K-State. It is targeting underserved and place-bound students in Kansas City and Liberal , Kansas.

K-State Faculty Highlights

Rich Llewelyn recognized as Professional Staff of the Week

Rich Llewelyn, extension assistant in the College of Agriculture, was recognized as Professional Staff of the Week at the Feb. 23 men's home basketball game. Faculty Senate, the Office of the President, K-State Athletics and the Division of Communications and Marketing wish to recognize his contributions to K-State.

Llewelyn has been an extension assistant for the past 14 years. He manages the AgManager website and coordinates several annual conferences throughout the state, including the Ag Lenders Conference, Risk and Profit Conference and the Kansas Income Tax Institute.

In March 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic began to affect agricultural markets and producers, Llewelyn provided essential leadership as part of the Farm Management Program Focus Team that recognized the need to provide timely information to producers and other stakeholders. Llewelyn led his team’s efforts to provide online education about grain and livestock markets, government policies and programs, land values and farm income. This took place through recorded videos and written factsheets posted on the AgManager website, as well as live webinars which were conducted frequently, including a regular Thursday night series. Overall, 3,350 persons registered for the meetings and 2,385 attended the live presentations. In addition, there were more than 4,700 views of the webinar recordings and more than 8,100 page views of the videos and slides on AgManager. There were nearly 6,000 views of the videos on the AgManager YouTube channel and more than 9,400 page views of slides and other materials, through June. The AgManager site has seen monthly record high pageviews in the last six months, including more than 6,000 views of related factsheets and decision tools.

Weed science organization names K-State researcher outstanding young scientist A weed science researcher at the Kansas State University Agricultural Research Center whose work has helped boost dryland cropping systems in the Great Plains region has received an early career award from the North Central Weed Science Society.

Vipan Kumar, an assistant professor of weed science, received the Young Scientist award during the NCWSS annual meeting, which was held online this year.

The award honors a weed scientist working in the public sector who has made outstanding contributions to the field within 10 years after receiving a terminal degree. While the award has been given since 1990, Kumar is just the sixth young scientist to have received the award in the previous decade, and the 21st in the history of the award.

“It is a humbling experience and I do feel honored and excited,” said Kumar, a native of the Punjab state in northwestern India. “This recognition also brings a sense of more responsibility to contribute further to weed science and the farming community.”

Since beginning work at the Agricultural Research Center in 2017, Kumar has secured more than $2.7 million in extramural grants and contracts to conduct research, which includes many weed-related topics but specifically focuses on herbicide-resistant Palmer amaranth and kochia – two aggressive weeds that steal water and nutrients in Kansas cropping systems.

In 2019, Kumar’s research team confirmed the first report on a strain of Palmer amaranth in central Kansas that resists the 2,4-D herbicide, one of the most commonly used broadleaf weed killers.

Kumar’s research program focuses on improving understanding of the biology and ecology of problematic weeds to develop cost-effective, integrated weed management (IWM) strategies in dryland cropping systems; developing innovative and sustainable IWM approaches to manage herbicide resistance; and understanding weed population dynamics in agroecosystems.

An avid scholar, he has published 44 peer-reviewed scientific articles, 23 extension/technical bulletins and 114 abstracts in conference proceedings, and delivered several invited presentations in various grower, commodity and industry meetings. Earlier in 2020, he also received an Outstanding Reviewer award from the Weed Science Society of America; and Outstanding Weed Scientist-Early Career award from the Western Society of Weed Science.

Kumar serves as associate editor for Weed Science, Weed Technology, and Agronomy journals and has served as chair and member of several committees in the Western Society of Weed Science, North Central Weed Science Society and Weed Science Society of America.

Though his appointment with K-State is for 100% research, he has also contributed to the university’s extension mission by hosting and participating in numerous educational programs for growers in Kansas. Those include the annual Weed Management Field Day, Crop Pest Management Schools, Weed Schools and Multi-State weed research groups for mitigating herbicide resistance in the Great Plains region.

“These awards motivate me day to day and further encourage me to give my best in helping Kansas growers with weed-related issues,” Kumar said.

More information about weed science and other programs at the K-State Agricultural Research Center in Hays is available online.

K-State Student News

Three graduate students receive awards for their Capitol event poster presentations

hree Kansas State University graduate students received statewide recognition for their K ansas-related research at the 1 8 th C apitol Graduate Research Summit , conducted virtually Feb . 18-25 .

Cameron Osborne , doctoral student in entomology, Fresno, California ; Stephen Hammond , doctoral student in human ecology, specializing in kinesiology , Warsaw, Ohio ; and Kelly Shunje , doctoral student in chemistry , Zimbabwe , were the t hree K-State winners at the summit .

