Source: UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS-PAN AMERICAN submitted to NRP
EMPOWERING FUTURE AGRICULTURAL SCIENTISTS: FOOD SECURITY AND CLIMATE CHANGE RESEARCH EXPERIENCES FOR UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
COMPLETE
Funding Source
AFRI COMPETITIVE GRANT
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1009055
Grant No.
2016-67032-25013
Cumulative Award Amt.
$711,305.00
Proposal No.
2015-09620
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Mar 15, 2016
Project End Date
Mar 14, 2025
Grant Year
2019
Program Code
[A7401]- Research and Extension Experiences for Undergraduates
Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS-PAN AMERICAN
1201 W. UNIVERSITY DRIVE
EDINBURG,TX 78539-2999
Performing Department
Biology
Non Technical Summary
There is an urgent need to train and prepare future agricultural scientists to cope with challenges in food security and climate change. This multi-institutional proposal seeks to increase the number of future agriculture scientists with skills to address food safety and climate change impacts on agriculture. Thirty student participants from south Texas community colleges and universities will have the opportunity to develop research and engage in experimental learning with real-world problems that have global significance: citrus greening disease or Huanglongbing (HLB) and Cattle Fever Ticks (CFT). The overall goal of this proposal is to provide students with hands on training in the management of these major agricultural threats and help students develop critical skills needed to generate innovative solutions that will meet these and future challenges in food security and climate change in the US. The specific objectives are 1) training students in fieldwork, monitoring, and analysis of lab samples to detect and control the pathogens responsible for HLB and CFT; 2) training student to understand the plausible responses of species to climate change; 3) instructing students in data presenting skills through scientific writing workshops. The potential impact and outcome is training students with the tools to engage in graduate studies or to join the agriculture workforce with a clear understanding and advanced knowledge of novel approaches necessary to promote continued food security and climatic change. Students will present their findings in scientific conferences and peer-review papers.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
100%
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
1320430106034%
2062499106033%
3113999111033%
Knowledge Area
206 - Basic Plant Biology; 311 - Animal Diseases; 132 - Weather and Climate;

Subject Of Investigation
3999 - Animal research, general; 0430 - Climate; 2499 - Plant research, general;

Field Of Science
1060 - Biology (whole systems); 1110 - Parasitology;
Goals / Objectives
Our overall goal is to develop, reward, and graduate a diverse cohort of undergraduate students mentored by world-class agricultural research scientists in food safety and climate change research of significance to US agriculture. Our specific objectives are 1) Training students in fieldwork, monitoring, and analysis of lab samples to detect and control the spread of the pathogens responsible for HLB and CFT. 2) Training students to understand the plausible responses of species to climate change. 3) Instructing students in data presenting skills through scientific writing workshops as well as poster and platform presentations. Our overall goal is to develop, reward, and graduate a diverse cohort of undergraduate students mentored by world-class agricultural research scientists in food safety and climate change research of significance to US agriculture. Our specific objectives are 1) Training students in fieldwork, monitoring, and analysis of lab samples to detect and control the spread of the pathogens responsible for HLB and CFT. 2) Training students to understand the plausible responses of species to climate change. 3) Instructing students in data presenting skills through scientific writing workshops as well as poster and platform presentations.
Project Methods
All mentors participating in his program have a vast experience mentoring undergraduate students as described above and also in the bio-sketch. UTPA and Texas A&M University have a support program for faculty committed to undergraduate research training (e.g., http://hur.tamu.edu/Faculty-Staff). Students will be assigned to a mentor according to their research interest. Two students interested in climate change and animal health will travel from UTPA to TAMU, or from TAMU to UTPA.To maintain a continuous contact of the mentor and mentee, a positive interaction needs to happen. To this end, routine constructive meetings will be schedule with the students and milestones will be determined from the beginning of the mentoring process. An open communication with positive and constructive feedback will be enforced during meetings with mentees. In this one-to-one meeting, the mentor and mentee will work together to determine the goals and expectations for the proposed internship. This will be a constructive process where the mentee will be able to design a list of milestones and deliverables, with continuous feedback from the mentor. Example of deliverables will be: a) Power point presentations, b) Attendance to laboratory meeting on weekly bases, c) Design a working plan with milestones and deliverables during the first weeks of the fellowship, d) Mid-term progress report, e) Final presentation of findings to laboratory members and all participants in this program. In addition to individual meeting with each mentee, group meeting with the laboratory members will be available in a weekly base.Students will participate in field studies, laboratory analysis and computer modeling. Students will be organized into two major research groups, Plant Health and Animal Health respectively. The Plant Health group will study HLB. Students will work directly with the industry (TCPDMC) to help monitor the disease's insect vector in commercial citrus acreage and obtain citrus tissue samples for HLB testing.). At the Citrus Center, students will develop research projects to be trained in a) detection of HLB b) control of the vector that carries HLB and c) treatment of citrus plants against HLB. The Animal Health group will be studying CFT.First, mentoring and training objectives will be measures. The researchers expect that students who are recruited to participate in the program will receive mentoring and training from academics and practitioners which will move students from passive to active and experiential learning, where critical thinking is central. The second dimension relates to the program effective integration of structured undergraduate research experiences (SURE) into students' internship year experience. . Dimension 3 is focused on the student-centered learning outcomes. Students' participation in oral presentation and poster presentations, laboratory meetings, seminar series, etc. will be tracked.

Progress 03/15/24 to 03/14/25

Outputs
Target Audience:We aim to recruit a diverse group of students, from which at least 80% are underrepresented groups, especially Hispanics. Based on previous experiences, 50% of students will be recruited from UTRGV and 50% from other participating academic institutions (e.g. TAMUK and TAMU) and two-year colleges near UTRGV (South Texas College (STC) and Technical College (TSTC). We will also continue recruiting students from other institutions, such as Texas State University, and will be flexible in expanding to students from other universities. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?1. Research Mentorship guidance. Students worked closely with mentors daily or weekly. They developed their oral, written, and analytical skills according to their research interest and the study's goals. Mentors encouraged students to join other internship programs, graduate school, and/or jobs related to their disciplines. We have also written letters of support for their students. 2. Cohort monthly meetings via the Internet. We met with the students every month to guide their preparation of PowerPoint presentations for oral talks and poster presentations. 3. Cohort in-person meeting. This is the third year that we have been able to meet in person at the Subtropical Agriculture & Environments Annual Meetings (SAES), this time it was held in Mission, Texas. Alumni of the program and current students had the opportunity to interact with mentors and national and international researchers attending this conference. 4. Scientific meetings. Students attended local and regional/international scientific conferences. Students presented eleven posters and three oral presentations at the Subtropical Agriculture and Environments Society Meeting on February 27-28, 2025. Four students obtained awards for their outstanding presentations: three were awarded 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place in the Oral presentation category, and one student was awarded 2nd place in the Poster presentation category. One poster and two oral presentations were given at the UTRGV COS Annual Research Conference on April 26, 2024, in Edinburg, Texas. One of these presentations received awards (best undergraduate oral presentation). Two students presented their research findings at the American Chemical Society, one in Fall 2024 and one in Spring 2025. One student presented at the Texas OneHealth Symposium. One of our students presented at The Livestock Insect Workers Conference in Cocoa Beach, Florida during the summer; and one student presented at the TACCSTER 2024 in Pickle Research Campus in Austin, TX 5. Motivational speech by Alumni. Alumni continue providing motivational talks to our new students or serving as co-mentors for new students in the program. Alumni also helped with recruiting efforts. 6. Advertising for different internship programs. Information for different internships has been announced. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? EFAS website was updated: https://www.utrgv.edu/efas/ The creation of a YouTube channel for the dissemination of the students work: https://www.youtube.com/@FeriaLab_TF A series of videos, EFAS Spotlight, was created to share more information about our students, their experiences in the program, and expectations for their careers have been impacted by being part of EFAS: Stone Nwamadi https://youtu.be/BwPvTW9m6RM?si=JlJNR-XnkpRjBBbf Andrea Quezada https://youtu.be/Nk20QpWGimA?si=i9a8Wmjw0MgFqQB4 Sophia Alvarado https://youtu.be/jtGNAL8eQ8k?si=LkGD7VpX3qpYlQDn Ira Narang https://youtu.be/v6Od-CxO-AY?si=Iqw1FCAnDw_7hn95 Dhairya Barot https://youtu.be/-NljqqOYrEg?si=fn5zUNpeckOc6nzS Brittany Griggs https://youtu.be/-CR5DyebaQo?si=gtXNCzntJcHGN1ed Carly Skelton https://youtu.be/uhPiD6T512g?si=b1cjhAK65NDBXi4j Alberto Salinas https://youtu.be/smGkuXKLlMc?si=gLlyobbm5TYSaW4p Anai Tabera-Cruz https://youtu.be/6x6DN-xaXSs?si=l5L6LEXLNKAY37qV Jasmin Canas https://youtu.be/S2VzOO_-w04?si=_c0NTxN2NQ56Nc5n Ashley Torres https://youtu.be/Z-wGft4ErBM?si=tfNMGCJVyrNVb26h Romel Hinojosa https://youtu.be/LZolzM1rLfA?si=zUolqhWjFj40jIht A shorter format video was created, where we ask students why they joined EFAS. https://youtu.be/ZMuVWxFgCSM?si=U0zfGyx6QPRBiMbj Booklet creation containing information regarding the students EFAS Booklet Creation of a Linktree for easy access to our different platforms FeriaLab Linktree Dr. Teresa Feria's presentation at the SAES Meeting on a summary of the EFAS program outputs, during which the attendees learned outputs of this program. Rebeca Santos - Graphical Designer student - poster presentation at the SAES Meeting, about Visual Communication Design and its relevance in REEU programs, like EFAS. Students and Alumni have made scientific media contributions: UTRGV research project using recycled glass for agricultural restoration August 28, 2024 From classroom to citrus fields: Biology student thrives at Weslaco research center August 15, 2024 From Bottle to Beach: How Your Last Glass Drink Could Be Saving Coastlines August 21, 2024 UTRGV alum researching Valley's thornforest ecosystem awarded national research fellowship August 8, 2024 From Bottle to Beach: UTRGV's Glass Waste Innovation October 1, 2024 Glass used to fight against environmental issues September 9, 2024 ACS Publication about Andrea's research + 100 reposts Achievements Presentation (english) What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? In total, there were 21 students participating this year in our REEU program. Thirteen were students from UTRGV, three were from Texas A&M, two from UT Austin, one from South Texas College, one from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and one from The California State University Fresno. Out of the 21 students, 15 were female and 6 were male. Sixteen of our students were of Hispanic descent, Three students presented at the UTRGV College of Sciences Annual Research Conference in May 2024. One student from UT Austin obtained an award for best undergraduate oral presentation (Ira Narang) on the "Earth, Environmental and Marine Sciences category". Fourteen students presented during the Subtropical Agriculture and Environments Society Meeting in February 27-28, 2025. Three of the presentations were oral, and the three of them got awarded for "best undergraduate oral presentation". Romel Hinojosa (UTRGV) got awarded first place, Audrey Rodriguez (UTRGV) got awarded second place, and third place went for Dhairya Barot (CSUF). Eleven of the presentations were posters, and Jasmin Cañas (UTRGV) got awarded second place for best undergraduate poster presentation. Eight students participated in other conferences, such as the Texas A&M University Student Research Week, College Station; UTRGV 2nd Annual SIBCS Undergraduate Research Symposium; American Chemical Society, both in Fall 2024 and Spring 2025; Texas OneHealth Symposium; The Livestock Insect Workers Conference; and TACCSTER 2024. Four of these presentations were oral and the other four were posters.

