Joseph Duhamel, a student from outside of Rouen in the region of Normandy, France, completed his agriculture internship by conducting research on soybean aphids at the Northwest Research and Outreach Center (NWROC). He worked under the supervision of Extension Entomologist Ian MacRae. Duhamel is a fourth year student from École d'Ingénieurs en Agriculture (Esitpa), the school of engineering in agriculture in Rouen.

Duhamel was one of two students from Esitpa who spent the summer months completing research internships in Minnesota. A fellow student worked with the West Central Research and Outreach Center in Morris, Minn. Both students arrived in early June as part of an emerging exchange program between the University of Minnesota, Crookston and Esitpa; they will return to France at the beginning of September.

This summer was Duhamel's first experience in the United States. He chose the University of Minnesota for the completion of his required internship because he wanted the opportunity to study in an English speaking country. Working at the NWROC fulfilled a required component of his internship to develop and perform research. He has previous research experience working with agro forestry for five weeks in India, but that process was more about theory and did not include anything practical. At the U of M, Crookston, he is engaged in hands-on research, something he enjoys.

Under the direction of MacRae, Duhamel designed an experiment to test the effectiveness of various insecticides on controlling soybean aphids. He was responsible for carrying out the experiment through sampling and coordinating the collection of data. The final process was analysis of results. MacRae explained that a chemical trial was a great project for Duhamel as it served as a relatively simple model on which to learn about research. MacRae also commented on how Duhamel's past experiences were evident during his time with NWROC, "Joe came with a lot of knowledge and was able to hit the ground running." MacRae was pleased with Duhamel's contributions this summer adding that he was a great addition to the crew.

Working with the effects of insecticides on soybean aphids was not the only project that kept Duhamel busy this summer. He also assisted with a project examining the management of the pesticide-resistant potato beetle. While at NWROC he expanded his research knowledge base and will be returning to France with a greater understanding of the agricultural processes in the United States.

During his time in fields, Duhamel noticed both differences and similarities between France and the United States. He grew up in a small village half an hour from Rouen in the deep countryside of the hills of Normandy. He considers himself "almost a farm kid," since he lived right next to a farm where cows grazing in the pasture was an everyday occurrence. This past experience helped Duhamel understand farming in Minnesota, "All that is going on around Crookston makes sense to me," explains Duhamel.

Something different for Duhamel was the scale of agriculture in the area. He was impressed by the tractors, fields, and crop planes, noting that everything here is big compared to his home country. In Europe, farming is very intensive because of the small amount of agricultural land available to support the population. For this reason, soil nutrient management and chemical laws that are a hot topic in the United States now were being addressed by Europe several years earlier.

Once he overcame the initial culture shock, living in rural Minnesota for the summer allowed Duhamel the opportunity to experience the true "Minnesota nice." He noted that there were always people waving at the research crew when they were out on the road.  During trips to research plots across the state, he was able to experience long drives on straight roads. He described this experience as really American compared to travel on the winding roads through France.

Upon his arrival in Minneapolis, Minn., his first experience in an American city, Duhamel admitted he was surprised the city was laid out with the roads and buildings in perfectly straight lines. In Duhamel's opinion, it was something that looked like it was straight out of a Hollywood movie, "I kept thinking to myself where are the cameras?" commented Duhamel with a laugh.

While Crookston is a farming community he can relate to, there were items from home he occasionally missed aside from family and friends. French bread was something he could not find a replacement for in rural Minnesota. He also found himself missing the traditional French cheese, which most people describe as "smelly cheese," but Duhamel contests its name should be "tasty cheese" instead.

Surrounded by the flat prairie of the Red River Valley, Duhamel also found himself longing for the traditional Normandy picture of cows grazing on the hillsides. Occasionally traveling south to Morris to visit his fellow French student allowed Duhamel some opportunities to see rolling hills dotted with livestock. Other excursions around Minnesota included two different canoe trips. One of the things he noted from his time on the river was the amount of wildlife, something he does not see as much of in his home country.

Duhamel was grateful for his time in Crookston and reflects that while he was not used to the American way of life, it was a nice change of pace for the summer months. As he returns home to France, he will be completing his final year of studies. His future plans include another internship, this time working with organic farming. Afterwards he would like to work with extension services in France as he affirms, "I want to work with the farmers." Looking into the future, there is also the potential for Duhamel to start a farm of his own.

Educational and career goals aside, Duhamel will continue to travel. With India, Poland, and now the United States under his belt, next on his list of destinations is Russia. Duhamel shared that he really enjoyed how he was able to feel the spirit of the world while in the United States, and it is a spirit he will continue to encounter beyond the fields of the Red River Valley.