Shunje was K-State ' s first - place winner and recipient of a $500 scholarship . She also was selected by BioKansas for a first-place award and a $150 award . Osborne was selected as K-State ' s runner-up and received a $300 scholarship. Hammond was selected by BioKansas for a second - place award and received a $100 award .

The Capitol Graduate Research Summit is a statewide event that features current research of graduate students at Kansas State University, the University of Kansas, the University of Kansas Medical Center, Wichita State University, Fort Hays State University , Emporia State University and Pittsburgh State University. Each university invited university faculty and industry representative s to judge the student poster presentations. The top presenters from each university received awards. Additionally, BioKansas conducts a competition for students conducting research related to biotechnology, drug-development or commercialization applications.

Shunje ' s poster was " Fine - Tuning the Physical Properties of Urea Fertilizer Using Crystal Engineering ." H er adviser is Christer Aaker ӧ y , university distinguished professor of chemistry . Shunje 's research uses crystal engineering to manipulate interactions between chemical compounds to design materials with desired functionalities. In the research she presented in the s ummit, the active compound urea — a nitrogen - based fertilizer — is combined with molecular partners to make new solids where physical properties like solubility can be altered in a predictable manner.

" Our ultimate goal is to develop a sustainable urea form for improving plant nutrient acquisition efficiency, not only for Kansas farmers but for global farmers at large, " Shunje said.

Osborne ' s poster was " Identifying Enzymes Limiting an Effective RNA Response in the Biting Midge Culicoides Sonorensis . " H is adviser is Kristopher Silver , research assistant professor of entomology . Osborne researches new, more specific techniques for controlling pest insects in the form of RNAi.

" These insecticidal products could reduce the impact of insects on livestock without impacting ecosystems , " Osborne said. " This technolog y will benefit producers, consumers, and communities at large in livestock producing states like Kansas. "

Hammond ' s poster was " Skin Blood Vessel Responses Following 5-Fluorouracil Chemotherapy Administration . " H is adviser is Carl Ade , associate professor of kinesiology. Hammond ' s research primarily focuses on the adverse cardiovascular responses to cancer therapy. Specifically, the research he presented highlights how the chemotherapy drug 5-Fluorouracil negatively impacts the ability of blood vessels to respond appropriately to different stimuli.

" Since 5-Fluorouracil is used to treat a number of the most commonly diagnosed cancers in the s tate of Kansas, our hope is that this research can provide insight into what causes these adverse cardiovascular side effects to occur during treatment so that protocols can be implemented to alleviate them, " Hammond said.

More information about the Capitol Graduate Research Summit is available at k-state.edu/grad/student-success/student-council/research-forums/cgrs.html .

K-State Sales Team crowned 2021 Desert Cup champion at Arizona Collegiate Sales Competition

The Kansas State University Sales Team placed first out of 13 universities and was crowned the 2021 Desert Cup champion in the virtual Arizona Collegiate Sales Competition hosted by Arizona State University on Feb. 19-20.

The team consisted of Lydia Johnson, sophomore in professional strategic selling and Spanish, Prior Lake, Minnesota; Landen King, senior in professional strategic selling, Overland Park; Kara Krannawitter, senior in marketing and professional strategic selling, Lawrence; and Cecilia Nancarrow, senior in professional strategic selling, Overland Park.

The event consisted of a visume, speed-selling, and role-play competition. All participating students were required to submit a visume before the event. Johnson and Krannawitter were chosen to compete in the speed-selling competition. Nancarrow and King participated in the role-play competition.

In the visume competition, top-ranked visumes from each university were compared against each other. Nancarrow placed first out of 13 students in the visume competition. Johnson and Krannawitter advanced to the second round in the speed-selling competition, placing in the top 12 out of 24 student competitors. In the role-play competition, King advanced to the second round placing in the top 12 out of 25 competitors. Nancarrow advanced to the final round and tied for first place out of 25 competitors.

"I was very proud of the team’s performance in taking home the championship trophy," said Kellie Jackson, managing director of the National Strategic Selling Institute and sales team coach. "The team put a lot of hard work and dedication into this competition and I was glad to see if paid off. It was the last sales competition for both King and Krannawitter, so it was even better to see them end their undergraduate career with another accomplishment."

The K-State Sales Team is in the College of Business Administration’s National Strategic Selling Institute, which has been named one of the top sales programs in the country for nine straight years by the Sales Education Foundation. The team consists of students who are enrolled in the certificate or major in professional strategic selling. In fall 2018, Kansas State became just the 19th university in the U.S. to offer a major in professional strategic selling. Students can also earn a certificate in professional strategic selling, which is open to all majors at the university. The professional strategic selling program introduces students to the fundamentals of sales and its innovative curriculum and sales labs allow students to develop the skills needed to be successful.

The K-State Sales Team will be competing in several competitions throughout the school year across the country. For more information on the National Strategic Selling Institute or the K-State Sales Team, please contact kstatesalesprogram@k-state.edu.

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