Publications

  • Type: Other Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2025 Citation: Oliva Ch�vez, A.; Gonzalez, J.; Harvey, C.; Ribeiro-Silva, C.d.S.; Leal-Galvan, B.; Persinger, K.A.; Durski, S.; Olafson, P.U.; Johnson, T.L. Identification of Potential Amblyomma americanum Antigens After Vaccination with Tick Extracellular Vesicles in White-Tailed Deer. Vaccines 2025, 13, 355. https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines13040355


Progress 03/15/16 to 03/14/25

Outputs
Target Audience:We aim to recruit a diverse group of students, from which at least 80% are underrepresented groups, especially Hispanics. Based on previous experiences, 50% of students will be recruited from UTRGV and 50% from other participating academic institutions (e.g. TAMUK and TAMU) and two-year colleges near UTRGV (South Texas College (STC) and Technical College (TSTC). We will also continue recruiting students from other institutions, such as Texas State University, and will be flexible in expanding to students from other universities. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Research Mentorship guidance. Students worked closely with mentors, and developed their oral, written, and analytical skills according to their research interest and the studies goals. Mentors encouraged students to join other internship programs, graduate school, and/or jobs related to their disciplines. Cohort monthly meetings via Zoom. Before the pandemic, we initiated mandatory monthly meetings via Zoom as several of our students and mentors were located at different institutions and research facilities. We continued to meet with the students every month to guide their preparation of PowerPoint presentations for oral talks and poster presentations. Peer mentoring. Senior lab peers mentored participants. This was probably the most successful aspect of our program as per students' comments and personal observations. Cohort in-person meeting. This is the third year we have been able to meet in person at the Subtropical Agriculture & Environments Annual Meetings (SAES), which were held this year in Mission, Texas. Alumni of the program and current students had the opportunity to interact with mentors and national and international researchers attending this conference. Scientific meetings. Students were required to present their research findings in conferences, we supported 119 student presentations: Local conferences: 35 Presentations. UTRGV College of Sciences Annual Research Conference, UTRGV Engaged Scholar Symposium, and College Station's Student Research Week. Awards were given to sixteen (45%) of these presentations: fourteen 1st place awards and two 2nd place awards. Regional/binational conferences: 77 Presentations. Subtropical Agriculture & Environments Society Annual Meetings, The Entomological Society of America, Planet Texas 2050 Symposium, and the Texas Academy of Science Meeting. Awards were given to 25 (32%) of the presentations: six 1st place awards, ten 2nd place awards, and nine 3rd place awards. Lastly, there were 6 presentations in national conferences, including the Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS), the American Chemical Society (ACS), and the Entomological Society of America (ESA). One student received a Travel Award to attend the ACS. Motivational speech by Alumni. Alumni continue to provide motivational talks to our new students and serve as co-mentors for new students in the program, and help recruiting. Opportunities regardless of GPA: Students with GPA lower than 3.00 were allowed to participate; they improved their GPAs and joined internships, master's programs, or found jobs (e.g., Odessa Mata found a job at Homeland Security, Ana Casillas won a 1st place Award for best presentation at the College of Sciences Annual Conference). Advertising for different internship programs. Information for different internships were provided. About 13 students were accepted into national competitive internships such as: Summer research scholar program with Cornell AgriTech (Abigail Leal, TAMU); International internship with the department of Agriculture and Rural development in Michoacán, México (Arturo España, TAMU) Training, research, and Education in Soil Science (TRESS) Fellowship with the agriculture department at Texas A&M university, Research training award at the NIH (Andrea Mota, UTRGV) TAMU Biochemistry and Biophysics REU Summer 2022. FRI Undergraduate Researcher, (Diobenhi Castellanos, UTRGV) Diversity and Inclusion Program Intern at Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine, Baltimore MD. USDA/National Park Service, and The Data Mine from Purdue University (Elizabeth Estrada, UTRGV) Science-in-Action" Summer Training Program Interned in Albany, California in the Summer of 2018 with the USDA ARS researching gene expression systems for plant defense. Bill Archer Fellowship Program Washington D.C. Public policy intern at the Alliance for American Manufacturing (Joshua Matthew, UTRGV) Broadening Participation in Entomology - REEU Program at Texas A&M (Joswha Gandy, UTRGV) GET PHIT: Gaining Equity in Public Health Informatics and Technology 2nd Annual Summit on September 19, 2024, in Arlington, TX. 2nd best place award for outstanding presentation. (Ramya Kunta, UTRGV) Wawona Frozen Foods as an Engineering Intern at Clovis, CA facility starting this summer (Dhairya Barot, CSU) The Nebraska Summer Research Program (SRP) (Sofia Ayala, UTRGV) Fellowship at the National Institutes of Health doing research in Bethesda, MD. (Elizabeth Lopez, UTRGV) Seed Product Development Intern at Corteva Agriscience, conducting applied agricultural research and managing a research project for national presentation (Alexa Escobedo, UTRGV). Graduate Programs Workshops. Students also received information about graduate programs. In total, 23 students joined graduate, post-baccalaureate, or other programs after completing their EFAS program (see below). Twelve students joined master's programs, in branches such as: Molecular Genetics Technology at UT MD Anderson Cancer Center (Abagail Leal) Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at UTRGV (Joshwa Gandy) Chemical Sciences at UTRGV (Andrea Quezada) Agricultural, Environmental, and Sustainability at UTRGV (Isaiah Jaramillo) Applied Statistics and Data Science at UTRGV (Myrine Barreiro-Areval) Biology at UTRGV (Anai Tabera-Cruz, Gisel Garza, Ruth Galan) Business Administration (Genoveva Carriles) Business Analytics at UT Austin (Ian McIntosh) Plant and Soil Science at Texas A&M Kingsville (Yovanna Soto) Business Administration with a specialization in Healthcare Administration (Melissa Salinas) Three post-baccalaureate's programs at the National Institute of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland (Andrea Mota, Diobenhi Castellanos, Elizabeth Lopez). Three students have joined PhD programs, such as: Mathematics and statistics with Interdisciplinary Applications at UTRGV (Myrine Barreiro-Areval) Ecology and Conservation Biology at TAMU (Gisel Garza) Interdisciplinary Biological Sciences at Northwestern University (Elizabeth Lopez) Six students followed Medical Sciences programs, such as: Physician's Assistant at the University of Texas Medical Branch (Ashley Torres) Doctor of Dental Surgery at UT Health Center at Houston (Joshua Mathew, Ashley Mathew) School of Veterinary Medicine at Texas Tech University (Sydney Orsborn) Medical degree at the Universidad Autonoma de Guadalajara School of Medicine (Melissa Salinas) Anesthesiology Assistant at the University of Colorado (Roukaya Mabizari) Public Health (Ramya Kunta). Students received information about fellowships. One student applied and obtained the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (NSF GRFP), the Dr. Dionel Avilés '53 and Dr. James Johnson '67 Fellowship (Gisel Garza, for a PhD program -UTRGV alumna). Eleven students joined the workforce in agricultural-related disciplines: Enforcement Coordinator for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ, Adriana Pena) Researcher at USDA APHIS-VS Cattle Fever Tick Eradication program (Alondra Rodriguez) Laboratory Technician at the Cattle Tick Research Laboratory (Hanna Moreno) Laboratory Technician