AOCS Agricultural Microscopy Division
Newsletter November 2007
Let Us Share the Light
Patricia Ramsey
Name Change
When I was Chair of the Division I felt that we could open up & grow with a name change. Agricultural Microscopy seemed to fit the bill. I'm thrilled that the new officers, Marge McCutcheon & Neil Vary chose to carry the ball & see this through.
I sent the newsletter to several past members & had these comments. One past member was elated to see the change. Another was not happy. However, I mentioned that we will always have the same camaraderie & down-to-earth qualities. A name change cannot take those away. We will become more appealing to all microscopists. Then, we will open ourselves up to more new members. After our discussion we came to an understanding about why this is very necessary.
Mendenhall Glacier
I promised more about our trip to Alaska last year. I'm featuring the Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau, Alaska. Juneau is the state capital. This glacier was named after Thomas Corwin Mendenhall (1841-1924) by President Harrison. Mendenhall was Superintendent of the U.S. Coast Guard & Geodetic Survey. Also, he helped survey the international boundary between Canada & Alaska. John Muir first named the glacier Auke Glacier in 1879 after the Aak'w Kwaan of the Tlingit Indians.
Glaciers are formed because of climate conditions. In Southeast Alaska, Maritime climate & coastal mountains create favorable conditions of glaciation. Moist air flows toward the mountains. The mild summer conditions cause winter snow accumulation to exceed summer snow melt.
In the mid 1700s this glacier reached its maximum advance. Then the summer melt began to exceed the annual total snow accumulation. At this rate it will take the glacier several centuries to completely disappear.
The ice is blue because it absorbs all colors of the light spectrum except blue which it transmits. Glacier ice may also appear white because some ice is highly fractured with pockets that indiscriminately scatter the visible light spectrum.
All of the above information was from the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center Web Site.
The picture you see is of the Mendenhall Glacier & Lake.
In Focus
Marge McCutcheon, Chair
The hustle and bustle of the upcoming meeting are upon us as plans pull together for the 99th AOCS Annual Meeting and Expo, May 18-21, 2008 in Seattle, Washington. Our two sessions on Agricultural Microscopy and our joint sessions with Processing Division and Protein and Co-Products Division are sure to be interesting and informative. Topics will include but not be limited to processing methods and concerns for fish oil and meal as well as microscopy in the court system and practical agricultural and forensic microscopy. We would like to thank our friends Nurhan Dunford from the Processing Division and Keshun Liu from the Protein and Co-Products Division for teaming up with us this year to provide such a great program.
Also over the past months Neil, Jim and I have been working diligently on the new Agricultural Microscopy Manual materials. We are really excited with what's been accomplished and the contributions of new chapters on hair, fertilizer, fungi, aquaculture, problem samples and common misidentifications. It is sure to be a much more complete and useful tool for our trade once completed and published.
In case I don't get the opportunity to do so prior to the May 2008 meeting, I would like to say a special heart-felt thanks to Neil Vary for working so wonderfully with me over the past two years as Co-Chair. I feel very confident, as should everyone, that Neil will lead the new Agricultural Microscopy Division flawlessly and conscientiously into the next two years and provide many additional years thereafter of quality work and dedication to the Division. I would also like to thank all the Agricultural Microscopy Division Members, Members-at-Large, and the teaching staff for making my goals of the new division name and the new manual a reality. I can't thank everyone enough for your hard work and dedication to the cause!
Last but certainly not least, thanks to Pat Ramsey for being such a great mentor to me over the past 25 years. You are a treasured friend and colleague. Also many thanks to the entire AOCS staff for their support of our Division's endeavors while under my regime. I look forward to seeing everyone in Seattle!
Division Profile
Catherine Watkins
An old and a new microscope.
credits: old--David Duncan; new--Neil Vary
Division mission
Agricultural microscopy is the science and skill of using microscopy for identifying and quantitatively evaluating ingredients and products from agriculture and agri-food. These commodities include: feeds, fertilizers, seeds, and foods. Agricultural microscopy provides a quick and inexpensive means of detecting contamination, adulteration, and variation in quality. Microscopic examination is an important adjunct to chemical analysis as it can disclose materials that may otherwise pass undetected.
Division objectives
The Agricultural Microscopy Division is committed to the continual advancement of visual imaging as a key element in discerning the quality and content of ingredients and finished products of the feed, fertilizer, seed, and agri-food sectors. Division members share a common interest in advancing the science, techniques, and skills of visual imaging. Member interaction builds and strengthens professional skills and competencies.
Resources
AOCS Lab Proficiency Program: Feed Microscopy Series
Manual of Microscopic Analysis of Feedstuff, 3rd Edition; 1992. Available through AOCS Press.
