Progress 09/01/24 to 08/31/25

Outputs
Target Audience:The target audiences focused during this reporting period include graduate and undergraduate students, faculty, and regional stakeholders. Training and project engagement for the 1st cohort of participants started in spring 2025. In fall 2024, after the project was initiated on September 1, 2024, a new graduate-level course, Sustainable Agroecosystems, along with a Multi-Institutional Digital Badge - Micro & Nano plastics (MNPs) in Agroecosystems and a Transcripted Graduate-level Certificate in Sustainable Agroecosystems, were proposed and approved by TAMUK. The core requirement of the Digital Badge is to register for the new graduate-level course, Sustainable Agroecosystems, or other equivalent courses at other institutions. Thus, all these training components were developed for graduate-level education and were made available to all graduate students across collaborating institutions starting in spring 2025. The recruiting of graduate students to participate in these training components was conducted by advertising through the project faculty at each collaborating campus. The two-week summer training program conducted at TAMUK and TAMU targeted both undergraduate and graduate students from TAMUK and TAMU, and the 4-week summer training program conducted in Northwestern targeted graduate students from TAMUK and TAMU. The recruiting of these students was conducted by distributing the program flyer across both campuses and also through the existing pipeline we developed. This pipeline involves multiple programs, including various undergraduate research experience opportunities funded internally or externally through programs such as NSF CREST SWU, TAMUK Environmental Engineering Department Undergraduate Research Opportunities, USDA HSI and REEU projects, and our engineering BS/MS Fast Track program. The webinar/seminar series offered in fall 2024 and spring 2025 targeted both undergraduate and graduate students, as well as faculty across campuses. Flyers for each seminar were distributed to all students, especially the selected project participants. A Leadership and Professional Skills Training workshop on Best Practices for Stakeholder Engagement and Storytelling - Sharing Your Research Story was offered on June 10, 2025, with target audiences of both undergraduate and graduate students and faculty. The information for the workshop was distributed to the selected USDA HSI project participants and the fellows of the NSF NRT TREAWS (NRT-HDR: Transdisciplinary Research and Education for Air and Water Resources Solutions in Coastal Communities) program. A Sustainable Agriculture Annual Symposium was organized on August 7th, 2025, at the TAMUK campus. The target audiences, including students (both undergraduate and graduate) across the collaborating institutions, faculty, the project External Advisory Board (EAB) members, and regional stakeholders, were invited to the symposium. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The major training and professional development opportunities provided during the reporting period included 1) the Leadership and Professional Skills Training (LPSS) workshop, Best Practices for Stakeholder Engagement and Storytelling - Sharing Your Research Story, provided by Suraida Nañez-James, CEO/Founder,Gulf Reach Institute, on June 10, 2025. This three-hour workshop introduced students to best practices for stakeholder engagement and the power of storytelling in academic, professional, and community settings. Participants learned how to identify key stakeholders, tailor messages to diverse audiences, and craft compelling narratives that inspire action and foster collaboration. All USDA HSI participants attended this workshop. In addition, one of the participants, Mary-Anna Roberts, also enrolled in the Graduate Professional Skills Development Lab (GPSDL) course in spring 2025, which focused on critical leadership skills, including communication, teamwork, ethics, project management, and entrepreneurship, to meet professional needs in the workforce. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Since the 1st cohort just started in spring 2025 and the major training activities just ended in summer 2025, the project activities and research progress have only been shared with regional stakeholders and peer researchers at the Sustainable Agriculture Annual Symposium, held on August 7th, 2025, at the TAMUK campus. Students will continue their research through fall 2025, and research presentations at regional and national professional conferences are planned in the upcoming academic year. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?An External Advisory Board (EAB) meeting was held on August 7, 2025, after the Sustainable Agriculture Annual Symposium. The project activities and outcomes were presented by the PDs, and extensive discussions on how to further enhance the project outcomes and accomplish the project goal and objectives were conducted. Below is a summary of the planned activities developed based on suggestions from the EAB members: Enhance the webinars/seminars offering by inviting External Advisory Board (EAB) members and more speakers from USDA offices and AgriLife research centers to provide guest seminars; promote students' participation by sharing seminar information and encouraging all project participants and students from collaborating institutions to attend the seminars. Conduct focused outreach activities with target audiences of K-12 and their family members to promote science literacy and connect communities to local science and emerging research in MNPs. Conduct joint activities with the NSF NRT TREAWS to expand the peer mentoring/support networks to further enrich student learning and improve retention. Promote the collaboration with the U.S. Arid Land Agricultural Research Center and AgriLife research centers through the EAB members via various means, such as having students visit and work as summer interns. Invite EAB members who may be interested in co-mentoring students or serving on the graduate committee. Work with the USDA Office of Partnership and Public Engagement to help students seek internship and employment opportunities through the USDA Pathways Programs. Disseminate research outcomes at regional and national conferences and via peer-reviewed publications, and share learning modules developed from the Sustainable Agroecosystem course with interested stakeholders. Work with the EAB chair to provide frequent updates about the project progress via in-person or virtual meetings.