at USDA/APHIS Moore Airfield base (Daniela Sanchez) USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service in Temple, TX (Isaiah Jaramillo) Project Manager at the national Non-Profit organization American Forests (Gisel Garza) Research Associate for the Entomology department at TAMUK Citrus Center in Weslaco, TX (Yovanna Soto) Supervisor I for the Nursery at Wonderful Citrus (Ruth Galan) PPQ Technician and GIS Technician at USDA APHIS (Sydney Rivas, UTRGV) Laboratory Technician at USDA APHIS Moorefield Airbase and former Pest Scout at Wonderful Citrus (Katrina Rivera, UTRGV) Texas Citrus Pests and Diseases Management Corporation at Texas Citrus Mutual in Mission, TX (Gabriela Cisneros, UTRGV How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? EFAS website was updated: https://www.utrgv.edu/efas/ EFAS Spotlight videos on our YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDBCISLMsHMW_BEYLWC9VKvXpvMiPCikB&si=3voCt-if-FT57oTB Video: Why joined EFAS? https://youtu.be/ZMuVWxFgCSM?si=U0zfGyx6QPRBiMbj Booklet that contains information regarding the students EFAS Booklet Dr. Teresa Feria presented at the SAES Meeting about EFAS, where the attendees were able to learn about the benefits of this program. Rebeca Santos poster presentation at the SAES Meeting in February 28, about Visual Communication Design and its relevance in REEU programs. UTRGV research project using recycled glass for agricultural restoration From classroom to citrus fields: Biology student thrives at Weslaco research center From Bottle to Beach: How Your Last Glass Drink Could Be Saving Coastlines UTRGV alum researching Valley's thornforest ecosystem awarded national research fellowship From Bottle to Beach: UTRGV's Glass Waste Innovation Glass used to fight against environmental issues ACS Publication about Andrea Quezada's research + 100 reposts Achievement's presentation Some examples of successful stories from Alumni: Where are they now? For more testimonials, please visit our website: https://www.utrgv.edu/efas/ Gisel Garza participated in the TACFSA program from 2018 to 2019 and graduated with her biology degree in the spring of 2019. She continued her graduate studies, and published two scientific papers in Q1 journals as the first co-author. She graduated with her master's in biology at UTRGV in the spring of 2021. She became a mentor for our EFAs program in fall 2022. Her EFAS mentees presented their research findings at local, regional, and national scientific conferences. In 2024 she was promoted to Manager of the Shared Seeds Initiative at American Forest and in the fall started her Ph.D. program in Ecology and Conservation Biology at Texas A&M. She was awarded the prestigious National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (NSF GRFP) and the Dr. Dionel Avilés '53 and Dr. James Johnson '67 Fellowship. Isaiah Jaramillo started in 2019 and concluded his participation in 2020. He is currently employed by the United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service, located in the Texas State Office in Temple, TX. "I pray Dr. Feria can lead a program similar to EFAS in the near future as it helped shape the careers of myself and many others!!!" Elizabeth Lopez participated in the program from June 2021 to December 2021. "After completing the EFAS program and obtaining my Bachelor of Science, I began to seek out more research-based opportunities. I applied and was selected for a postbaccalaureate researcher position with the National Institutes of Health, specifically within the National Cancer Institute. I remained there from June 2021-June 2022. During this time, I applied for PhD programs. I am currently a second-year PhD student at Northwestern University in the Interdisciplinary Biological Sciences program. I developed a strong interest in reproductive science and currently study the molecular mechanisms underlying proper segregation of chromosomes during oocyte (female egg cell) meiosis. I passed my first qualifying exam in the Fall of 2024 and will be taking my second qualifying exam in the Fall of 2025 to officially become a PhD candidate! Through this program, I was introduced to wonderful mentors (with special emphasis on Dr. Feria, Dr. Uckoo, Dr. Kunta, and Ruth Galan) who have supported my scientific and personal growth. With their assistance, I was able to win two 1st place awards. This positive experience solidified my wish to pursue a career in research and consequently pushed me to apply for a graduate degree. I am incredibly grateful to the EFAS program and the USDA for this amazing opportunity and would not be here today without it!" Arturo Herrera España was part of the program from 2023 and concluded in 2024, he is a recent graduate from Texas A&M University, heading to an exciting international internship this summer 2025 with the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in Michoacán, México. During his participation, he was awarded second place for best poster presentation during the SAES conference in February 2024. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? 94 Students, A total of 94 students participated in the program. Of them, 80 (85%) students completed the program at 100%, which means they presented their research findings at a conference. Eight (8.5%) students achieved 50% of the program, and 4 (4.25%) completed 80% of the program. Students who did not complete their program had multiple reasons, including being young parents or starting full-time jobs due to financial issues. Of those students who completed 100% the program, 50 (62.5%) were from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, while 30 (37.5%) were external to the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV), 12 students were from Texas A&M University, 6 from The University of Texas at Austin, 6 from Texas State Technical College, 4 from South Texas College, 1 from University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1 from Texas State University, 1 from California State University, Fresno, and 1 from Texas State- San Marcos. In total, 56 students were female (70%) and 24 were male (30%), of which 79% is Hispanic. It is important to note that the COVID-19 pandemic had an effect on recruiting students, mainly from other institutions. Additionally, several laboratories, including our USDA partners, did not accept student interns from 2020 to 2022. Notwithstanding this, we successfully fulfilled the goals of our program. Our program supported 119 student presentations, from which 41 (34.4%) received awards for best poster or oral presentation. (1) Local conferences: 35 Presentations. UTRGV College of Sciences Annual Research Conference, UTRGV Engaged Scholar Symposium, and College Station's Student Research Week. Awards were given to 16 of these presentations, fourteen 1st place awards, and two 2nd place awards. (2) Regional/binational conferences: 77 Presentations. Subtropical Agriculture & Environments Society Annual Meetings, The Entomological Society of America, Planet Texas 2050 Symposium, and the Texas Academy of Science Meeting. And (3) Awards were given to 25 of the presentations: six 1st place awards, ten 2nd place awards, and nine 3rd place awards. There were six presentations at national conferences, including the Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS), the American Chemical Society (ACS), and the Entomological Society of America (ESA). One student received a Travel Award to attend the ACS, and her presentation was selected for conference press coverage and featured in multiple scientific settings and languages. Our overall goal is to develop, reward, and graduate a diverse cohort of undergraduate students mentored by world-class agricultural research scientists in food safety and climate change research of significance to US agriculture. Our specific objectives are 1) Training students in fieldwork, monitoring, and analysis of lab samples to detect and control the spread of the pathogens responsible for HLB and CFT. 2) Training students to understand the plausible responses of species to climate change. 3) Instructing students in data presenting skills through scientific writing workshops as well as poster and platform presentations.

