Performing Department
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Non Technical Summary
Agriculture plays a vital role in sustaining food security and supporting rural communities' economy. Recently, an emerging group of contaminants, micro-nano-plastics (MNPs), have attracted significant attention due to their potentially negative impact on human health and food safety. To address this challenge, a diverse workforce and researchers with specialized technical competency, and leadership, professional, and social skills (LPSS), are needed. This project will train underrepresented minority (URM) students through collaboration between two Hispanic Serving Institutions and an elite research institution. The goal of the project is to develop a student-centered, integrated educational model to train a highly diverse and talented workforce from URM communities, especially Hispanic communities, to address the emerging concern of MNPs. The integrated educational program will include 1) multidisciplinary curricula to introduce key topics related to MNPs and sustainable agriculture, 2) hands-on activities to help students develop skills in advanced instrumentation, laboratory techniques, and data analysis, 3) opportunities for direct interactions with leading scientists, peer trainees, and USDA professionals, 4) active student involvement in collaborative research, and 5) dedicated training in LPSS combined with applied community engagement activities to provide comprehensive core competency. The project will build upon the expertise, facilities, and shared commitment to equity among the collaborating institutions and train at least 15 B.S., 9 M.S., and 2 Ph.D. students. The training model and scientific advances will be shared with the scientific community to help develop a diverse and urgently needed workforce to address the challenge of MNPs faced by the food and agricultural industries.
Animal Health Component
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Research Effort Categories
Basic
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Applied
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Developmental
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Goals / Objectives
The goal of the project is to develop a student-centered, integrated educational model to train a highly diverse and talented workforce from underrepresented communities, especially Hispanic communities, to address the emerging concern of MNPs in food and agricultural systems. Student success will be emphasized by creating an active learning ecosystem, in which students and faculty will closely interact. Academic advancement and career attainment of URMs in agriculture-related fields will be achieved through carefully conceived training components. The specific performance objectives (POs) for our trainees are to 1) obtain key knowledge in sustainable agroecosystems and MNPs via multidisciplinary curricula; 2) gain advanced analytical skills to assess the occurrence, fate, transport and transformation of MNPs via hands-on activities; 3) enhance critical thinking via multidisciplinary learner-centered research projects; 4) develop leadership and professional skills to support career success and promote social awareness and responsibility through applied community engagement activities with underserved communities; and 5) enrich student learning and improve retention through peer mentoring/support networks.
Project Methods
The proposed training program is well aligned with effective strategies for recruiting/retaining URMs in STEM. Scientists from USDA ARS and local offices will be involved throughout the project whenever possible.Activity 1 (PO1): Develop new multidisciplinary curricula to introduce fundamental concepts and important research skills related to MNPs and sustainable agriculture.A1a. New multidisciplinary course modules. A new course, Sustainable Agroecosystems, will be developed and co-taught by the project faculty. It will cover the fundamentals of sustainable agriculture, food safety, sustainable water management, soil health, and the occurrence, fate, transport, and crop uptake of MNPs in agroecosystems.A1b. Monthly Webinar/Seminar Series to expose students to multidisciplinary advancements in MNP control, sustainable agriculture, and food safety.A1c. A multi-institutional digital badge system and a new graduate-level certificate program will be created. The digital badge system, for both undergraduate and graduate students, will be hosted and managed at TAMUK and available to students from all project institutions and other universities and will be maintained by TAMUK as an ongoing program beyond the project period.A new graduate-level Certificate in Sustainable Agroecosystems will be developed and hosted at TAMUK and be available to students at TAMUK, TAMU, and NU. It will consist of three courses including 1) the Sustainable Agroecosystems course to be developed in this project; 2) the existing Graduate Professional Skills Development Lab (GPSDL) course; and 3) the existing Data Science for Next Generation of Community Researchers (DSGR) course; and the Webinars/Seminars (A1b).Activity 2 (PO2): Provide hands-on training in cutting-edge instrumentation, sampling techniques, and data analysis to expand students' knowledge and enhance their in-class learning.A2a. Graduate hands-on summer training at NU. The graduate student cohort from TAMUK and TAMU will travel to NU for a 4-week training program at the beginning of each summer.Laboratory Training: In the 1st week, the NU Atomic and Nanoscale Characterization Experimental Center (NUANCE) will provide students with customized cutting-edge instrumentation