Technical sessions at the AOCS Annual Meeting & Expo and an annual short course
2007-2008 board members
Chairperson: Margeorie (Marge) McCutcheon, West Virginia Department of Agriculture, mmccutcheon@ag.state.wv.us
Vice-chairperson: Neil Vary, Canadian Food Inspection Agency, varyn@inspection.gc.ca
Secretary/Treasurer: Christine Rogers-Kelly, Mississippi State chemical Lab, crogersk@ra.msstate.edu
Member-at-large: Jim Makowski, Windsor Laboratories, jvmakowski@ad.com
Member-at-large: Annie Fournier, Canadian Food Inspection Agency, afournier@inspection.gc.ca
Member-at-large: Gary Ideus, ADM Alliance Nutrition Inc., gary_ideus@admworld.com
Member-at-large: Beth Anne Woody, Office of the Indiana State Chemist, sturgeoe@purdue.edu
Past chairperson: Patricia Ramsey
Always a new puzzle
A drum roll, please: The AOCS Feed Microscopy Division is now the AOCS Agricultural Microscopy Division.
"The reason we changed the name is to expand the scope--no pun intended--of the technical topics we cover at the AOCS Annual Meeting & Expo and in our short courses, and of our membership base itself," explains Division Vice Chairperson Neil Vary.
Technically, a feed microscopist is an analyst in a feed laboratory that is usually affiliated with a regulatory body, an industrial quality assurance department, or academia. These skilled analysts examine feeds for various reasons, but mostly to verify the ingredients of the feed compared to the formulation, to identify any contaminants or adulterants that should not be there and may be hazardous to animals or humans, and to verify the adequacy of ingredient processing or quality of the ingredients. And yet many microscopists deal with much more than just animal feed.
"For example, I not only examine feeds," Vary says, "but have also examined human foods and fertilizers. Similarly, Margeorie (Marge) McCutcheon, our Division chairperson, is also trained in multiple microscopy fields as not only a feed microscopist, but also as a seed analyst for the West Virginia Department of Agriculture.
"This multi-commodity training with various agricultural products is quite common within our membership and helps illustrate the strength of microscopy and the value of experienced microscopists. The Division name change and scope expansion is an acknowledgment of these skills and will allow us to respond better to our members' needs," explains Vary.
Vary is a specialty area biologist (microscopy) with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and is an unequivocal advocate of microscopy, which he sees as a very powerful tool that sometimes is overlooked because of an incorrect perception that it is an "old and outdated" methodology. Microscopy isn't better than chemical analysis, Vary says; each method has its place, as well as its strengths and limitations.
Vary uses the recent melamine adulteration scare as an illustration, wherein a pet food recall was initiated in North America by several pet food manufacturers after a number of cats and dogs sickened and died after eating contaminated pet food. In March 2007, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration reported finding melamine in the pet food and in samples of wheat gluten imported from a single source in China, as well as in crystalline form in the kidneys and in urine of affected animals. The melamine presumably had been added to give an artificial boost to the nitrogen content of the pet food, Vary notes.
"Due to the higher nitrogen content, a chemical analysis would inaccurately show a higher level of protein than the pet food actually contained, and it would not specify a source," he says. "On the other hand, microscopy could help determine the added protein was not coming from an approved source."
Microscopists are an endangered species, of sorts, with attrition occurring through retirement and industry consolidation, making membership in the Division of even greater importance to participants. Because one can only identify something by sight if one has seen it before, each member now benefits from the experience of the entire group.
"When I am confronted by something new," Vary notes, "I am able to take a photomicrograph and e-mail the digital image to someone else in the Division for consultation. We are a close group and we know each other's skills and responsibilities well.
"Agricultural microscopy is a wonderful field," he concludes. "There is always a new challenge, which keeps the job exciting, new, and fresh because there is always a new puzzle to be solved."
Division Representative Meeting
Neil Vary
On September 10th the AOCS held a Division Representative Meeting in Chicago to discuss how the Society can best serve the needs of the Division members while at the same time establishing acceptable procedures for coordinating Division activities. The meeting was well attended as 9 of the 12 Divisions sent representatives, including myself on behalf of our Division.
The meeting was a brainstorming session that revolved around the following topics:
- Purpose and role of AOCS Divisions
- Current challenges facing AOCS Divisions
- Effective operations of AOCS Division
- Interaction with AOCS
- Interaction with other AOCS Divisions
- Fiscal responsibility
- Current best practices
The session began with some interesting background information starting from the initial proposal of Divisions back in 1990 and how they have evolved since then. Since we were the American Association of Feed Microscopy (AAFM) at that time (and I was busily working on graduating grade 8), it was interesting to see how the AOCS members spontaneously formed their own ad-hoc committee and approached the Society with the idea of Divisions and how these would best serve their members. Since the AOCS was, and still is, structured from the bottom up (i.e. member driven, not AOCS staff driven) the AOCS readily responded and adopted the proposed Divisional structure we now have.