Publications


    Progress 03/15/23 to 03/14/24

    Outputs
    Target Audience:We aim to recruit a diverse group of students, from which at least 80% are underrepresented groups, especially Hispanics. Based on previous experiences, 50% of students will be recruited from UTRGV and 50% from other participating academic institutions (e.g, TAMUK and TAMU) and two-year colleges near UTRGV (South Texas College (STC) and Texas State Technical College (TSTC). We will also continue recruiting students from other institutions, such as Texas State University, and will be flexible in expanding to students from other universities. Changes/Problems:Due to COVID-19 and USDA laboratories closing during 2020 and 2021, we could not recruit the number of students we aimed to recruit. If a no-cost extension is granted, we will recruit mostly non-UTRGV students this year to fulfill that missing goal for this program. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The opportunities for training and professional development are divided into different categories: Research Mentorship guidance. Students worked closely with mentors daily or weekly. They developed their oral, written, and analytical skills according to their research interest and the study's goals. Mentors encouraged students to join other internship programs, graduate school, and/or jobs related to their disciplines. We have also written letters of support for their students. Cohort monthly meetings via the Internet. We met with the students every month to guide their preparation of PowerPoint presentations for oral talks and poster presentations. Cohort in-person meeting. This is the second year that we have been able to meet in person at the Subtropical Agriculture & Environments Annual Meetings (SAES) held in South Padre Island, Texas. Alumni of the program and current students had the opportunity to interact with mentors and national and international researchers joining this conference. Scientific meetings. Students attended local and regional/international scientific conferences. Students presented two posters and three oral presentations at the Subtropical Agriculture and Environments Society Meeting on February 8-9, 2024. Three students obtained awards for their outstanding presentations: two were awarded 2nd and 3rd place in the Oral presentation category, and one student was awarded 2nd place in the Poster presentation category. Two posters and two oral presentations were given at the UTRGV COS Annual Research Conference on April 28, 2023, in Brownsville, Texas. Three of these presentations received awards (2 best oral and one best poster presentation). One student presented her research findings at the Planet Texas 2050 Symposium: Resilience Research in Action on February 28th, 2024. Motivational speech by Alumni. Alumni continue providing motivational talks to our new students or serving as co-mentors for new students in the program. Alumni also helped with recruiting efforts. Advertising for different internship programs. Information for different internships has been announced, and the PI from some of these internships has attended our monthly meetings (e.g., Dr. Julio Bernal - REUU Diversity in Entomology, Texas A&M College Station). As a result, three students (e.g., Joshwa Gandy, Sofia Ayala, Abagail) have joined different internship programs after completing our EFAS program. Graduate Programs Workshops. Students also received information about graduate programs and how to apply to them. Two students who recently finished the EFAS program from March 2023 to March 2024 to graduate programs: Joshwa Gandy and Sydney Orsborn. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Nothing Reported What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?The number of non-UTRGV students' participants in per EFAS program needs to increase. We will emphasis recruiting students from different institutions and continue our efforts to train them to develop research.

    Impacts
    What was accomplished under these goals? We recruited ten new students for the program for this year's report (March 2023-March 2024). Seven students attend UTRGV, and three are non-UTRGV [one from UT Austin, two from Texas A&M College Station]. All but three students did not identify as Hispanic. In total, six female and four male students participated in the third year of this program. Two of these students had to withdraw from the program due to family situations (-e.g., starting a new family). After recruitment, students were assigned to a mentor according to their primary research interests. Students and mentors designed a research project based on the scientific method (observation, question, hypothesis, method, results, analysis of results, and dissemination of the results). Students developed fieldwork, analyzed in the laboratory, and/or developed computer simulations based on the central question of their research project. For the current year, students presented six posters and four oral presentations at local and regional scientific meetings. Students presented two posters and three oral presentations at the Subtropical Agriculture and Environments Society Meeting on February 8-9, 2024. Three students obtained awards for their outstanding presentations: two were awarded 2nd and 3rd place in the Oral presentation category, and one student was awarded 2nd place in the Poster presentation category. Two posters and two oral presentations were given at the UTRGV COS Annual Research Conference on April 28, 2023, in Brownsville, Texas. Three of these presentations received awards (2 best oral and one best poster presentation). One student participated as a co-author in a scientific publication. Two female students were accepted into competitive research internships at the University of Arkansas and Cornell Universities. One female student was accepted to the School of Veterinary Medicine at Texas Tech, and one male student is currently pursuing a master's degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at UTRGV. More students signed up for oral talks (6) at scientific conferences than in previous years, when only one or no student gave oral presentations. This could be attributed to mentoring efforts to encourage students to leave their comfort zone and to students' self-confidence in their research/training performance.

    Publications

    • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Goolsby, John, Mauricio Cruz, Reyes Garcia, Lauren Maestas, and Teresa P. Feria-Arroyo. 2023. Nilgai, Boselaphus tragocamelus and White-Tailed Deer, Odocoileus virginianus Use of Water Troughs with and without Remotely Operated Field Sprayers for Potential Treatment of Cattle Fever Ticks. Subtropical Agriculture and Environments 74: 2125. https://docplayer.net/237044947-Subtropical-agriculture-and-environments-74.html


    Progress 03/15/22 to 03/14/23

    Outputs
    Target Audience:We aim to recruit a diverse group of students, from which at least 80% are underrepresented groups, especially Hispanics. Based on previous experiences, 50% of students will be recruited from UTRGV and 50% from other participating academic institutions (e.g, TAMUK and TAMU) and two-year colleges near UTRGV (South Texas College (STC) and Texas State Technical College (TSTC). We will also continue recruiting students from other institutions such as Texas State University and will be flexible in expanding to students from other universities. Changes/Problems:There are no significant problems, but sharing the following information is essential. Three of the Co-PI moved to different institutions. Two of them no longer participate as mentors: Dr. Dolores Esteve-Gassent, and Dr. Adalberto Perez de Leon. One of them is still mentoring students working on particular crop projects, Jon Dale. Another of the Co-PIs retired in December. Thus, we had conversations with the director of the APHIS lab, who highly supports our program. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The opportunities for training and professional development are divided in different categories: Research Mentorship guidance. Students worked closely with mentors daily or weekly. Students have developed their oral, written, and analytical skills according to their research interest and the goals of the study. Cohort monthly meetings via Internet. We met with the students on a monthly basis in order to provide guidance in the preparation of power point presentations for oral talks and poster presentations. After two years of virtual meetings, we had the opportunity to meet in person at the Subtropical Agriculture & Environments 77th Annual Meeting (SAES), 2023. Alumni of the program and current students had the opportunity to interact. Scientific meetings. Students attended scientific regional meetings. In total, students presented 9 posters and one oral presentation at a regional meeting. One student obtained 3rd place awards for their outstanding presentations. Motivational speech by Alumni. Alumni have provided motivational talks to our new students and now some of them are serving as co-mentors and helping us to recruit new students into our program. Advertising for different internship programs. Information for different internships have been announced and PI from some have attended our monthly meetings. Graduate Programs Workshops. Students have also received information about graduate programs and how to apply to them. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Local, regional amd national conferences. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We will recruit students from different institutions and continue our efforts in training them to develop research. I will be visiting two year colleges in order to recruit students.

    Impacts
    What was accomplished under these goals? The three main objectives of this research-training program have been achieved during the first and second years of our extended program. We recruited 11 students. Seven of these students attend UTRGV and 4 are non-UTRGV students [2 from UT Austin, 1 from South Texas College (STC), 1 from Texas A&M College Station]. All, but the two male students from UT Austin, were Hispanic students. In total 7 females and 4 male students participated during the third year of this program. After recruitment, students were assigned to a mentor according to their main research interest. Students and mentors designed a research project based on the scientific method (observation, question, hypothesis, method, results, analysis of results, and dissemination of the results). Students developed fieldwork, analyzed in the laboratory, and/or developed computer simulations based on the main question of their research project. For the current year, students presented 9 posters at a local and regional meeting. One student attended, regional, state and national conferences. Two female students were accepted into competitive research internships at Perdue and Cornell universities.

