Testing under way for desert locust pesticide
A UNM startup company has begun field tests to prove it can protect crops from the desert locust, a crop-destroying insect, the University reports.
The company, EcoPesticides, was founded by two UNM physicians, Ravi Durvasula and Adam Forshaw. They plan to kill the locusts using a natural bio-pesticide technology developed at UNM.
The pesticide works by encasing fungi that is naturally lethal to locusts in tiny spheres. When the spheres are spread on crop fields, locusts eat the fungi along with the crops and die. Their solution works in the laboratory and is working in initial field tests of caged desert locusts in Tunisia and Ethiopia.
The next step, they say, is to try it in actual farm environments. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation provided the two physicians with a grant and is responsible for the inspiration to think about locusts in Africa, according to the report.
The grant turned Durvasula and Forshaw’s interest from the human impact of disease carrying insects to the human impact of crop destroying insects. “When you look at something like the locust plague that occurred in Tanzania a few years ago, the health implications of that are staggering,” Durvasala said in the report. “It beats the problems of tuberculosis and HIV combined because the locusts wipe out the food.”
EcoPesticides International will have to prove it can kill the insects without harming the humans who will eventually eat the crops before it can be approved with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The President of EcoPesticides, Les Stewart, said they are registering their process with the EPA and receiving approval will probably take about three years.
Friday marks Mexican Independence Day
The UNM Mexican Student Association (MexSA) will host its annual campus celebration of Mexican Independence Day this Friday from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on the Cornell Mall, the University reports.
MexSA said in the report that all members of UNM’s community are invited to attend the free event.
The celebration will include authentic food and music as well as special appearances from World Cup soccer players from noon p.m. to 12:30 p.m. who will sign autographs on a first come, first serve basis.
MexSA President and UNM graduate student Vanessa Rodriguez, said, “This is a very special opportunity that allows my team to bring increased awareness to MexSA and share our Mexican culture, values, and identity with the community in order to increase campus diversity.”
Engineering school part of Tech Fiesta
UNM’s School of Engineering will be participating in Tech Fiesta ABQ 2014 from 1:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. today at the Centennial Engineering Building, the University reports.
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UNM’s Computer Science and Electrical & Computer Engineering Departments will be connecting with the tech industry and local community with networking, a poster competition showcasing student research and talks on emerging research and opportunities to the ABQ Tech community.
Anthropologist to present in colloquium series
The Department of Anthropology Colloquium Series presents “Corn, Calories, Labor, Risks and Outcomes” this Thursday at 4 p.m. in Hibben Hall, room 105, with anthropologist David E. Stuart, UNM reports.
At the free event, Stuart will discuss the growth in population and the cultural complexity among the Four Corners prehistoric farming peoples between roughly 250 A.D. and 900 A.D., which established the platform to support an even more complex regional society usually referred to as the “Chaco Phenomenon,” an expansive society that prospered from about 900 A.D. to early 1100 A.D.
Based on his and his undergraduate students’ research, Stuart will talk about energy, calories, crop yields, weather patterns and biological data as clues to underlying evolutionary patterns in prehistory with modern parallels, according to the report. He argues that such clues, though several are archaeologically unconventional, merit further research.
UNMH clinic breaks ground
UNM Hospitals broke ground on a new outpatient clinic that will help meet growing demand for medical services in Albuquerque’s North Valley, UNM’s Health Sciences Center reports.
According to the report, the North Valley Center for Family and Community Health, located at 3401 Fourth St. NW, is expected to open next spring and will house a wide range of health care services, including primary care, pediatric care and women’s health services.
“Expanding our healthcare workforce to meet the demands of our residents has been a top priority of my administration,” Gov. Susana Martinez said in the report. “We’re proud that this easily accessible location will be home to this family clinic, and I’m grateful that UNM continues to join us in our commitment to increase access to quality care for New Mexicans.”
The clinic will have 22 exam rooms, a radiology suite, pharmacy and a laboratory to serve up between 1,500 and 1,800 patients each month.
Construction of the clinic will cost an estimated $4.9 million. Project architects are FBT Architects and the general contractor is Richardson and Richardson Construction, both Albuquerque-based firms, according to the report.
~ Compiled By Erika Eddy