All Division representatives agreed that the current structure is needed and does fit the overall purpose and needs of the Divisions. However, it was also agreed that there is a lack of guidelines for the Divisions, which is sorely needed due to the relatively frequent Division Officers turnover. There is "A Guide for Division Officers" that was available in the past, but the last revision of this document was 12 years ago. A lot has changed since then. Through the efforts of this meeting, the AOCS was able to get enough Divisional feedback to allow them to update this document in the hopes that it will be finalized and available at the 99th AOCS Annual Meeting & Expo next May in Seattle. This guideline will help steer all Divisional activities as it is intended to: outline the responsibilities of each of the Division Officers, the Divisions, and the AOCS; and provide a list of services available to the Divisions.
I found this meeting to be both beneficial and productive. I am confident that this guide will help our Division interact with the AOCS staff more effectively, thus allowing us to take full advantage of all of the available services. Our Governing Board currently enjoys a very strong relationship with the Society's staff, but there are some services that we didn't even know were available that could help our Division flourish.
Preview of Agricultural Microscopy Division Technical Sessions Planned for the 99th AOCS Annual Meeting & Expo
Neil Vary
Planning for the upcoming 99th AOCS Annual Meeting & Expo is well underway. This event will be held at the Washington State Convention & Trade Center in Seattle, WA May 18-21, 2008.
Our Division is planning a full slate of technical sessions once again this year. Monday's technical session will be two general Agricultural Microscopy technical sessions that will consist of a number of experts discussing a wide range of agricultural microscopy issues. Tuesday morning will be the AOCS Hot Topic Symposia (topics have not yet been released). Our Division has teamed up with the Processing and Co-Products Division to organize another session on the use of plant proteins in aquafeeds which will be held the Tuesday afternoon. Last year both Divisions hosted a similar symposium which was well received and attracted a large number of interested members. This year, we're planning on including a greater variety of presentations while reducing the technical aspects of the talks. The aquaculture theme will continue the following morning as we have joined forces with the Processing Division to organize a symposium on Processing Methods and Concerns for Fish Oil and Fish Meal.
Many of the presentation time slots of all of the technical sessions have been filled already, but we are still in the process of seeking presenters. If you know of anyone who would fit well into any of the planned sessions (including yourself), please contact one of our Division Officers, or submit a declaration of intent to present through the AOCS website:
http://www.aocs.org/meetings/annual_mtg/index.asp?page=am08_call.htm
A more detailed schedule will be published in our next newsletter.
AOCS Agricultural Microscopy Laboratory Proficiency Program Series
Gary Ideus,
Program provider
The Agricultural Microscopy laboratory proficiency program is just one of many services offered by AOCS. This program offers an excellent opportunity for the microscopist to test his or her skill level with peers in their chosen field of expertise. The program usually starts in September and ends in April of the following year. Six samples are submitted to the participant for microscopic evaluation. Five of the test samples are commercially manufactured feeds and one is a lab mix containing various common and uncommon feed ingredients. Most of the ingredients can be easily identified using a low magnification stereomicroscope. Especially difficult are ingredients that can only be observed by using compound microscopy, or by chemical spot test, tools some individuals may not have access to. Participants list all the ingredients they can positively identify using a directory of over 300 ingredient names compiled from AAFCO and Canadian feed definitions. This program is very user-friendly, allowing participants to easily report their results online. To enroll in an AOCS Laboratory Proficiency Program, please contact AOCS Technical Services at Mail: P.O. Box 17190 Urbana, IL 61803-7190 USA, Phone: +1-217-359-2344, Fax: +1-217-351-8091, E-mail: technical@aocs.org or on the web at www.aocs.org/tech/lpp.asp.
Last year's laboratory proficiency program consisted of sixteen participants from four different countries and a U.S. territory. Most did very well identifying the major ingredients, but seemed to have trouble identifying the more obscure, especially those found in very small quantities. The Agricultural Microscopy Division of AOCS periodically sponsors short courses, which are an invaluable way to attain the knowledge needed to be a first-rate microscopist.
The three top scorers for the 2006-2007 program were:
- Mike Bucker, Division of Consolidated Laboratories of Virginia, Richmond VA USA
- Piotr Czajkowski, Provimi Polska Holding, Osnowd Poland
And
- Neil Vary, Ottawa Laboratory (Carling), Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Ottawa Canada
There is also one who received Honorable mention.
- Elizebeth Krzykwa, Ottawa Laboratory (Carling), Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Ottawa Canada
Microscopy Websites
If you would like to know just about anything about microscopes, visit this Florida State University website:
The McCrone Group has a free online microscopy journal available at:
Agricultural Microscopy Division web page
AOCS, 2710 S. Boulder, Urbana, IL 61802-6996 USA