Media Tipsheet Colorado State University and National Western Stock Show
Note to Editors: Visit Colorado State University’s news and information site at www.newsinfo.colostate.edu for additional National Western Stock Show press releases during the event, or stop by the National Western Stock Show press room for hard copies. All events listed below are at the Colorado State University booth. The university’s booth is located in the southeast corner of the third floor of the Expo Hall. The following is a media tip sheet that includes information about experts and resources at Colorado State University. The contact information for experts is intended to provide resources to reporters and editors and is not intended as contact information for the public. To arrange interviews, please contact the person listed with each topic.
UNIVERSITY’S BOOTH ON COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY DAY FEATURES PHOTOS WITH LIVE CAM MASCOT
Want to get your picture taken with a celebrity during the National Western Stock Show? Stop by the Colorado State University booth in the Hall of Education on Saturday, Jan. 14 — Colorado State University Outreach Day at the National Western — for a photo with Cam the Ram. The Alumni Association will have the university’s mascot, a male mountain sheep, on hand from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the booth for photos with Ram fans. The photos will come with a complimentary magnetic frame, while supplies last.
Also at the university’s Colorado State Day booth:
– Members of the Student Alumni Connection, Alumni Relation’s student program, will provide Ram sticker tattoos, free of charge.
– A photo display of distinguished alumni.
– A sneak preview of what the university’s new alumni and visitor’s center will look like.
– Information about future alumni and friends events in the Denver area.
The university’s booth is located in the southeast corner of the third floor of the Expo Hall.
For more information or to arrange and interview with an alumni representative, contact Dell Rae Moellenberg at 970-491-6009 or dellrae.moellenberg@colostate.edu.
CLIMATE TRENDS AND DROUGHT
Nolan Doesken, assistant state climatologist and senior research associate at Colorado State University, will be at the stock show on Jan. 10 at the university’s booth to talk about drought, long-term climate trends and other weather conditions that affect agriculture. He can also talk about the statewide volunteer network that improves precipitation monitoring and helps provide detailed drought, water supply and other water decision-making information to municipalities, homeowners, industries, utility providers, resource managers and educators.
The university’s booth is located in the southeast corner of the third floor of the Expo Hall.
To speak with Doesken, contact Emily Wilmsen at (970) 491-2336 or Emily.Wilmsen@colostate.edu.
AGRICULTURAL ARCHIVE AT STOCK SHOW: HISTORY IN PICTURES
Linda Meyer, archivist for the Colorado Agricultural Archive in Colorado State’s Morgan Library, will be at the stock show on Jan. 13 to display items from the archival collections, including photographs from the early 1900s.
The university’s booth is located in the southeast corner of the third floor of the Expo Hall.
The Archives and Special Collections Department is working to offer online access to more of the agricultural collections at http://lib.colostate.edu/archives/agriculture. To speak with Meyer, contact Emily Wilmsen at (970) 491-2336 or Emily.Wilmsen@colostate.edu.
DEMONSTRATION SHOWS IMPORTANCE OF WATER TO AGRICULTURE
Water is the biggest challenge for crop farmers on Colorado’s Great Plains. Colorado State University researchers are discovering approaches to crop production that make the most efficient use of limited water resources for both dryland and irrigated farms. Professors from the university will be on hand at the university’s booth on Monday, Jan. 9. Booth visitors can learn about how much water is required to produce the food they munch on at the stock show – corn, wheat flour products and other crops – as well as take a quiz to test their knowledge of water use in Colorado’s agricultural industry, view seeds for different crops important to Colorado, and see the university’s field research equipment in action.
The booth also will feature demonstrations of how groundwater sources exist within the earth surrounded by soil and sand and how wells extract it during 15-minute discussions at 11:15 a.m. and 4:15 p.m.
The university’s booth is located in the southeast corner of the third floor of the Expo Hall.
To talk with an expert about soil, crop and water research at Colorado State University, contact Dell Rae Moellenberg at 970-491-6009 or dellrae.moellenberg@colostate.edu.
KIDS ACTIVITIES INCLUDE GAME, PLANT TO TAKE HOME AT UNIVERSITY BOOTH ON OPENING DAY
Little National Western visitors can learn about growing plants and agriculture while they plant seeds in a Styrofoam pot they decorate and take home at the Colorado State University booth on Saturday, Jan. 7. The "dirt babies" project is hosted by the Collegiate Cattlewomen’s Association at Colorado State, a group of about 20 female students who stress public education about agriculture across the state. The booth also will feature a game that children can play to learn about how the ecosystem uses water.
The university’s booth is located in the southeast corner of the third floor of the Expo Hall.
For more information, contact Dell Rae Moellenberg at 970-491-6009 or dellrae.moellenberg@colostate.edu.
PLANT DATABASE
Representatives of the Colorado State University Herbarium (http://herbarium.biology.colostate.edu/) will be at the stock show on Jan. 12 at the university’s booth to present the in-progress Plant Information Network II (PIN) database that is being developed in partnership with the Bureau of Land Management and the Intermountain Herbarium (http://herbarium.usu.edu/). This Microsoft Access database contains 125 descriptors (e.g., taxonomy, elevation range, flowering dates, federal and state status for rare species, wildlife food and cover values, protein value, erosion control potential) for the native and naturalized flora in Colorado and Utah.
Data from PIN may be used for a range of projects including environmental assessments and impact statements, sensitive and rare species analyses, invasive species distributions, and reclamation and restoration projects for disturbed and burned lands. The PIN database is freely available at: http://herbarium.biology.colostate.edu/pin.htm.
The university’s booth is located in the southeast corner of the third floor of the Expo Hall.
To speak with Mark Simmons, assistant professor of biology, about the database, please contact Emily Wilmsen at (970) 491-2336 or Emily.Wilmsen@colostate.edu.
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