Equations, Mathematics, and Science in Agriculture

I’m attracted to the secret languages that appear on chalkboards and whiteboards throughout the College of Agricultural Sciences. As agriculture becomes more complex so do the equations, formulas and expressions appearing in labs and classrooms.

It took a phone call to Dr. Edward Dudley in the Food Science department to unravel the meaning in the above photo. Dudley said he was explaining to a graduate student how to deactivate a gene in E. coli bacteria. Micro- and molecular biology play an important role in assuring safe food and Dudley researches pathogenesis, mechanisms of environmental survival, and genetic diversity of E. coli organisms using molecular biology approaches.

I thought scientists only wrote complicated equations and expressions on chalkboards in movies. There is a reason why there are so many boards around in labs and classrooms. It’s still a forum for dynamic teaching and learning.