    Publications

    • Type: Other Status: Other Year Published: 2023 Citation: Stephanie Guzman Valencia, Saelao Perot, Abagail Leal, Elizabeth Lohstroh, Cristina Harvey, Brenda Leal-Galvan, Cross Chambers, Crys Wright, Tietjen Mackenzie, Tammi Johnson, Jonathan Oliver, Raul Medina, and Adela Oliva Ch�vez. An insight into the Epigenetics of Ixodes scapularis populations. Subtropical Environments 77th Annual Meeting (SAES), 2023.
    • Type: Other Status: Other Year Published: 2023 Citation: Ayala, Sofia, Thomas, Vanessa, Nelson, Grace, Zapsas, Daphne, Dr. Soti, Pushpa. Environmental Variables Regulate the Patterns of Root Colonization Fungal Endophytes in Guinea Grass (Megathyrsus Maximus). Subtropical Agriculture & Environments 77th Annual Meeting (SAES), 2023.
    • Type: Other Status: Other Year Published: 2023 Citation: Ana Casillas Rodriguez and James Jihoon Kang. Nitrate & phosphate recovery by surface-modified biochar and its use as a slow-release fertilizer. Subtropical Agriculture & Environments 77th Annual Meeting (SAES), 2023.
    • Type: Other Status: Other Year Published: 2023 Citation: Alexa M. Escobedo, Gisel Garza, Jon Dale, Teresa Patricia Feria Arroyo. Thornforest restoration in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas: climate change effects on Texas Ebony. Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics & Native Americans in Science, 2020. Subtropical Agriculture and Environments, 2023. Planet Texas 2050 Symposium Resilience Research in Action, 2023.
    • Type: Other Status: Other Year Published: 2023 Citation: Joshwa Gandy, Marissa Gonzalez, Cesar Medelez, Teresa Patricia Feria Arroyo, Madhurababu Kunta. My Research Training at TAMU-Kingsville Citrus Center. Subtropical Agriculture & Environments 77th Annual Meeting (SAES), 2023.
    • Type: Other Status: Other Year Published: 2023 Citation: Stephanie Guzman Valencia, Saelao Perot, Abagail Leal*, Elizabeth Lohstroh, Cristina Harvey, Brenda Leal-Galvan, Cross Chambers, Crys Wright, Tietjen Mackenzie, Tammi Johnson, Jonathan Oliver, Raul Medina, and Adela Oliva Ch�vez. An insight into the Epigenetics of Ixodes scapularis populations. Subtropical Environments 77th Annual Meeting (SAES), 2023.
    • Type: Other Status: Other Year Published: 2022 Citation: Alexa M. Escobedo, Gisel Garza, Jon Dale, Teresa Patricia Feria Arroyo. Native seed production in a changing climate: concerns for thornforest restoration in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics & Native Americans in Science. October 26, 2022.
    • Type: Other Status: Other Year Published: 2022 Citation: 1. A website for the program was updated: https://www.utrgv.edu/efas/ 2. Nine Presentations at scientific meetings 3. One Awards for best oral presentations: 3rd place - Subtropical Environments 77th Annual Meeting (SAES), 2023. 4. Students joined societies such as Subtropical Plant and Agricultural Society. 5. Alumni of the program joined or finished graduate school or other academic programs and are still in contact providing motivational testimonios of their experience participating in our research training programs. 6. Student Success after completing the program: a. Abigail Lean finished our REEU program and was accepted into the Cornell University summer research program. b. Elizabeth Estrada. Completed the Latino Heritage Internship Program to work for the National Park Service at Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine in Baltimore and was accepted into an internship at the Data Maine Program at Perdue University. c. Alexa Escobedo attended a national conference the Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics & Native Americans in Science and 2023. Planet Texas 2050 Symposium Resilience Research in Action
    • Type: Other Status: Other Year Published: 2023 Citation: Alexa M. Escobedo, Gisel Garza, Jon Dale, Teresa Patricia Feria Arroyo. Thornforest restoration in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas: climate change effects on Texas Ebony. Planet Texas 2050 Symposium: Resilience Research in Action, February 28, 2023.
    • Type: Other Status: Other Year Published: 2023 Citation: Gustavo Estrada, Leslie Dorado, Elizabeth Estrada, and Teresa P. Feria-Arroyo. Monitoring the destructive Cactus Moth in a highly threatened area. Subtropical Agriculture & Environments 77th Annual Meeting (SAES), 2023.


    Progress 03/15/21 to 03/14/22

    Outputs
    Target Audience:We aim to recruit a diverse group of students, from which at least 80% are underrepresented groups, especially Hispanics. Based on previous experiences, 50% of students will be recruited from UTRGV and 50% from other participating academic institutions (e.g, TAMUK and TAMU) and two-year colleges near UTRGV (South Texas College (STC) and Texas State Technical College (TSTC). We will also continue recruiting students from other institutions such as Texas State University and will be flexible in expanding to students from other universities. Changes/Problems:Although COVID-19 did not affect the overall the goals of the program,it is important to mention the following: Field work studies were delayed. Recruitment of students was delayed.One of the goals of the program funded by USDA NIFA AFRI is to recruit 12 students per year. We recruited only 8 students during summer and fall 2021. We were able to recruit another student in February and one more in April of 2022, five in May and one more in June. Thus, we are positive that we will fulfill our goal and will recruit and train 60 students at the end of this program. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The opportunities for training and professional development are divided in different categories: Research Mentorship guidance. Students worked closely with mentors daily or weekly. Students have developed their oral, written, and analytical skills according to their research interest and the goals of the study. Students that worked with mentors in the citrus industry, in addition to the above-mentioned skills, were also trained to address the daily needs of the industry. Cohort monthly meetings via Internet. Due to COVID-19 our monthly mandatory meetings were done only via Zoom. We met with the students on a monthly basis in order to provide guidance in the preparation of power point presentations for oral talks and poster presentations. In addition, students presented their research findings to general audiences at UTRGV as part of our monthly meetings. Scientific meetings. Students attended scientific local and bi-national meetings, both virtually and face-to-face modalities. In total, students presented 7 posters. One student obtained 1st place award for her outstanding presentation at both local and bi-national meetings. Motivational speech by Alumni. Alumni have provided motivational talks to our new students and are serving as co-mentors and helping us to recruit new students into our program. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results have been disseminated to communities of interest through local, regional and national scientific meetings. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the past years, resulted have been disseminated via Zoom and Hybrid modalities. However, the project team does foresee resuming regular dissemination and community outreach plans soon as most areas are resuming normal activities in the following months. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We will continue recruiting students from different institutions and continue our efforts in training them to develop research. Several laboratories are still close due to COVID-19. Fortunately, some laboratories are starting to accept students this summer and fall - e.g., Cattle Fiver Research Laboratory and APHIS USDA Moore Field laboratory-.

    Impacts
    What was accomplished under these goals? The three main objectives of this research-training program have been achieved. However, the number of students that were recruited was low due to COVID-19. We have funds to solve this issue and this year we are recruiting more students. Up to June 2022, we have recruited 36 students. Four of them were not able to complete the program due to different factors -e.g., change of major, parenthood adjustments, health issues-. Twenty-one of these students attend UTRGV and 15 are non-UTRGV (4 from Texas A&M University- College Station, 2 from South Texas College (STC), 5 from Texas State Technical College (TSTC); 3 from University of Texas at Austin, 1 from Texas A&M Kingsville). From those 32 are Hispanic students. After recruitment, students were assigned to a mentor according to their main research interest. Students and mentors designed a research project based on the scientific method (observation, question, hypothesis, method, results, analysis of results, and dissemination of the results). Students developed fieldwork, analyzed in the laboratory, and/or developed computer simulations based on the main question of their research project. For the current year, students presented 7 posters at a local and regional meeting.