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Agriculture plays a vital role in sustaining food security and supporting the economy of rural communities. Current practices of agriculture utilize plastics for crop protection in greenhouses, high tunnels, and plastic mulch, which are known to generate large quantities of Micro-Nano-Plastics (MNP) residues as they degrade in the environment. Recent studies have shown that the prevalence of MNPs in agricultural water and soils threatens food safety and agricultural sustainability. However, there is a serious lack of a workforce ready to address this emerging concern. This project brings together leading experts in environmental engineering and science, food and agriculture materials, data, and social sciences. It provides multidisciplinary training for students, with the immediate project outcomes being recruiting, training, engaging, and placing talented students in agricultural-related careers. To address the workforce shortage related to MNPs in agroecosystems, a cohesive collaboration across disciplines and partner institutions has been well established during the reporting period. Both undergraduate and graduate students from TAMUK and TAMU have been given the opportunity to apply for the fellowship positions provided by the project. Three MS students (two from TAMUK and one from TAMU) and five undergraduate students (all from TAMUK) were selected based on their interest, background, motivation, etc., and participated in the project. The selected students cover a wide range of disciplines, including engineering and agricultural sciences. To provide the participating students with essential knowledge of MNP properties, behavior, and effects, along with strong leadership, professional, and social skills (LPSS) to successfully address MNP challenges in food and agricultural systems, innovative curricula and integrated educational activities were carried out during the reporting period. A summary of the activities and how each supports the stated objectives is described below: Objective 1: Obtain key knowledge in sustainable agroecosystems and MNPs via multidisciplinary curricula. The major activity conducted to support this objective is the development, approval, and delivery of a new graduate-level course, Sustainable Agroecosystems. This course was taught by five of the project PDs, including Ren, Li, Ancona, Ma, and Packman, who covered a range of topics related to sustainable agriculture, sustainable water management, food safety, soil health, challenges associated with emerging contaminants, including MNPs, in agroecosystems. To further support students and promote student recruitment and retention, a digital badge, Micro & Nano plastics (MNPs) in Agroecosystems, and a Transcripted Graduate-level Certificate in Sustainable Agroecosystems, were also developed, approved, and made available to all interested students across the three collaborating institutions. Objective 2: Gain advanced analytical skills to assess the occurrence, fate, transport, and transformation of MNPs via hands-on activities. To support this objective, hands-on summer trainings were conducted at TAMUK, TAMUK Citrus Center, TAMU, and Northwestern University (NU). Training activities included introduction of Texas Citrus Industry, lab safety training, lab techniques of PCR, DNA extraction, visits to agricultural sites and USDA-Mex Fly rearing facility, operation of advanced instrumentation such as Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Time-of-Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (ToF-SIMS), Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Fluorescence Microscopy for imaging, and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), and extraction of MNPs and PFAS from different environmental media. Objective 3: Enhance critical thinking via multidisciplinary learner-centered research projects. The eight participating students worked on five projects, including 1)Water Quality for Agricultural Sustainability in the Rio Grande Valley, 2) Quantifying Microplastics Contamination in Edible Plants, 3) Quantification and Characterization of Microplastics in rivers and sediments, 4) Identification of Different Types of Wastes Using Machine Learning Methods, and 5) Biodegradability of Poly-3-Hydroxybutyrate (P3HB) in Aquatic Environments. All students worked closely with the project members and mentors from collaborating institutions and presented their research at the Annual Symposium on August 7, 2025, to obtain feedback from project EAB members and regional stakeholders and enhance their communication skills. Objective 4: Develop leadership and professional skills to support career success and promote social awareness and responsibility through applied community engagement activities with underserved communities. A workshop on "Best Practices for Stakeholder Engagement and Storytelling - Sharing Your Research Story" was offered on June 10, 2025, to all project participants. This interactive workshop introduced students to best practices for stakeholder engagement and the power of storytelling in academic, professional, and community settings. Through the workshop, students enhanced their understanding of the principles of stakeholder mapping and engagement, learned how to communicate complex ideas, explored the elements of a compelling story and how to apply them effectively, and practiced crafting and delivering impactful narratives for different audiences. Objective 5: Enrich student learning and improve retention through peer mentoring/support networks. Since the 1st cohort just started the program in spring 2025, a critical mass of the peer mentoring and support network is still developing. Thus, the peer mentoring and support network activities have been and will continue to be conducted in collaboration with the NSF NRT TREAWS program. The 1st cohort of the NRT TREAWS program started in fall 2024 with 12 students who participated in the program, and the 2nd cohort with 8 students recruited into the program started in fall 2025. An NRT Fellows Advisory Board (FAB) has been established to provide academic/professional/personal support to all NRT fellows and prospective fellows to help them with their transition through different phases of their education. The NRT FAB has been organizing social events to promote the NRT Fellows cohort experience and supporting various K-12 outreach and student recruiting events, and established a data science club to boost students' interest and involvement in data science-related fields. The USDA HSI project participants have been and will continue to be engaged in the activities organized by the NRT FAB. In addition, the USDA students have received strong mentorship from the USDA project team members across all three collaborating institutions. Particularly, the 1st cohort has received strong support, mentorship, and interactions from senior PhD students, post-doctoral students, and technical staff from TAMU and NU. Through frequent discussion on collaborative projects, campus visits, hands-on training, and direct assistance in research data collections, the USDA HSI participants have enriched their learning experience and enhanced their understanding of the importance of research and advanced education in promoting sustainable agriculture to support national and global food security. In summary, the key outcomes realized during this reporting period include providing training for a total of 8 students (5 B.S. and 3 M.S.), developed teaching materials for sustainable agroecosystems, enhanced interdisciplinary research experiences and academic and professional skills for all participants, introduced students opportunities for pursuing advanced degrees in agriculture and/or agricultural research careers at USDA ARS, Land-Grant Universities, etc., and exposed and encouraged students to publish/present their research findings at peer-reviewed journals and professional conferences.

Publications