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May 2011

National AgrAbility Project

The National AgrAbility Project, Indiana AgrAbility, and the Purdue Agricultural Safety and Health Program wish to thank Gail Deboy for his many years of service. Gail officially retired on May 9.

Gail grew up in the Rossville, Indiana area and became a basketball star during high school. He later attended Purdue where he earned B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in mechanical engineering. After graduation, he worked for General Motors in Warren, MI for several years as a research engineer. However, Gail and his wife decided that they preferred to raise their family in a rural environment, so he returned to Mulberry, IN where he farmed for approximately 25 years.

Gail joined the Purdue Ag Safety/AgrAbility team in 2001 where his unique skill-set was utilized in many areas. His engineering training enabled him to provide expert opinion on various assistive technology devices, while his farming background made him a natural choice for conducting safety training at the Purdue research farms. His writing ability also yielded numerous publications—either as author, co-author, or editor—including several peer-reviewed journal articles on topics including grain bin safety, driveline injuries, bull-related incidents, the prevalence of disability in agriculture, and rural mental/behavioral health.

Gail was also an integral part of Purdue's presence at public awareness events and conferences, including the AgrAbility NTW.

All the staff at Purdue wish Gail well with his future endeavors but hope that he gets bored and decides to do consulting for the program.

Submitted by Paul Jones


Amber Wolfe will be presenting a 60 minute webinar, Prevention of Osteoarthritis in Rural Youth, May 26 at 12:00 CDT. Topics and demonstrations will showcase the stressful situations in farming that can aggravate joint stress and pain with regards to finding ways to prevent the early onset of arthritis in the next generation of farm workers. The webinar will:

For more information, please contact Amber Wolfe, awolfe@arthritis.org.

Submitted by Amber Wolfe