All around the circle…

This update brings more sad news, unfortunately. Darrell Wesenberg, former oat and barley breeder at USDA-ARS in Aberdeen, ID, passed away on July 30th, 2018. His obituary is in the “Hall of Fame” section (the direct link is here). Darrell is also in the Hall of Fame for having received the "Award for Distinguished Service to Oat Improvement" in 1998. As with Charlie Brown, I had the privilege of getting to know Darrell through the Quaker Oats Consortium. Darrell was a true gentleman, and will be sorely missed.

It was Darrell who suggested that H.C. (Pat) Murphy be recognized at AOWC 2018 in Seattle, as this year marks the 50th anniversary of his death. Pat was duly recognized, as were Charlie and Lon Hall.

More about Pat Murphy’s work can be found in his obituary in the Hall of Fame. I’m guessing that most of you don’t realize how you have benefited from Pat’s work. He is the “Murphy” behind Murphy, 1935, the reference that describes the 0-4 scale of scoring crown rust resistance in oats. That reference is now available in the “Historical Documents” section, under “Pathology”. Something else interesting: Pat completed that work at what is now Iowa State University, “in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of doctor of philosophy”....

Another Murphy was recently celebrated as well: Paul Murphy (no direct relation to Pat) was presented with the "Award for Distinguished Service to Oat Improvement” at AOWC 2018, along with Fred Kolb, Bruce Roskens, and Jennifer Mitchell Fetch. Jennifer is the first woman ever to receive this award! You can read all about their work in the Hall of Fame, too. Congratulations, one and all!

I am hoping to post some photos of the DSOI Award presentations as well as the rest of AOWC 2018 in the near future. If you have any photos that you would like to see included in the gallery, please contact me as soon as you can (curator@oatnews.org). Links to the presentations will also be ready soon. The minutes of the business meeting can now be found in the “American Oat Workers” section, as can the newly-updated "Statement of Purpose of the Organization of the American Oat Workers Conference", and the updated list of AOW committee members. The next meeting will be held in Saskatoon in 2022, hosted by Aaron Beattie.

Many thanks to Kathy Esvelt Klos, Rick Jellen, and Ann Baxter and team for putting together a great meeting this year! Oh – and how to close the circle? Kathy works on oat and barley at USDA-ARS, in Aberdeen, ID….