Contact: Sammy McDavid
STARKVILLE, Miss.--Three Mississippi State University graduate students are receiving significant research awards for the 2006-07 school year.
All enrolled in the entomology and plant pathology department, they include:
--Master's-degree student David F. McNeill of Louisville, Tenn., receiving the $2,400 L. S. Olive Scholarship of the North Carolina-based Highlands Biological Station. The title of his investigation: "Determination of hypovirulent and virulent strains of Cryphonectria parasitica collected from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and their vegetative compatibility."
--Master's-degree student William D. Starrett of Chattanooga, receiving a $2,400 HBS grant-in-aid scholarship. His research project is titled "Effects of pathogenic and mycorrhizal fungal associations within healthy and declining rhododendron populations."
(The Highlands Biological Station is a higher education-affiliated center promoting biodiversity research and education, with special emphasis on the Southeastern United States.)--Doctoral student Sandra W. Woolfolk of Starkville, one of four selected for $1,500 national awards by Pi Chi Omega professional pest control fraternity. Her project: "Bacteria and fungi associated with red imported fire ants and their potential use as biological control agents."
Woolfolk also is receiving a $3,500 scholarship from the United Methodist Church's General Board of Higher Education and Ministry.
LOCAL EDITORS:
McNeill is a graduate of the Christian Academy of Knoxville and a biology graduate of Maryville (Tenn.) College. He is the son of Dave and Elizabeth McNeill.
Starrett is an environmental science biology graduate of the University of Tennessee who attended high school in Columbia, S.C.
Woolfolk holds an agriculture degree from Gadjah Mada University in Indonesia, as well as entomology degrees from North Carolina State and Mississippi State universities.