Autumn at Penn State

I don’t think there is a college campus anywhere in the country more beautiful than the University Park campus of Penn State. From the first time I set foot on campus in 1971 through this afternoon walking back to my office I can honestly say that the magic of the landscape here has been consistent. Under the dark grey sky today I stopped in my tracks to admire the fiery ivy covering Henning Building. As I puttered around with the camera for a few moments several people stopped and joined me in admiration of the Penn State autumn experience now in full swing.

Penn State makes the environmental surroundings and appearance of the campus a high priority. And anyone who visits and takes a moment to have a look benefits from that commitment. Over the coming weeks I’ll try and make some more pictures of campus for those of you who can’t visit right now.  

The Henning Building is home to three academic departments – Dairy and Animal Science, Poultry Science, and Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences. Each of those programs have labs and other facilities across campus but Henning is where their administrative homes reside.

If there is someplace special you would like to see leave a comment and I’ll see what I can do.

A Multiple Seat Microscope

Last week we were making environmental portraits of the staff at the Animal Diagnostic Lab as part of a Web redesign project when I walked into a conference room and saw this unusual microscope. The woman sitting at the scope was looking at a cytology section of a horse’s lip trying to determine if cancer cells were present. After I left my assistant told me she asked two other veterinarians to have a look and they could just sit down at one of the other eyepieces and see exactly what she was seeing. Five different people could look at once if needed.

The Animal Diagnostic Laboratory within the Department of Veterinary Science at Penn State University is a nationally recognized veterinary diagnostic laboratory committed to the health of animals. With a staff of veterinarians and veterinary specialists, many of which are board certified in such specialties as preventative medicine, microbiology, pathology, avian medicine and virology, the laboratory serves as a central reference facility for the approximately 1,200 veterinarians and animal owners that currently use the service.

Lots of strange equipment out there.

Ag Career Day

I meet students all the time in my work. Janelle, James, and Deidre are all students in the College of Ag Sciences. Janelle and James are in Animal Sciences and Deidre is in AgriBusiness Management. Janelle has appeared in some of our recruiting materials and picture appears in the banner of the Agricultural Sciences major Web site.

I ran into them at Ag Career Day in the Bryce Jordan Center. In addition to concerts, monster trucks, and Penn State basketball both our college and Penn State hold large events where students can meet potential employers and talk about jobs and internships.

I've been here a long time so I see people at these events who were once students and now are on the other side of the table as employers. Not long ago I photographed a student who I determined while talking to him that I photographed his father when he was a student. It reminds me that Ag Sciences is a closely connected college and feels like family, not just for faculty, staff, and students while they are on campus, but over the years as students become alums.

It's a special place.