College of Agricultural and Life Sciences
Michael Parrella, Dean (53 Iddings Wing, Ag. Sc. Bldg.; 208-885-6681);Cathy Roheim, Senior Associate Dean, Barbara Petty, Associate Dean and Director of University of Idaho Extension; Mark McGuire, Associate Dean of Research and Director of the Idaho Agricultural Experiment Station; Matthew Doumit, Associate Dean and Director of Academic Programs.
The College of Agricultural and Life Sciences provides quality programs in agricultural, food, family and consumer sciences, and related areas to all of Idaho. In addition to academic programs, the college also advances knowledge in these areas by research conducted through the Idaho Agricultural Experiment Station and provides information transfer and application of new knowledge to the state and the nation through the Cooperative Extension System. The college also actively participates in international development and student and faculty exchange programs around the world. The College of Agriculture was established in 1901 and was renamed the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences in 2001. The Margaret Ritchie School of Family and Consumer Sciences became part of the college in 1983.
Advantages
The College of Agricultural and Life Sciences offers a quality education in a professional and friendly atmosphere. Each student has an academic advisor who is readily available to assist in academic and career planning. There is also a peer mentor program to help first-time students become acquainted with the college and the university. Undergraduate students often have the opportunity to experience their major by working on research projects and internships directed by faculty members. The college also offers leadership opportunities through a variety of departmental and college student organizations.
Faculty
The faculty are the key to quality education. In the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, there is a low student/teacher ratio, and most classes are taught by faculty members. They bring to their students a strong commitment to teaching and a richness of depth, experience, and research.
Units
The College of Agricultural and Life Sciences offers 68 programs through 8 academic units. The units are the Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology Department; the Agricultural Education, Leadership and Communication Department; the Animal Veterinary and Food Sciences Department; the Entomology, Plant Pathology and Nematology Department; the Margaret Ritchie School of Family and Consumer Sciences; the Plant Sciences Department; the Soil and Water Systems Department; and the Water Resources Program.
Facilities of the College
The College of Agricultural and Life Sciences is housed in seven buildings on campus and in many other facilities around the state. Some of the unique facilities include a child development laboratory, a state-of-the-art biotechnology research laboratory, an agricultural engineering laboratory, a food science and toxicology research center, and research farms of more than 14,000 acres for beef, dairy, sheep, plant science, a certified organic orchard, and other programs. In addition to facilities at Moscow, there are offices in 42 counties and three offices serving federally recognized tribes and research and extension centers at nine locations throughout Idaho.
Agricultural Experiment Station
The Idaho Agricultural Experiment Station was established in 1892 to support the research function of the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, and has the responsibility to conduct applied and basic research leading to problem solving and new knowledge for agricultural industries, rural communities, and family living. The Idaho Agricultural Experiment Station is integrated into all departments of the college. Most of the college's faculty have research appointments in the experiment station. The Idaho Agricultural Experiment Station is coordinated with and provides research for teaching and extension to more effectively meet the needs of Idaho citizens.
The Idaho agricultural research program is statewide. Research is conducted in a number of areas related to agriculture and on all major agricultural commodities. The administrative center for the research program is located on the Moscow campus. There are 10 research and extension centers in strategic agricultural areas around the state where resident research and extension personnel are located.
The Idaho Agricultural Experiment Station shares the responsibility of developing and educating future scientists through undergraduate research and graduate assistantships. Currently, there are approximately 150 graduate students enrolled in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, with assistantships or stipends for their training. These appointments are generally for two years for a M.S. and three years for a Ph.D., during which time the students conduct research as a part of their graduate education.
University of Idaho Extension
The Cooperative Extension System was established by the Smith-Lever Act, signed May 8, 1914, to help extend research to the people of the United States in order to improve their farms, families, and communities. The Idaho legislature approved the Cooperative Extension concept in 1915. In 1917, additional state legislation brought the county boards of commissioners into the cooperative three-way federal, state, and county partnership.
The Extension System is an integral part of the University of Idaho and the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences and is administratively coordinated with the teaching and research functions of the college. The extension function is organized to extend the knowledge created through research to the people of the state of Idaho so that they can apply the findings to their particular situations, thereby solving their problems and improving their quality of life.
The headquarters of University of Idaho Extension is in Moscow. District offices are located at Caldwell, Coeur d’Alene, Twin Falls, and Idaho Falls. The state is the campus for University of Idaho Extension.
Educators live and work in the areas to which they are assigned by mutual agreement of the university and the counties or tribes involved. Agricultural, family and consumer sciences, community development, natural resources and youth educators are located in 42 of Idaho's 44 counties, provide service to three federally-recognized tribes and are also involved in multi-county programming.
Supporting the county faculty are state Extension specialists located at Idaho Falls, Parma, Caldwell, Aberdeen, Coeur d’Alene, Boise, Twin Falls, Moscow, Salmon, and Kimberly. These specialists keep up to date by conducting relevant research and through cooperation with research scientists of the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Extension educational programs are conducted in the following seven broad areas:
- Food production systems
- Health and wellness
- Small farms and horticulture
- Water
- Forest, range, and other natural resources
- Community development
- 4-H youth development
Programs are both disciplinary and interdisciplinary and are designed to address the issues facing Idahoans. Major programming issues include water quality, youth at risk, waste management, food security, obesity, community vitality, agricultural sustainability, and STEM (science, technology, engineering, math).
University of Idaho Extension helps people improve the social, economic, and environmental qualities of their lives through research-based education and leadership development focused on issues and needs. To accomplish this mission, University of Idaho Extension works under the basic philosophy that programs planned with people will achieve greater success than programs planned for them. Extension takes the resources and research of the land-grant university out into the state so that Idaho's citizens can benefit from their university.