Summer Highlights

Hello Everyone,

My name is Andrew Chupp, I am a current Junior studying Agronomy with a concentration in Crop and Soils Management. I am excited for what this year holds and all the opportunities I will have as a Purdue Boilermaker. It is always exciting at the beginning of a new semester to see all the new faces on campus and catch up with the friendships that I have made here at Purdue. I really enjoy the fall weather and soon enough the dust will be flying and harvest will be here.

Looking out atop Castle Point on New Zealand's beautiful north island

Last semester, I had the opportunity to study abroad at Massey University in New Zealand. I had an incredible time learning about life in another country and agriculture during my time there. I made it home from New Zealand in June and then returned Beck’s Hybrids for the remainder of the summer. I Interned in the research department last year and was able to return for part of my summer this year. I worked primarily in corn breeding throughout the greenhouses and pollinating in the breeding nursery. The experiences and knowledge I gained at Beck’s have and will be beneficial in my studies here at Purdue and in deciding what direction I want to go in my future career.

Sunset over Beck's Atlanta, IN facility 

Have a great Fall! 

Andrew Chupp 

chupp1@purdue.edu

Summer Reflections

Hello All!


I absolutely CANNOT believe how fast this past summer flew by and that I have now entered my senior year at Purdue University.  This first week back has been full-swing, but before I get too ahead of myself, I want to reflect on what an amazing summer I had with my Crop Protection internship.

I started this summer a little late, as I arrived back on US soil from my study abroad semester in Australia on May 29th.  The following day, I began my internship with Dow AgroSciences.  While I have previously worked as a Corn Breeding intern for Dow, this summer, I got to experience a different side of the company as a Crop Protection Research & Development intern.

Throughout the summer, I learned a lot about different types of weeds, insects, and insecticides, along with trait introgression and some of Dow's gene-stacking technologies.  I performed numerous inoculations, injury ratings, and even learned how to use a backpack sprayer!  What was really special was that I was given my own research project to conduct, based on glufosinate-related crop injury.  I was quite proud to develop the field plan and plant the seed all on my own.



One of my favorite parts about the internship was getting so meet so many fantastic Dow employees.  During my internship, I had the opportunity to travel to Illinois for root digs, where I interacted with field scientists and other Dow interns from across the nation.  Another role of mine as an intern was helping prepare site-tours, where I got to meet hundreds of Dow employees from headquarters, including a lot of its Discovery members.



Of course, my summer would not be as great as it was without my supportive boss, Sunil.  Sunil has his Ph.D. in entomology and has worked as a Crop Protection R&D field scientist for the past 4 years.  He really made an effort to try to help me learn new things about crop protection, since I previously had little experience with herbicides or insects.  He even left work to take me to the hospital when I had to get my appendix taken out in the middle of the summer- that sure was an experience.  Having a great boss and loving what you do each day makes work not seem like work, but rather, a fun and interesting way to spend the summer.

Now that school has started again, I am still continuing to finish up my research project with Dow, and I have recently taken on another position as a Teaching Assistant for Biochemistry 309.  My supervisor is Dr. Hart, and I loved the class when I took it last year.  I am very lucky to have her as my boss because she is so inspiring and it's obvious how much she genuinely cares about her students.  I know it's going to be a great semester, and a great school year, and I cannot wait to see what lies ahead.

Don't forget to come to the Welcome-Back Agronomy Cook-Out in front of Lilly tonight!



Best,

Hallie

Agronomy Ambassador Introduction

Hello, my name is Troye Hook and I am a sophomore here at Purdue studying Agronomy. I come from a grain and hog farm in Northeast Indiana and farming has been a passion for me growing up. At the end of my high school career, I made the decision to head to Purdue to further my education with an emphasis in Agronomy. I look forward to taking part in being an Agronomy Ambassador and look forward to improving my communication skills while on this team.

Living the Dream..

Hello everyone! It’s so great to be back at Purdue! My name is Madison Boston and I am studying Agronomic Business and Marketing. I will be graduating spring of 2018, with that being said, Senior year here I come! Over the summer I worked with an independent seed company called B&A Genetics. I was an agronomic sales and marketing intern. I took drone footage over several of our farms and test plots. I then turned it into marketing material for our website and Facebook page. I also helped acquire new accounts for my area. Our company went to the Monsanto Corn States Meeting in St. Louis, Missouri and there we learned more about the new Nemastrike chemical being put on seeds to help prevent damage on corn, soybeans, and cotton by nematodes. I was very blessed to work with this amazing company this summer. I made so many wonderful connections and I had so many wonderful experiences that I could never replace that will help me in my future.

Check out our website!

http://bagenetics.us/

If you have any questions feel free to contact me!

	Madison Boston boston0@purdue.edu 812-564-1832

Summer Learnin'

Welcome back everyone!

