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Faculty & Staff Monthly Newsletter
June 3, 2024
Dear Colleagues,
I hope that all of you have taken time to recharge during the recent Memorial Day weekend. After another busy academic year, it is well deserved. I want to share an anecdote about how one colleague spent their weekend that at first may seem mundane, but made me stop and think. The colleague explained that much of their weekend was spent moving dirt and mulch from a pile in their driveway to various beds around their property. The work was taxing and took many hours that certainly could have been spent doing other, less arduous activities. Yet, the colleague expressed a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction knowing that not only were their prized plants protected with a new layer of mulch, but they had relished the opportunity to work alongside their spouse and children. This element of collaboration reduced the burden and increased the fun factor.
All this to say, I appreciate how this story reflects the idioms "many hands make light work" and "team work makes the dream work." I know this is a sentiment I witness regularly within our CAHNR community, where everyone is willing to pitch in for the benefit of our students, colleagues, and the communities we serve.
As always, thanks for all you do.
Best,
Indrajeet Chaubey
Dean and Director
Have an idea for the newsletter? We are grateful for the creativity and diverse opinions of our College community.
Featured Story of the Month
![man in a lab](https://today.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Heart-Month-2024-Healthy-Cooking-AdobeStock_665093170-998x665.jpeg)
Delicious Medicine: UConn Extension and Danbury’s Food Farmacy
Heather Peracchio and partners are helping hundreds of shoppers use food as medicine and learn about healthy cooking
CAHNR Impacts 2023
![CAHNR Impacts magazine cover](https://media.cahnr.uconn.edu/images/impacts-banner-2023.jpg)
CAHNR makes an impact each and every year. Now we have a new annual magazine to highlight some of the phenomenal work being done within our College's research enterprise, academic programs, and Extension activities.
Welcome to New Colleagues
Sahar Nouri Gharajalar, Pathobiology and Veterinary Science, Research Associate 1
Changhyeon Kim, Plant Science and Landscape Architecture, Assistant Professor
Sarah Leduc, Dean's Office, Administrative Program Support 1
Qian Lei-Parent, Department of Extension (Middlesex), Assistant Extension Educator
Rebecca Toms, Department of Extension (Tolland), Food Systems Communications and Outreach Assistant
Courtney Trzasko, Plant Science and Landscape Architecture, Financial Assistant 1
Did You Know - CAHNR Vaccine Innovations
What do chickens have to do with human health? A lot more than you might think. Many vaccines administered to humans – from flu to yellow fever to rabies – are produced using an egg-based manufacturing process. But not just any eggs will do, and the technology that makes it possible has a CAHNR connection.
In 1961 Roy Luginbuhl, a former professor in the Department of Animal Diseases, which would later become CAHNR’s Department of Pathobiology and Veterinary Science, founded SPAFAS, Inc. SPAFAS stands for Specific Pathogen Free Avian Supplies, and the company was an early “startup” derived from a collaboration between Luginbuhl and a local poultry hatchery owner, Ray Davis. This was the first company to commercially produce eggs that were specific pathogen-free (SPF), a critical component for the development of some human and animal vaccines.
The vaccine technology developed by SPAFAS would go on to be licensed by many other companies in the decades that followed. The use of SPF eggs is now required by the FDA, USDA, and European Pharmacopeia for vaccine production.
![eggs in a lab](https://today.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/AV-000007-1024x667.jpg)
Strategic Vision Implementation Update
Summer is in full swing, and this means that SVIC activities are quieter. We will have a few updates to share over the summer, that will augment our work when everyone returns for the fall semester. These include:
- The Diversity SVIC worked on developing a mission statement and will be sharing more information.
- We’ll provide updates on other SVIC funded projects and spotlight some of their work.
- We’ll discuss the 2025-2030 strategic vision update during the fall semester.
Visit the SVIC site for more information or to join an SVIC.
Save the Date
August 23, 2024: Faculty PTR materials due to Department
December 16, 2024: CAHNR Faculty and Staff Meeting
Update from the Business Office
Why did Beethoven get rid of his chickens? All they said was, “Bach, Bach, Bach …”
There's more fun in this month's edition of the CAHNR Business Office newsletter. Each month, the team in CAHNR’s Business Office will update the CAHNR community on deadlines, policies, procedures, staffing changes, and all kinds of other useful information. Visit the CAHNR Business Office site for more.
CAHNR Views
Hartbeat Ensemble
![Hartbeat Ensemble](https://media.cahnr.uconn.edu/images/2024-06/D78_9636-edited.jpg)
![Hartbeat Ensemble](https://media.cahnr.uconn.edu/images/2024-06/D78_9656-edited.jpg)
![Hartbeat Ensemble](https://media.cahnr.uconn.edu/images/2024-06/D78_9756-edited.jpg)
![Hartbeat Ensemble](https://media.cahnr.uconn.edu/images/2024-06/D78_9672-edited.jpg)
CAHNR Connection
![CAHNR Connection](https://media.cahnr.uconn.edu/images/2024-06/D78_2093-Enhanced-NR-edited.jpg)
![CAHNR Connection](https://media.cahnr.uconn.edu/images/2024-06/D78_2099-Enhanced-NR-edited.jpg)
![CAHNR Connection](https://media.cahnr.uconn.edu/images/2024-06/D78_2107-Enhanced-NR-edited.jpg)
![CAHNR Connection](https://media.cahnr.uconn.edu/images/2024-06/D78_2145-Enhanced-NR-edited.jpg)