    Publications


      Progress 03/15/20 to 03/14/21

      Outputs
      Target Audience:We aim to recruit a diverse group of students, from which at least 80% are underrepresented groups, especially Hispanics. Based on previous experiences, 50% of students will be recruited from UTRGV and 50% from other participating academic institutions (e.g, TAMUK and TAMU) and two-year colleges near UTRGV (South Texas College (STC) and Texas State Technical College (TSTC). We will also continue recruiting students from other institutions such as Texas State University and will be flexible in expanding to students from other universities. Changes/Problems:Although COVID-19 did not affect the overall goals of the program,it is important to mention the following: Field work studies have been delayed. Recruitment of students has been delayed.One of the goals of the program funded by USDA NIFA AFRI is to recruit 12 students per year. This year we have recruited 6, for several reasons including that some of the laboratories that are collaborating with us are now closed to non-essential personnel. For example, the Cattle Fever Tick Research Laboratory and the APHIS USDA laboratories at Moore Field Edinburg, TX are not allowing students to work in the laboratories. In addition, some of the CoPI's for this proposal are no longer working at the institutions that they were working at when we submitted the proposal. We hope to be recruiting more students this year. However, students will not participate in USDA research laboratories until they receive permission for this. In addition, two Co-PI and mentors are no longer working on the institutions that they were working in the past years. Fortunately, we still have mentors in those institutions. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The opportunities for training and professional development are divided in different categories: Research Mentorship guidance. Students worked closely with mentors daily or weekly. Students have developed their oral, written, and analytical skills according to their research interest and the goals of the study. Students that worked with mentors in the citrus industry, in addition to the above-mentioned skills, were also trained to address the daily needs of the industry (e.g., producing biological control predators, as well as outreach events). Students worked together with PhD or master students, as well as expert lab and field technicians. Cohort monthly meetings via Internet. We had Zoom meetings in the past, but we also had face to face meetings. Due to COVID-19 our monthly mandatory meetings were done only via Zoom. We met with the students on a monthly basis in order to provide guidance in the preparation of power point presentations for oral talks and poster presentations. In addition, students presented their research findings to general audiences at UTRGV as part of our monthly meetings. Even before the COVID-19 issue, we had monthly ZOOM meetings to include all students and mentors off campus (UTRGV). After mid-March 2020 we have not have a face to face meetings to keep the social distance and to follow the CDC advice to prevent COVID-19. Scientific meetings. Students attended scientific regional meetings. In total, students presented 9 posters and one oral presentation at a regional meeting. Two students obtained 1st and 2nd place awards for their outstanding presentations. Motivational speech by Alumni. Alumni have provided motivational talks to our new students and now some of them are serving as co-mentors and helping us to recruit new students into our program. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results have been disseminated to communities of interest through local, regional and national scientific meetings. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the past year, resulted have been disseminated through Zoom. However, the project team does foresee resuming regular dissemenation and community outreach plans soon as most areas are resuming normal activities in the following months. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We will recruit students from different institutions and continue our efforts in training them to develop research. Several laboratories are still close due to COVID-19, thus, we hope that those laboratories open again to start admitting students to work with the researchers. For this same reason, we could not recruit during this academic year. We are starting to find new mentors and hope to get more students recruited during this academic year to fulfill our goal of 12 students per year. We will also include our social networking activities as the pandemic situation allows it.

      Impacts
      What was accomplished under these goals? The three main objectives of this research-training program have been achieved during the first and second years of our extended program. We have recruited 18 students. Ten of these students attend UTRGV and 8 are non-UTRGV (2 from Texas A&M University- College Station, 1 from South Texas College (STC), 4 from Texas State Technical College; 1 from University of Texas at Austin, 1 from Texas A&M Kingsville). All, but one female student from Texas A&M, were Hispanic students. In total 11 females and 7 male students participated during the first and second years of the extended program. After recruitment, students were assigned to a mentor according to their main research interest. Students and mentors designed a research project based on the scientific method (observation, question, hypothesis, method, results, analysis of results, and dissemination of the results). Students developed fieldwork, analyzed in the laboratory, and/or developed computer simulations based on the main question of their research project. For the current year, students presented 9 posters at a local and regional meetings.

      Publications


        Progress 03/15/19 to 03/14/20

        Outputs
        Target Audience:We aim to recruit a diverse group of students, from which at least 80% are underrepresented groups, especially Hispanics. Based on previous experiences, 50% of students will be recruited from UTRGV and 50% from other participating academic institutions (e.g, TAMUK and TAMU) and two-year colleges near UTRGV: South Texas College (STC) and Texas State Technical College (TSTC). We will also continue recruiting students from other institutions such as Texas State University and will be flexible in expanding to students from other universities. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?We have three past years of experience with this type of programs. The opportunities for training and professional development can be divided in different categories: Research Mentorship guidance. Students worked closely with mentors daily or weekly. Students have developed their oral, written, and analytical skills according to their research interest and the goals of the study. Students that worked with mentors in the citrus industry, in addition to the above-mentioned skills, were also trained to address the daily needs of the industry (e.g., producing biological control predators, as well as outreach events). Students worked together with PhD or master students, as well as expert lab and field technicians. Social networking. Social events, the kick-off meeting, and a Christmas potluck. During the social networking, students and potential mentors had the opportunity to interact with each other. Students in our program also brought guest students that were interested in our program, so they could learn more about it during these social friendly events. Cohort monthly meetings face to face and via Internet. Monthly meetings are mandatory for students and highly encouraged for mentors to attend. We met with the students on a monthly basis in order to provide guidance in the preparation of power point presentations for oral talks and poster presentations. In addition, students presented their research findings to general audiences at UTRGV as part of our monthly meetings. Even before the COVID-19 issue, we had monthly ZOOM meetings to include all students and mentors off campus (UTRGV). After mid-march we have not have a face to face meetings to keep the social distance and to follow the CDC advice to prevent COVID-19. Scientific meetings. Students attended scientific regional meetings. In total, students presented 10 posters and one oral presentation at a regional meeting. Abstracts to attend local and national conferences were submitted and accepted, but due to COVID-19 these conferences were canceled or re-scheduled. Scientific writing and publication of research findings. Alumni Hanna Moreno published a paper as coauthor. She was hired as Laboratory Technician at the Cattle Fever Tick Research Laboratory in Edinburg, place where she developed our program, published one paper about his research findings. Knowledge of different research training and internship opportunities. Students are aware of additional research training and internships opportunities. One of our students was accepted into the STEP 2 program and was able to expand her research experiments. Another student was accepted to participate in the national Science in Action USDA ARS program. This same student applied and obtained the Archers Fellowship in spring 2019. Motivational speech by Alumni. Students that finished our previous three years program are still included in our current emails to keep them informed. They have also attended our meetings in person or via ZOOM and have provided motivational talks to our current students. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? A website for the program was created: https://www.utrgv.edu/efas/ Eleven Presentations at scientific meetings Three scientific manuscripts have been published with students (alumni) as coauthors, One student thesis is ongoing. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We will recruit 12 additional students from different institutions and continue our efforts on training them to develop research. For the short future thought, it will be uncertain when students can come back to work on teams at the different laboratories or field work activities due to COVID-19. Thus, for the safety of our students, we will continue assigning activities that students can develop from home and hope to re-star full time activities at the different research laboratories as soon as it is allowed.

        Impacts
        What was accomplished under these goals? The three main objectives of this research-training program have been achieved during the first year of our extended program. We recruited 12 students. Six of these students attend UTRGV and 6 are non-UTRGV (2 from Texas A&M University- College Station, 1 from South Texas College (STC), and 3 from Texas State Technical College). All, but one female student from Texas A&M, were Hispanic students. In total 7 females and 5 male students participated in this first year of the extended program. After recruitment, students were assigned to a mentor according to their main research interest. Students and mentors designed a research project based on the scientific method (observation, question, hypothesis, method, results, analysis of results, and dissemination of the results). Students developed fieldwork, analyzed in the laboratory, and/or developed computer simulations based on the main question of their research project. In total, students presented 10 posters and one oral presentation at a regional meeting. Abstracts to attend local and national conferences were submitted and accepted, but due to COVID-19 these conferences were canceled or re-scheduled.

        Publications

        • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Klafke, G. M., Moreno, H.*, Tidwill, J., Miller, Donal, B. Thomas, Feria Arroyo, T. P., and P�rez de Le�n, A. 2019. Amplification and sequencing of three genes of the cattle fever tick, Rhipicephalus annulatus. Journal of Medical Entomology. Tick and Tick-Borne Diseases. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ttbdis.2019.101368