This summer as it always does flew by way too quickly, but it is nice to be back on campus with all the Boilers! This summer I was surrounded by Iowa State fans and Illinois fans as I was stationed in Geneseo, Illinois for my summer internship. Being by the quad cities I not only had a whole new agronomic learning experience, but a cultural experience as well. My internship was working for an agronomy consulting company who advised large farmer customers in their area and then traveled all over the country to advise company employees on agronomy and agronomy updates. Internships and their value cannot be appreciated or stressed enough! I have loved my past two internships and have gained so many contacts and knowledge by surrounding myself with individuals who are experts in the field I want to join.

This summer I worked side-by-side with an agronomist who focuses on research and improving farming techniques to bring the highest yields and most profits to farmers of today. Starting in the beginning of May I got to get behind planters to see how they were running and to check the seed spacing and depth to determine planting populations. From there I would compare that to the planting prescriptions made up to see if the planter was running how it needed to or if it needed an override. When plants started to emerge we would do initial population counts and spacing. Throughout the summer we would re-visit customer's fields for in-season checks. Together we assembled plans for herbicide spraying including what products to use, the rate, and the dates they should be sprayed. We did the same extensive research and planning for fungicide use on the fields we thought needed it the most. As the season went on we made adjustments and suggestions depending on the grower and the particular field.

When not helping farmer customers we would help train agronomists and salesmen. We hosted training sessions in conference rooms and out in the field to provide initial information and then help those in training apply the knowledge they had. The skills I gained and agronomy knowledge I learned was incredible and I cannot put a price on the experience I had. There are so many more great things I did this summer, but I would be rambling for days! Gaining travel experience from going to Nebraska and Ohio and everything in between was essential for future business travels.

You can learn so much more from internships than just technical skills. There is culture, skills, social communication, travel experience, and gaining contacts all wrapped up into one crazy summer! I would be so happy to share more about my personal experience or how to obtain an internship if you want to reach out to me!

Boiler Up!
Dakota Westphal
dwestpha@purdue.edu

Summer Update

Hello Boilers!

Wow! Did that summer go fast.  It feels like just yesterday I was stressing about finals and here I am giving my internship presentation tomorrow and then back on my way to Purdue.  This past summer I have been working for Bayer CropScience with their sales team.  I have been all over Indiana this summer as the only sales intern assigned to the state.  The journey has been fun and sent me to nearly every corner of Indiana, as well as the North American Headquarters in Raleigh, North Carolina.  The importance of internships is huge.  Not only for your career, but putting what you have learned in the classroom into action.  This summer I have had the opportunity to work with retailers, growers, research and development, marketing, and many more!

I will be graduating this December.  My past three years at Purdue have been action packed and I wouldn't trade any of it for the world.  My one regret is my lack of involvement this past semester.  I am looking to become more involved with the department this semester.  Being involved is fun, giving back to the department who has given so much to me.  The agronomy department is a great department and I have had many opportunities with Agronomy Club and Agronomy Ambassadors that have shaped my career.  I hope everyone has had a wonderful summer and I wish you all the best of luck in the coming semesters!

First Introduction/Summer Update

Hello everyone!

My name is Kelley Roberts and I am going to be going into my sophomore year this fall at Purdue. I am majoring in Agronomy with a concentration in Crop and Soil Management. I am also a new Agronomy Ambassador and am very excited and proud to be one of the great faces of the Agronomy Department and look forward to all the wonderful opportunities that comes along with this position! I am also involved in the Agronomy Club which I enjoy so much! I have already made some great memories and have had some wonderful experiences and opportunities. At Purdue I am also involved in Purdue Best Buddies and Collegiate Farm Bureau. I was able to travel to Costa Rica over Spring Break this past year where we learned about their environmental sustainability and their agriculture. We went on several visits to places such as a banana farm, coffee farm, pineapple farm, and was also able to go whitewater rafting, hike in a rainforest, and a lot more. This was great for me since I would like to focus on international agriculture. So, I highly recommend studying abroad at least once! I am from a small town just 35-40 minutes north of Purdue's campus called Goodland, IN. This summer I have held an internship with Co-Alliance and have worked as a field scout for the Goodland, Reynolds, and Idaville areas. As I am wrapping up the last few days of my internship, I can't help but to think how beneficial it has been to be able to scout fields for Co-Alliance. I have a deeper understanding of different weeds, insects, diseases, and other agronomic issues and concerns, that I will definitely be able to use in the future. Being a field scout has helped me to build up my agriculture foundation and has taught me so many important things in just one summer and because of that, I will be forever grateful that I had that opportunity as a freshman! Also this summer, I was able to attend the Agriculture Future of America's Crop Science Institute in North Carolina. There I was able to network with industry leaders and other students in the crop science field. It was a wonderful opportunity to meet with those people as well as to see how the different crops in North Carolina are produced. I have been working all summer pretty much but in my free time, I have been able to go swimming, attend a few concerts, and just relax! Sorry this is a bit lengthy but I thought that I would share a bit about me! Again, I am definitely looking forward to serving the Agronomy Department and getting more involved with the department itself. Have a great rest of your summer and hopefully the semester starts out wonderfully for everyone! Boiler up!

-Kelley Roberts

If you have any questions about anything, feel free to contact me @ rober377@purdue.edu