Today the University of Minnesota, Crookston delivers 29 bachelor's degree programs, 18 minors, and more than 40 concentrations, including 10 online degrees, in the areas of agriculture and natural resources; business; liberal arts and education; and math, science and technology.  With an enrollment of about 1,450 undergraduates from more than 25 countries and 40 states, the Crookston campus offers a supportive, close-knit atmosphere that leads to a prestigious University of Minnesota degree.  "Small Campus. Big Degree."  To learn more, visit www.umcrookston.edu.

In the photos:

Top, left: Joseph Duhamel (left) from Rouen, France served as a research assistant at the Northwest Research and Outreach Center under the supervision of research entomologist Ian MacRae.

Center, right: Associate Professor Ian MacRae (left) and research assistant Joseph Duhamel search for aphids on a soybean plant in the research plot located west of the U of M, Crookston.

Lower, left: Duhamel examines a soybean leaf for aphids.

Bottom, right: Duhamel, from Rouen, France, designed and conducted an experiment to test the effectiveness of various insecticides on controlling soybean aphids, the number one insect pest of soybeans.

Contact: Neu, communications assistant, (neuxx019@umn.edu); Elizabeth Tollefson, assistant director, communications, 218-281-8432 (ltollefs@umn.edu)

Minnesota author, Susan Thurston, will be at the University of Minnesota, Crookston on Wednesday, August 17, 2011, during the Ox Cart Days Ice Cream Social. She will highlight her book Cooking Up the Good Life, a cookbook she co-authored with Jenny Breen. Thurston will begin at 3 p.m. with a short talk about the book at the Peterson Gazebo on the Campus Mall, followed by a recipe demonstration and book signing at the Bookstore. All activities are free and open to the public.

Written with both beginner and experienced cooks in mind, each section in Cooking Up the Good Life is organized by season to help bring your daily meals into harmony with local harvests. Recipes also include imaginative "Family Kitchen" segments that suggest safe, fun ways to get kids involved. Featuring refreshingly simple, creative, and unfussy recipes, Cooking Up the Good Life's relaxed and encouraging style helps you cook with ease and serve with confidence wholesome dishes that highlight the natural beauty and elegance of Midwestern seasonal ingredients.

Susan Thurston lives and writes in St. Paul with her family, including a son Samuel and daughter Madeleine. Her work ranges from journalism to poetry and has appeared in the StarTribune, Minnesota Monthly, Garrison's Keillor's Writer's Almanac, and in the anthology Low Down and Coming On (Red Dragonfly Press 2011). She has spent most of her professional life creating programs for life-long learning and is the manager of adult education at the University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum.

Today the University of Minnesota, Crookston delivers 26 bachelor's degree programs, 18 minors, and nearly 40 concentrations, including ten online degrees, in the areas of agriculture and natural resources; business; liberal arts and education; and math, science and technology.  With an enrollment of 1,450 undergraduates from more than 25 countries and 40 states, the Crookston campus offers a supportive, close-knit atmosphere that leads to a prestigious University of Minnesota degree.  "Small Campus. Big Degree."  To learn more, visit www.umcrookston.edu.

Contact: Jordan Melbye, University Relations Communication Assistant, 218-281-8446 (melby085@umn.edu) Elizabeth Tollefson, assistant director of communications, 218-281-8432 (ltollefs@umn.edu)

The University of Minnesota, Crookston has announced its Outstanding Alumni for 2011. This year's honorees include Ann Bailey '79, Larimore, N.D.; Kevin Fee '80, Grand Forks, N.D.; and Eric Klindt ex. '99, Campbell, Minn. Recognition of these three exceptional alumni will be held during homecoming on Friday evening, September 30, 2011, in Bede Ballroom, Sargeant Student Center. Reservations are required for the recognition and banquet and may be secured by contacting the Office of Development and Alumni Relations at 218-281-8439.

The Outstanding Alumni Award is the highest honor bestowed on U of M, Crookston alumni by the alumni association. The award recognizes alumni who have displayed exemplary commitment and service to community, church, education, family or in their occupational field. More than 120 alumni have been honored with the Outstanding Alumni Award since its inception in 1980.