training on MNP characterization. Students will learn multimodal techniques to characterize MNPs for sizes, shapes, compositions, and surface properties.Graduate summer experiential research/learning: To further enhance students' independent research and problem-solving skills, students will conduct 3-week research/learning projects under the guidance of NU faculty and research staff through two options: 1) Advanced characterization and analysis of field-collected MNPs using NUANCE and SHyNE facilities, and 2) Sampling and analysis of MNP dynamics in urban agriculture field sites in Chicago. Students will also learn more advanced methods, such as AI/ML-based analysis using computational tools developed by NU's CHiMaD to characterize MNP samples.A2b. Hands-on training to assess real problems in agricultural systems. To further enhance experiential learning, support the transfer of laboratory techniques to real problems, and complement the NU training, both undergraduate and graduate students will participate in a 12-day workshop jointly organized by TAMUK and TAMU after the graduate hands-on summer training at NU (A2a). The students will obtain training on water and sediment sampling, processing, particle size, surface charge, chemical, and advanced data analysis, numerical modeling, molecular techniques, microbiological techniques, and basic microscopy at TAMUK. Students will travel to TAMU for additional training on 1) techniques to assess soil health; 2) protocols to extract and characterize MNPs from soil and plant tissues; 3) application of common characterization techniques for real MNPs samples; 4) measurement of heavy metals, and 5) analysis of organic contaminants.Activity 3 (PO3): Engage students in multidisciplinary learner-centered research to enforce their understanding and capability to apply newly learned skills.A3a. Collaborative graduate research training. To enhance their understanding of new knowledge and skills obtained from the aforementioned training programs, M.S./Ph.D. students will be involved in collaborative research in areas of assessing MNP occurrence in agricultural fields and food products; tracking MNP transport, fate, and effects; and modeling MNP behavior in multimedia environments. The selection of specific topics will consider input from USDA scientists. Students will interact closely with their peers from collaborating institutions, update research progress to scientists from USDA, and present their project progress and findings at the annual workshop to obtain feedback and enhance their communication skills.A3b. Undergraduate summer research training at home institutions. Following the training from A2b, undergraduate students will participate in 4-week experiential research/learning projects at their home institutions. Each student will be guided by a faculty or graduate student mentor to work on a mini-research project based on ideas/techniques generated/learned from A2b. Activity 4 (A4) (PO4): Offer leadership and professional skills training and promote social responsibility and awareness. A4a. Leadership, professional, and social skills (LPSS) training. 1) Graduate students will be trained via the GPSDL course offered at TAMUK (or equivalent at TAMU and NU). The GPSDL course fosters critical leadership skills including communication, teamwork, ethics, project management (PM), adult and organizational development, and entrepreneurship to meet professional needs in the workforce; and 2) Undergraduate students will receive a half-day training on communication, teamwork, ethics, and PM during the 2nd day of the annual workshop. In addition, as part of the LPSS training, USDA professionals will be invited to discuss potential internships, career opportunities, and job skill needs for the food & agriculture sectors.A4b. Applied community engagement activities (ACEA) with underserved communities. To further foster social responsibility, promote their professional development, and apply the research and skills obtained, students will collaborate with community partners to develop educational materials for K-12 students and their families in both English and Spanish and implement public outreach on MNP impacts at community action events, K-12 traveling STEM programs, public symposia, the Gulf Reach Youth Ambassador Program and the annual Gulf of Mexico Youth Climate Summit.Activity 5 (A5) (PO5): Develop a peer mentoring/support network to enhance recruitment and retention. The following recruitment and retention plan is proposed based on evidence that peer mentorship is important to recruiting and retaining URM students[16]:A5a. Conduct comprehensive mixed-disciplinary recruitment among students enrolled in engineering, computer science, geosciences, agricultural science, environmental science, plant and soil science, and materials sciences via distributing recruitment information through collaborating institutions, nearby HSIs, social media outlets, NSF/NASA MUREP INCLUDES Networks, the DOE U-IFL program, the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers and Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science, etc. A5b. Develop a peer mentoring/support program to promote retention. The mentor-mentee relationship will be established within two months of the student's admission into the program. The pairs will meet regularly to discuss academic progress and research/ professional development goals. A5c. Build a strong cohort connection to further promote retention through photo/short video sharing of HSI activities on social media, a YouTube channel with professionally made videos that celebrate successes, and monthly informal social activities.