Performing Department
Entomology & Plant Path - RES
Non Technical Summary
Tick-borne diseases (TBD) affect 80% of the world's cattle population, and outdated global cost estimates are between $13.9 and $18.7 billion U.S. dollars; this is estimated at $23.4 and $31.6 billion U.S. dollars in 2021. These diseases affect livestock across the United States and lead to poor animal health, welfare, and production. Unfortunately, there is a documented shortage of veterinary entomologists, that is exacerbated by the lack of training of veterinarians and similar animal scientists in entomology. Thus, there is a critical need to train individuals to develop entomological skills (identification, surveillance, and management) for these biosecurity pest and pathogen complexes that impact the livestock industry. The overall goals of this project are to introduce and train talented individuals for graduate and professional programs and livestock-associated careers that involve team science, while educating them on veterinary entomology and providing them a project relevant to stakeholders. The proposed REEU program is designed to highlight team science in a conducive and positive environment for undergraduate students through participation in research and Extension collaborations between faculty in different states. The program will provide an 8-week summer residential REEU each year to eight scholars and the program will be organized into independent university research teams which meet at a professional conference to network, share results through a virtual Expo to stakeholders, and have focus development on communication skills, leadership approaches, and team science. The four year-proposed program will be led by faculty at the University of Tennessee, but teams will also be formed at University of Georgia, Kansas State University, and Texas A&M University.
Animal Health Component
100%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
10%
Applied
80%
Developmental
10%
Goals / Objectives
The proposed REEU program is designed to highlight team science in a conducive and positive environment for undergraduate students through participation in research and Extension collaborations between faculty in different states. Unique experiential opportunities can introduce and train students early in their career regarding the importance of undertaking collaborative, team-based scientific approaches while providing them the tools and training to be able to carry this out in the future. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, many college students have not had opportunities to develop these teamwork, interpersonal, or verbal communication skillsets. Additionally, the program will teach skills necessary for self-efficacy in graduate or professional school and increase self-efficacy by 21stcentury skill development.The overall goals of this project are to introduce and train talented individuals for graduate and professional programs and livestock-associated careers that involve team science, while educating them on veterinary entomology and providing them a project relevant to stakeholders.Therationaleunderlying these goals is that undergraduate students who participate in impactful and focused summer research and Extension experiences with faculty mentors in a team environment will increase self-efficacy by learning veterinary entomology, parasitology, leadership, and communication skills. Thelong-term goalof the project is to develop a collaborative tick-surveillance program for the U.S. beef industry using inquiry-driven team-based experiential learning activities that enhance individual students' and group development necessary for future careers. The goals of this project are aligned with FACT principles (Fair, Accessible, Interoperability, Reusable data), three of the Farm Bill Priority Areas (2- Animal health and production and animal products; 3- Food safety, nutrition and health; 6- Agricultural economics and rural communities), and the mission of the USDA National Program 104 Veterinary, Medical, and Urban Entomology,to eliminate arthropod vectors and the diseases that they transmit to livestock, humans, and other animals and to nullify their economic impact.We will introduce VESs to team science and collaborative science while training them in veterinary entomology and providing them networking opportunities with stakeholder leadership. Simultaneously, the study area will receive the foundation for a collaborative multi-state tick surveillance and research program that helps all U.S. beef producers. The program will be led by faculty at the University of Tennessee (UT), but teams will be formed at three additional institutions. The program will provide an 8-week summer residential REEU each year to selected VESs and the program will be organized as follows:University Research Teams.The overall project will be led as a single team project with an overarching research goal of conducting tick surveillance and an Extension goal of educating stakeholders about tick prevention and tick-borne diseases associated with cattle. Each university team will work with VESs to accomplish location-specific goals that contribute to the larger team goal. One veterinary entomology faculty will work with two VESs in a team setting which has been documented to be an effective strategy because students have a variety of interests, will gain an introduction to research and critical thinking, and then develop a sense ofduty and impactin their work, with noticeable increases in confidence.Compliance Training.Each VES will receive appropriate compliance training to participate in the project. This includes responsible conduct of research, ethics, biosafety, chemical safety, and animal safety (Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee - IACUC).Network and Present at a Professional Conference.Veterinary entomologists and industry experts meet in June for the Livestock Insect Workers Conference (LIWC). VESs will attend this conference, present their project as a 3-minute thesis proposal, and network with attendees to learn about the different careers and agencies (academia, industry, government). Notably, undergraduate students that attended a chemistry professional conference indicate that their attendance and participation "influenced their decision to pursue advanced study in the field of chemistry (21% strongly)".Veterinary Entomology Scholar REE Expo.As a conclusion to the program, we will host an online Expo for the team to present their work to interested stakeholders in the form of a webinar. The Expo will highlight the goals of the program and accomplishments from the previous year followed by each research team sharing their accomplishments from the program. This two-hour program will allow VESs to see and hear the value of their work, while simultaneously educating key stakeholders about veterinary entomology.Develop communication skills, leadership approaches, and participate in team science.We will train VESs to communicate with professional and industry stakeholders through written, oral, and digital communication. Since there are few veterinary entomologists, VESs will receive communications training and create material for conferences, local field days, and the public (social media). If timing allows, VESs will present their work at university specific undergraduate summer research programs.Leadership skillswill begin with Clifton StrengthsFinder to identify individual dominant strengths and progress to conversations with stakeholders and leaders in the agriculture industry.Team sciencetraining will be a combination of experiential learning through the NIH Collaboration Team Science Field Guide and using those examples with stakeholder conversations.Develop, implement, and report progress toward project goals.The program evaluation, implemented by staff of the National Institute of STEM Evaluation and Research (NISER), will support the program through the implementation of the articulated evaluation framework, finalizing data sources and managing data collection, and reporting progress toward benchmarks and impact based on both quantitative and qualitative data. NISER is an independent education-project evaluation program housed within the University of Tennessee. Note, in 2024 NISER's name changed to Synergist Institute.
Project Methods
The overall goals of this project are to introduce and train talented individuals for graduate and professional programs and livestock-associated careers that involve team science, while educating them on veterinary entomology and providing them a project relevant to stakeholders.The project will be led as a single team project with an overarching research goal of conducting tick surveillance and an Extension goal of educating stakeholders about tick prevention and tick-borne diseases associated with cattle. Each scholar will receive appropriate compliance training to participate in the project. This includes responsible conduct of research, ethics, biosafety, chemical safety, and animal safety. Mentors and participants will attend the Livestock Insect Workers Conference present their project as a 3-minute thesis proposal and network with attendees to learn about the different careers and agencies (academia, industry, government). A virtual Expo will allow scholars to present their work to interested stakeholders to highlight the goals of the program and accomplishments from the previous year followed by each research team sharing their accomplishments from the program. We will train scholars to communicate with professional and industry stakeholders through direct engagement.Our specific activities by the project team include: 1) participant recruitment and selection, 2)onboarding with evaluations, Clifton Strengths Finder, mentoring expectations, and compliance Training, 3)independent project development, 4) farm sampling, 5) prepare for and attend conference, 6) journal clubs, 7) leadership meetings, 8) virtual Expo, 9) midterm and final reporting and evaluations, and 10)conducting follow up interviews and mentoring with scholars.Evaluation of this project will led by the Synergy Evaluation Institute (formerly known as the National Institute of STEM Evaluation and Research (NISER)). Staff within the Institute will implement the articulated evaluation framework, finalizing data sources and managing data collection, and reporting progress toward benchmarks and impact based on data. They have proposed a mixed-methods framework incorporating surveys, document analyses, and focus groups and/or interviews to measure progress toward annual goals. The evaluation team will measure the impact of the project on scholar's skills for self-efficacy in graduate or professional school, through 21st century skill development, ultimately, support matriculation of scholars into graduate and professional programs and livestock-associated careers that involve team science. To support the ongoing implementation and progress toward goals, the evaluation team will use a blend of reporting outputs to provide feedback to the stakeholders. First, to ensure on-going monitoring, the evaluation team will convene quarterly evaluation-focused planning meetings with key staff. In addition, they will develop business intelligence reports using technology systems to provide real-time feedback for specific data sources, as appropriate. Finally, the evaluation team will provide annual performance reports that document progress against benchmarks and recommendations based on analyses of all data sources.