        Progress 03/15/18 to 03/14/19

        Outputs
        Target Audience:This includes underrepresented graduate students from the main sponsored university (UTRGV), and non-UTRGV (e.g., two-year colleges, Texas A&M College Station). Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Opportunities for training and professional development can be divided in different categories: Mentor guidance. Students worked closely with mentors daily. Students have developed their oral, written, and analytical skills according to the topic (CFT, HLB) and the goals of the study. In addition, the students have participated in weekly scientific discussions with laboratory team members with the objective of developing critical thinking skills. Students that worked with mentors in the citrus industry, in addition to the above-mentioned skills, were also trained to address the daily needs of the industry (e.g., producing biological control predators, as well as outreach events). At Texas A&M University, the undergraduate students worked together with PhD students in the Veterinary Pathobiology and Biomedical Science Graduate Program as well as with Veterinary Medicine students. In addition, the students in this program were encouraged to participate in Seminars from invited scientist, enroll in the undergraduate research scholars program and participate in the Texas A&M University student research week. At the USDA-ARS Cattle Fever Tick Research Laboratory, students conducted collaborative research with world experts doing investigations on acaricide resistance in support of cattle fever tick eradication efforts, both in the laboratory and in the field. At UTRGV, students developed models of potential effects of climate change on the distribution of Cattle Fever Tick and the Aphid Psyllid Citrus. Students interacted with faculty at the biology department and the school of mathematics. Senior students as mentors. Not all the students enrolled in the program started on the same day or month. Thus, senior students served as mentors for new students in our program. This created a strong network of interaction among our students. For example, senior students provided tips for oral and poster presentations or lab and field experiments. Social networking. Social events, the kick-off meeting, Christmas parties (potluck), and end of the year program celebration (students received their certificate of completion of this program this day), were organized. During the social networking, students and potential mentors had the opportunity to interact with each other. Administrators were present to answer any logistical questions that students and mentors might have for them. Students in our program also brought guest students that were interested in our program, so they could learn more about it during these social friendly events. Cohort monthly meetings. Both, the director and co-director of this program met with the students on a monthly basis in order to provide guidance in the preparation of power point presentations for oral talks and poster presentations. In addition, students presented their research findings to general audiences at UTRGV as part of our monthly meetings. Interactive online meetings. Since our co-director and some of our students were developing their research in Texas A&M University College Station, we used tools on the internet such as Zoom (www.zoom.us/) or Skype to connect with them. In addition, in the summer, when students visited the Lower Rio Grande Valley, we did the same to connect with our co-director. The College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at Texas A&M University has provided with the logistics in terms of Zoom accounts and availability for our students to stay connected through their training. Guest speakers. Guest speakers were invited to provide "tips" for successful poster presentations. The speakers were a former UTRGV student who is currently conducting his PhD studies at the University of San Francisco, the graduate past coordinator of the Biology Department at UTRGV, and two alumni of our program. In addition, our program co-hosted the visit of Dr. Allan Showler from USDA -ARS as guest speaker in conjunction with the H.S.I. ELU2. Dr. Showler presentation focused on "Ixodid tick ecology on the South Texas coastal plains". He also met with students in our program to talk about his experience working at USDA. Community engagement. Most of our students attended community engagement activities. At the Hispanic, Engineering, Science and Technology week (HESTEC) at UTRGV, and Darwin day at Texas A&M University. Community engagement is a great opportunity for our students to show the importance of their research to members of our community, and at the same time to receive feedback from them. Scientific meetings. Students attended scientific, local, regional, and national meetings. Sixteen students presented their research findings at the annual Subtropical Plant and Agricultural Society meeting at the Texas A&M-Kingsville Citrus Center in Weslaco, Texas in the spring of 2017, 2018, and 2019. Five students presented their research findings at the Engaged Symposium at UTRGV in fall 2018, and one student presented her research findings at the 2017 Entomological Society of America Southwestern Branch meeting. One student presented her research findings at Texas Academy of Sciences (TAS) in spring 2019. Two students presented their research findings at the national SACNAS (Advancing Chicanos/Hispanos and Native Americans in science conference later coming fall 2018). One student presented her research findings at the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students ABRACMS in fall 2018 and then at the Texas A&M University Student Research Week in spring 2019. One student will present her research findings at the Engaged Symposium in fall 2019 and another at the SACNAS conference in fall 2019 (abstracts submitted). Scientific writing and publication of research findings. Students in the program received training in scientific writing, focusing in abstracts for scientific presentations and poster presentations. One of the students in the program at Texas A&M University wrote her undergraduate thesis using the results from the research they developed under this project. One student is co-author of a manuscript that was already published at the Journal Parasitology: Drugs and Drugs Resistance and another is working in a manuscript to be sent to the Journal Medical Entomology. Job opportunities. Students attended a USDA Jobs Presentation by Ruby De La Garza, USDA Regional director Regional Director- Texas U.S., Department of Agriculture, and Hispanic-Serving Institutions National Program. Three students received, and accepted job offers. One, Gabriela Sanchez, an alumnus, is working at the Texas Citrus and Pest Management Corporation in Mission Texas, and the second is working as part time researcher at the Citrus Center, in Weslaco, Texas. Hanna Moreno is working now as the bio technician position at ARS USDA Cattle Fever Tick Research Laboratory, where she did her research as part of this program. Knowledge of different research training and internship opportunities. Students are aware of additional research training and internships opportunities. One of our students was accepted into the STEP 2 program and was able to expand her research experiments. Another student was accepted to participate in the national Science in Action USDA ARS program. This same student applied and obtained the Archers Fellowship in spring 2019. Alumni. Students that finished the program are still included in the emails to keep them informed. Mentors and Director of this program update information about students that completed the program to follow up as much as possible in their career paths. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Results have been disseminated on the webpage and the Facebook page created for this program: https://www.facebook.com/pg/Talent-in-Agriculture-for-Climate-Change-and-Food-Security-Adaptation-174156539651792/posts/ Students participated in bi-lingual outreach events such as: Participation at Community Day HESTEC-UTRGV Annual Winter Texans Event, Texas A&M University-Kingsville-Citrus Center Participation in Darwin Day at Texas A&M University Students also presented their research findings at different scientific meetings. Subtropical plant and Agriculture Society, 2017: http://www.subplantsci.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/71-2017-Porceedings-Poster-abstacts.pdf Entomological Society of America Southwestern Branch Engaged Symposium, 2017-2018, and 2019, UTRGV SACNAS 2019 Texas Academy of Science 2019 Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRACMS), Indianapolis, fall 2018 What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?This multi-institutional three-year program has concluded as per March 2019. We will continue training the next generation of agricultural scientist thanks to the renewal of the program entitled: Empowering Future Agricultural Scientists: food security and climate changeresearch experiences for undergraduate students. EFAS-REEU We created a webpage for this renewal program. We will start recruiting students to start in summer 2019.

        Impacts
        What was accomplished under these goals? The three main objectives of this research-training program have been achieved during the three years of our program. We recruited 30 students. Fifteen of these students attend UTRGV and fifteen are non-UTRGV (4 from Texas A&M University- College Station, 3 from South Texas College (STC), 2 from San Marcos State University, 4 from Texas State Technical College, and 2 from the The Mathematics and Science Academy (MSA). Eighty six percent of the students were Hispanic. After recruitment, students were assigned to a mentor according to their main research interest. fifteen students chose to work on CFT and fifteen on HLB. Students and mentors designed a research project based on the scientific method (observation, question, hypothesis, method, results, analysis of results, and dissemination of the results). Students developed fieldwork, analyzed in the laboratory, and/or developed computer simulations based on the main question of their research project.