The accomplishments of this year's honorees include:

Ann Bailey graduated in 1979, when the Crookston campus was a two-year technical college, with a degree in animal science. She went on to earn her bachelor's degree in English from the University of North Dakota (UND), Grand Forks, and has worked for 27 years for the news media. Bailey is currently a features writer and editor at the Grand Forks Herald. She is a member of the North Dakota Newspaper Association where she has been recognized with a number of awards for her writing including several for first-place. Active in the community of Larimore, N.D., where she lives with her husband, Brian Gregoire, and their three children, Bailey serves on the Larimore School Board. She is involved at St. Stephen's Catholic Church where served as Altar Society president and taught Sunday school and is currently a reader and lay Eucharistic minister. Bailey is a part of the Relay for Life, volunteers at her children's school, for the Children's Miracle Network, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and the Make-A-Wish® Foundation of North Dakota.

Kevin Fee majored in rural communications graduating in 1980 from the U of M, Crookston when it was a two-year technical college. He went on to UND and for 12 years worked at the Grand Forks Herald as a sports writer. During that time he won several awards from the Associated Press Sports Editors (APSE) and in 1998, won a Top-10 APSE award for his feature writing. He started the Jason Stadstad Hockey Classic in Grand Forks, and for several years was responsible for lining up teams and sponsors along with managing the tournament. He is a member of G&T Communicators and Toastmasters. Along with those professional organizations, he is a past-president of the Minnesota Associated Press Sports Association and a former member of the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association. He is currently a communications supervisor for Minnkota Power Cooperative providing communications for 11 cooperatives and 12 municipals. He and his wife, Renee, live with their three children in Grand Forks.

Eric Klindt ex.'99 majored in agricultural aviation while he was a student on the Crookston campus. He is currently a pilot for Wilbur-Ellis, a marketer and distributor of agricultural products, animal feed, and specialty chemicals. He works out of Whapeton, N.D., where he is an aerial applicator of crop protection products and aerial seeding. Since 1999, he has owned and operated Luxury Limo Bus. Klindt is a member of the Minnesota Agriculture Aircraft Association and is on the board of directors for the National Agriculture Aviation Association, serving as secretary in 2008. He has presented annually since 2006 at the Professional Aerial Applicators Support System program, and in 2007 was a recipient of the Opal and Bill Binnion Memorial award, for his contributions related to educating the public about aerial application. His has been a member of the Wilkin County Sheriff Posse and served as captain for two years. He is also a Campbell (Minn.) Lions Club member, and he and his wife, Shanna, were chosen to be ambassadors for the 2010-11 Emerging Leaders of the Red River Valley. The father of two children, he and Shanna live in Campbell, Minn.

For more information on the award, and to view past recipients of the Outstanding Alumni Award, visit www.umcrookston.edu/alumni/outstandingAlumniawards.htm.

The Crookston campus opened its doors in 1906 as the Northwest School of Agriculture educating high-school students for 60 years until 1968. During its last two years of operation, the campus transitioned to a two-year technical college, known as the University of Minnesota Crookston Technical Institute. In 1993, the campus transitioned again to offer baccalaureate degrees and became the first-ever laptop university in the nation.

Today the University of Minnesota, Crookston delivers 29 bachelor's degree programs, 18 minors, and more than 40 concentrations, including several online degrees, in the areas of agriculture and natural resources; business; liberal arts and education; and math, science and technology.  With an enrollment of about 1,450 undergraduates from more than 25 countries and 40 states, the Crookston campus offers a supportive, close-knit atmosphere that leads to a prestigious University of Minnesota degree.  "Small Campus. Big Degree."  To learn more, visit www.umcrookston.edu.

Contact: Corby Kemmer, director, alumni and development, 218-281-8434 (ckemmer@umn.edu); Elizabeth Tollefson, assistant director, communications, 218-281-8432 (ltollefs@umn.edu)

Summer might be drawing to a close, but the University of Minnesota, Crookston is enthusiastically preparing for the beginning of a new academic year. Classes for the new semester begin on August 23, 2011, and returning faculty, staff, and students have a lot to look forward to when they return. Along with several new faculty members in both the Business Department and the Math, Science, and Technology Department, facilities updates have been taking place across the campus.

A laboratory installed last spring in Dowell Hall uses immersive visualization and has a new additional classroom making the combined Immersive Visualization and Informatics Lab an environment where students and faculty can interactively explore complex data. Five screens and three tablet monitors allow for running multiple applications and an opportunity to stretch applications across multiple screens.

Over the summer, the science laboratories in Hill Hall have been completely renovated providing much needed lab space and increased opportunities for research. A major heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) update has been completed in Dowell Hall.
Environmental sciences, the newest degree program on the Crookston campus, will enter its second year. The program offers students a broad range of study in areas like environmental protection, water quality, ecotoxicology, and environmental health and safety to name just a few.

