First week of classes – take two. Hopefully those students who left for the weekend have returned safely. We were fortunate to avoid any additional snowfall in most of Maryland. I drove through campus a couple of times last week and it was evident that crews worked tirelessly all week to clear roads and sidewalks of the snow and ice and then relocate piles of snow to make transit easier. It was clear how much more effort is required when you don’t have the equipment available in other parts of the country for snow cleanup.
I know many are catching up this week following schedule changes last week. I am headed to meet with prospective partners at World Bank, joining Jimmy Smith and Puneet Srivastava to talk about our programs, their work in East Africa and common interests. During the fall semester, a larger group of us visited with members of the World Bank team that work in West Africa. There is much potential to build collaborations with countries across Africa.
This Thursday evening, I will attend my first Taste of Maryland event. I hear it is the ‘who’s who of Maryland agriculture’. Many of the AGNR department chairs and faculty and staff from across AGNR plan to attend. The event will be a great chance to meet more people from around the state and touch base with many that I have met over the last seven months. Puneet and Darlene Bucciero have been busy pulling together a proposal to enhance technology research and testing at the campus farm, following committee brainstorming of needs and goals. The Taste of Maryland may be a good chance to talk to our partners and garner their support for the proposal.
On Friday, I will be in Annapolis to attend the last day of the campus Foundation Board of Trustees meeting. I haven’t reviewed the agenda for the day yet but will get to that on Thursday. Later in the month I am excited to spend a virtual hour with some of our trustees to talk about AGNR work and goals.
Time sure flies. Temperatures rising later this week is sure to be a sign of spring no matter what the groundhog thinks. I look forward to mid-February each year when the hours of daylight are obviously longer.