Source: PALAU COMMUNITY COLLEGE submitted to
BUILDING CAPACITY, STRENGTHENING RESIDENT INSTRUCTION, AND IMPROVING QUALITY OF EDUCATION FOR AGRICULTURE AND RELATED SCIENCES BY UPGRADING SCIENCE LABORATORY IN PALAU COMMUNITY COLLEGE.
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
ACTIVE
Funding Source
OTHER GRANTS
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1029045
Grant No.
2022-70008-38346
Cumulative Award Amt.
$200,000.00
Proposal No.
2022-04615
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Sep 1, 2022
Project End Date
Aug 31, 2026
Grant Year
2022
Program Code
[AA-Q]- Resident Instruction Grants for Insular Areas
Project Director
Nwe, Y.
Recipient Organization
PALAU COMMUNITY COLLEGE
ERNGUUL HIGHWAY
MEDALAII HAMLET,PW null
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
The project's goal is to build capacity in Agriculture and related sciences by strengthening supervised students' experiential learning capacity for Agriculture and related Sciences degree programs at Palau Community College by upgrading PCC Science lab to soil lab. Installing lab equipment that require for water, plant, and soil sample analysis would to attract more students, satisfy students' learning outcomes, increase students' retention, and increase graduation rate in the Agriculture and related Science programs. In the soil lab with the existing plant tissue culture laboratory in Research and Development station in PCCCooperative Research and Extension (CRE) farm, students will learn practical experimentation under Hatch and RIIA projects. This project will provide opportunity for Agriculture and related Science students to build soil test based sustainable local food production system that allows them to develop personal and professional attributes for the employment opportunities and postgraduate studies in allied Universities.
Animal Health Component
50%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
25%
Applied
50%
Developmental
25%
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
10201101060100%
Knowledge Area
102 - Soil, Plant, Water, Nutrient Relationships;

Subject Of Investigation
0110 - Soil;

Field Of Science
1060 - Biology (whole systems);
Goals / Objectives
The major goal of this project are1. To establish soil lab in PCC,2. To build capacity for sustinable soil health manaement Agriculture Sciences and related fields in the Republic of Palau, and the Micronesian Region.
Project Methods
(1) Scientific Instrumentation for Teaching - The Project Director and Project Co-Director will work with Instructor(s) in Agriculture Science Programs to identify and procure needed instructional and laboratory equipment. In addition, securing location of the equipment and (2) Student Experiential Learning- The Project Director and Co-Project Director will work with the Agriculture Science and related Science instructor(s) to identify Second year students to participate in the lab and field combination summer internship for work-study practicum. Project Director will assign work study practicum students and maintain practicum records. Work-study practicum would include students working as research aids, extension aids and Lab assistants for soil and plant sample processing in Agriculture Science and related fields. (3) Student Recruitment, Retention, and Educational Equity- The Project Director and CoProject Director will work with the Agriculture Science Instructor(s), and the Dean of Students in carrying out recruitment of the training activities. Recruitment will involve the disseminationof social media, brochures and information about the Agriculture Science Program and related fields during scheduled recruitment activities in all the local high schools, and in the PCC New Student Orientations.

Progress 09/01/23 to 08/31/24

Outputs
Target Audience:Agriculture faculty teachers were trained to use the equipment (Microplate Reader Smart Reader 96,Carolina Automatic Autoclave, SM028-2 Sheldon Drying Oven, MP-6A Mega-Pure Glass Still). These are already used for teaching research. In the soil lab with the existing plant tissue culture laboratory in the Research and Development station in the PCC Cooperative Research and Extension (CRE) farm, students are learning practical experimentation under Hatch and RIIA projects. Changes/Problems:Major changes are the faculties, extension agents, and students getting the opportunity to use the soil laboratory equipment for research and teaching purposes. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?It's the only soil lab on the Island. The project has been providing practical use of the laboratory for research and teaching to faculties, extension agents, and students. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The results have been disseminated to communities of interest through extension agents. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?During the next reporting period, the remaining 20% of equipment will be purchased. Public training sections will be held to train laboratory use and soil and water analysis for the community.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? The major goals of this project are 1. To establish soil lab in PCC To accomplish goal No. 1, 80% of the equipment is already procured, and the remaining 20% is processed for procurement. 2. To build capacity for sustinable soil health manaement Agriculture Sciences and related fields in the Republic of Palau, and the Micronesian Region. To accomplish goal No. 2, the equipment is practically using to train the agriculture and related major students.

Publications


    Progress 09/01/22 to 08/31/23

    Outputs
    Target Audience:The target audiences reached for this project are agricultural sciences program students and the faculty in Palau Community College (PCC), and students and the teacher of Palau High School (PHS), agricultural coordinator in the Koror State Government in agriculture. They gota short term training on soil sample collection, and measurement of pH and EC forsoil quality evaluation. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Practical experiences for soil sampling and analysis of macro and micro nutrients were provided. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The results of soil analysis have been disseminated to the Ebiil Society as a reference for soil amendments necessary for revitalization of degraded land in the Bauxite mine. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?The plans are to do field demonstrations with the target audiences, tobuy the necessary equipment , and to give the trainings for labortory use and soil analysis.

    Impacts
    What was accomplished under these goals? 1. Communications with suppliers for the equipment is in progress and planning to get soil analysis equipment during this year. 2. For capacity building, planning to get soil analysis training for the faculty and students is in progress.

    Publications