For students interested in learning online, there are three new degrees in information technology management, health management, and communication. Together with online degrees in accounting, applied health, applied studies, business management, marketing, manufacturing management, and quality management there are a total of ten online degree options.

The installation of card-access security doors is nearing completion, and while on-campus living remains a challenge due to increased enrollment, the campus is finalizing an agreement to provide housing for students in the nearby Americas Best Value Inn, formerly the Northland Inn.

Welcome back week for faculty and staff kicks off on Monday, August 15 and includes new faculty orientation, workshops, and other special events. Student-athletes already on campus have begun practice for the fall sports season and new student orientation is slated to begin on Friday, August 19. Students will be volunteering in the community for the annual "Meet Crookston through Service" on Saturday morning, August 20. For more information about events and activities on the Crookston campus, visit www.umcrookston.edu/today.

The University of Minnesota, Crookston delivers 29 bachelor's degree programs, 18 minors, and more than 40 concentrations, including several online degrees, in the areas of agriculture and natural resources; business; liberal arts and education; and math, science and technology.  With an enrollment of about 1,450 undergraduates from more than 25 countries and 40 states, the Crookston campus offers a supportive, close-knit atmosphere that leads to a prestigious University of Minnesota degree.  "Small Campus. Big Degree."  To learn more, visit www.umcrookston.edu.

Contact: Andrew Svec, director, communications, 218-281-8438 (asvec@umn.edu); Elizabeth Tollefson, assistant director, communications, 218-281-8432 (ltollefs@umn.edu)

The University of Minnesota, Crookston is one of the best colleges in the Midwest according to the nationally known education services company, The Princeton Review. This announcement marks the fifth consecutive year the Crookston campus has been recognized.  It is one of 153 institutions The Princeton Review recommends in its "Best in the Midwest" section of its website feature, "2012 Best Colleges: Region by Region," that posted August 1, 2011, on PrincetonReview.com.

U of M, Crookston Chancellor Charles H. Casey says the campus is pleased with the recognition and that it reflects positively on the work of an excellent faculty and staff.  "The acknowledgement of the Crookston Campus by The Princeton Review recognizes the hard work by our faculty and staff to offer an exceptional academic experience for our students," Casey says. "We strive to offer students an opportunity for hands-on learning in an atmosphere where diversity is appreciated and our students can develop their skills using the latest technology in their chosen field."

For this project, The Princeton Review asks students attending the schools to rate their own schools on several issues -- from the accessibility of their professors to quality of the campus food -- and answer questions about themselves, their fellow students, and their campus life.  In the profile on U of M, Crookston on the site, one student said that "During the week, life at UMC is 'easygoing and enjoyable,' focused on studying, sports, and club meetings."  Another student commented that the small size of the campus "give[s] you an opportunity to be a student leader and be important on campus."

The 153 colleges that The Princeton Review chose for its "Best in the Midwest" list are located in twelve states: Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. The Princeton Review also designated 220 colleges in the Northeast, 121 in the West, and 135 in the Southeast as best in their locales on the company's "2012 Best Colleges: Region by Region" lists.  Collectively, the 629 colleges named "regional best(s)" constitute about 25% of the nation's 2,500 four-year colleges.

The schools in The Princeton Review's "2012 Best Colleges: Region by Region" website section are also rated in six categories by The Princeton Review. The ratings, which appear on the school profiles, are scores on a scale of 60 to 99. The Princeton Review tallied these scores based on institutional data it obtained from the colleges in 2010-11 and/or student survey data. The rating score categories include: academics, admissions selectivity, financial aid, fire safety, quality of life, and green. The Princeton Review explains the criteria for each rating score on its site at www.princetonreview.com/college/college-ratings.aspx.

The Princeton Review, headquartered in Framingham, Mass., with editorial offices in New York City and test preparation locations across the country and abroad, is not affiliated with Princeton University, and it is not a magazine. For more information, visit PrincetonReview.com.

Today the University of Minnesota, Crookston delivers 29 bachelor's degree programs, 18 minors, and more than 40 concentrations, including several online degrees, in the areas of agriculture and natural resources; business; liberal arts and education; and math, science and technology.  With an enrollment of about 1,450 undergraduates from more than 25 countries and 40 states, the Crookston campus offers a supportive, close-knit atmosphere that leads to a prestigious University of Minnesota degree.  "Small Campus. Big Degree."  To learn more, visit www.umcrookston.edu.

Contact: Andrew Svec, director, communications, 218-281-8438 (asvec@umn.edu); Elizabeth Tollefson, assistant director, communications, 218-281-8432 (ltollefs@umn.edu)