        Publications

        • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Setamou, M., Salda�a, R., Hearn, J. M., Dale, J., Feria, A., T. P. and Czokajlo, D. 2019. Screening Sticky Cards as a Simple Method for Improving Efficiency of Diaphorina citri (Hemiptera: Liviidae) Monitoring and Reducing Non-Target Organisms. Journal of Economic Entomology. Journal of Economic Entomology. 112 (3), 2019, 11671174 doi: 10.1093/jee/toz045
        • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Klafke, G. M., Tidwell, J., Sanchez, D.*, Feria Arroyo, T. P., Miller, R. J., and P�rez de Le�n, A. 2019. High-resolution melt (HRM) analysis for detection of SNPs associated with pyrethroid resistance in the southern cattle fever tick, Rhipicephalus microplus. Parasitology: Drugs and Drugs Resistance. 9:100-111 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpddr.2019.03.001
        • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Roukaya F. Mabizari, Amer Alhaboubi, Robert Miller, Maria Esteve-Gasent. The Prevalence of Anaplasma spp. Infection in Blood Samples of Puerto Rican Cattle. Poster Presentation at Annual Biomedical Research Conference- Indiana, Indianapolis November 15-18, 2018. Award 10 percentile best poster presentation. Oral Presentation at Student Research Week- College Station, Texas March 19, 2019. 2nd place award best oral presentation.
        • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Gisel Garza, Genoveva Carriles, Richard Casares, Abelardo Rodriguez, Gabriela Sanchez, Mamoudou Setamou, Jon Dale, and Teresa P. Feria Arroyo. Comparing Mesh Traps against Standard Traps to Avoid the Capture of Tamarixia radiata, a biological control organism of the Asian Citrus Psyllid a Vector for Citrus Greening Disease. College of Science Annual Conference held in Edinburg, TX, March 2019.
        • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Gisel Garza, Genoveva Carriles, Richard Casares, Abelardo Rodriguez, Gabriela Sanchez, Mamoudou Setamou, Jon Dale, and Teresa P. Feria Arroyo. Comparing Mesh Traps against Standard Traps to Avoid the Capture of Tamarixia radiata, a biological control organism of the Asian Citrus Psyllid a Vector for Citrus Greening Disease. Texas Academy of Science Meeting, held in Brownwood, TX, March 2019.
        • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Gisel Garza, Genoveva Carriles, Richard Casares, Abelardo Rodriguez, Gabriela Sanchez, Mamoudou Setamou, Jon Dale, and Teresa P. Feria Arroyo. Comparing Mesh Traps against Standard Traps at Assessing the Asian Citrus Psyllid, a Vector for Citrus Greening Disease. Subtropical Agriculture & Environments Society 73rd Annual Meeting, held in Weslaco, TX (2019). 3rd place award in the Undergraduate Student Poster Competition.
        • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Brianna C. Gaytan, Teresa Feria Arroyo, James M. Hearn, Robert R. Salda�a and Mamoudou Setamou. Effects of Foliar Fertilization of Citrus with Calcium and Silicon on the Bio-ecology of the Asian Citrus Psyllid, Diaphorina citri. Subtropical Agriculture & Environments Society 73rd Annual Meeting, held in Weslaco, TX (2019). 2nd place award in the Undergraduate Student Poster Competition.
        • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Roukaya F. Mabizari, Amer Alhaboubi, Robert Miller, Maria Esteve-Gasent. The Prevalence of Anaplasma spp. Infection in Blood Samples of Puerto Rican Cattle. Poster Presentation at Annual Biomedical Research Conference- Indiana, Indianapolis November 15-18, 2018. Award 10 percentile best poster presentation. Oral Presentation at Undergraduate Research Symposium- College Station, Texas February 27, 2019
        • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Adriana Pena, Alejandro Conde, Jason Tidwell3, Guilherme Klafke, Teresa Patricia Feria-Arroyo. Integrated Control of Cattle Fever Ticks on Cattle Outside of the Quarantine Zone. Subtropical Agriculture & Environments Society 73rd Annual Meeting, held in Weslaco, TX (2019).
        • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Roukaya F. Mabizari, Amer Alhaboubi, Robert Miller, Maria Esteve-Gasent. The Prevalence of Anaplasma spp. Infection in Blood Samples of Puerto Rican Cattle. Poster Presentation at Annual Biomedical Research Conference- Indiana, Indianapolis November 15-18, 2018. Award 10 percentile best poster presentation
        • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Alaa Alhaj, John A. Goolsby, Teresa P. Feria. Field testing of the remotely operated sprayer for cattle fever ticks on nilgai. Subtropical Agriculture & Environments Society 73rd Annual Meeting, held in Weslaco, TX (2019).
        • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Genoveva Carriles, Gisel Garza, Abelardo Rodriguez, Jon Dale, Teresa P. Feria. Asian Citrus Psyllid vs. Natural Predators. Subtropical Agriculture & Environments Society 73rd Annual Meeting, held in Weslaco, TX (2019).
        • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Myrine Barreiro-Arevalo, Loles Esteve-Gasent, Tamer Oraby, Teresa Feria-Arroyo. Accepted. Ticks in Texas. Engaged Scholar Symposium (ES 2), University of Texas Rio-Grande Valley. Poster presentation. April 2018.
        • Type: Theses/Dissertations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Roukaya F. Mabizari (Biomedical Science program, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University) Prevalence of Anaplasma spp. infection in Puerto Rican cattle, approved April 2019. Received Undergraduate Scholar Medal on May 8th 2019. Mentor: Maria D. Esteve-Gasent.


        Progress 03/15/17 to 03/14/18

        Outputs
        Target Audience:This includes underrepresented graduate students from the main sponsored university (UTRGV) and non-UTRGV (e.g., two-year colleges, Texas A&M College Station). Changes/Problems:Programmatic Change: Approved change of Program Evaluator from Dr. Xiaohui Wang to Dr. Tamer Oraby. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Opportunities for training and professional development can be divided in different categories: Mentor guidance. Students worked closely with mentors on a daily basis. Students have developed their oral, written, and analytical skills according to the topic (CFT, HLB) and the goals of the study. In addition, the students have participated in weekly scientific discussions with laboratory team members with the objective of developing critical thinking skills. Students that worked with mentors in the citrus industry, in addition to the above-mentioned skills, were also trained to address the daily needs of the industry (e.g., producing biological control predators). At Texas A&M University, the undergraduate students worked together with PhD students in the Veterinary Pathobiology Graduate Program, and are encouraged to participate in Seminars from invited scientist to campus. At the USDA-ARS Cattle Fever Tick Research Laboratory, students conducted collaborative research with world experts on cattle fever tick eradication efforts and acaricide resistance. At UTRGV, students developed models of potential effects of climate change on the distribution of Cattle Fever Tick and the Aphid Psyllid Citrus. Students interacted with faculty at the biology department and the school of mathematics. Senior students as mentors. Not all the students enrolled in the program started on the same day or month. Thus, senior students served as mentors for new students in our program. This has created a strong network of interaction among our students. For example, senior students provide tips for oral and poster presentations or lab and field experiments. Social networking. Social event, the kick-off meeting, Christmas parties (potluck), and end of the year program (students received their certificate of completion of this program this day), were organized. During the social networking, students and potential mentors had the opportunity to interact with each other. Administrators were present to answer any logistical questions that students and mentors might have for them. Students in our program also brought guest students that were interested in our program, so they could learn more about it during these social friendly events. Cohort monthly meetings. Both, the director and co-director of this program met with the students on a monthly basis in order to provide guidance in the preparation of power point presentations for oral talks and poster presentations. In addition, students presented their research findings to general audiences at UTRGV as part of our monthly meetings. Interactive online meetings. Since our co-director and some of our students are developing their research in Texas A&M College Station, we used tools on the internet such as Zoom (www.zoom.us/) or Skype to connect with them. In addition, in the summer, when students visit the Lower Rio Grande Valley, we do the same to connect with our co-director. The College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at Texas A&M University has provided with the logistics in terms of Zoom accounts and availability for our students to stay connected through their training. Guest speakers. Guest speakers have been invited to provide "tips" for successful poster presentations. The speakers were a former UTRGV student who is currently conducting his PhD studies at the University of San Francisco, the graduate past coordinator of the Biology Department at UTRGV, and two alumni of our program. Community engagement. Most of our students have attended community engagement activities. For example, students have presented their main research goals and findings to larger community at events such as the HESTEC (Hispanic, Engineering, Science and Technology week) at UTRGV, and Darwin day at Texas A&M University. Community engagement is a great opportunity for our students to show the importance of their research to members of our community, and at the same time to receive feedback from them. Scientific meetings. Students attended scientific, local, regional, and national meetings. Nine students presented their research findings at the annual Subtropical Plant and Agricultural Society meeting at the Texas A&M-Kingsville Citrus Center in Weslaco, Texas in the spring of both 2017 and 2018. Three students presented their research findings at the Esymposium at UTRGV in fall 2018, and one student presented her research findings at the 2017 Entomological Society of America Southwestern Branch meeting. Two students will present their research findings at the Esymposium, UTRGV in April 2018 One student is planning to submit their abstracts to the national SACNAS (Advancing Chicanos/Hispanos and Native Americans in science conference later coming fall 2018). Scientific writing and publication of research findings. Students in the program received training in scientific writing, focusing in abstracts for scientific presentations. One student is finishing a manuscript that will be submitted to the Journal of Medical Entomology in spring of 2018. Current students enrolled in the program at Texas A&M University are preparing applications to participate in the Texas A&M University Undergraduate Research Scholars to graduate with a Thesis, using the results from the research they developed under this project. Job opportunities. Students attended a USDA Jobs Presentation by Ruby De La Garza, USDA Regional director Regional Director- Texas U.S., Department of Agriculture, and Hispanic-Serving Institutions National Program. In addition, two students have received and accepted job offers. One, Gabriela Sanchez, an alumnus, is working at the Texas Citrus and Pest Management Corporation in Mission Texas, and the second is working as part time researcher at the Citrus Center, in Weslaco, Texas. Knowledge of different research training and internship opportunities. Students are aware of additional research training and internships opportunities. One of our students was accepted into the STEP 2 program and was able to expand her research experiments. As a result, she is now in the final steps of a manuscript that will be submitted to the Journal of Medical Entomology. Another student submitted an application to join the Science in Action USDA ARS program and we are waiting to hear the results of this competition. Alumni. Students that finished the program are still included in the emails to keep them informed. Mentors and Director of this program update information about students that completed the program to follow up as much as possible in their career paths. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Results have been disseminated on the webpage and the Facebook page created for this program. Students have participated in outreach activities such as the HESTEC at UTRGV. Participation at Community Day HESTEC-UTRGV, October, 2016 and October 2017. Students spoke with community members about HLB and CFT issues, both in English and Spanish. Activities were incorporated into visual representations of the effects that Asian Citrus Psyllids (ACP) are having upon citrus produce and tree health. The community was exposed to the importance of the biocontrol wasp which targets the ACP, Tamarixia radiata. Participants who attended were also directed to guidelines they should follow to detect early symptoms of ACP presence within their ornamental citrus trees, CFT life cycle, how they affect the cattle, and ongoing research (e.g., resistance of acaricides). Two students participated at the Annual Winter Texans Event, Texas A&M University-Kingsville-Citrus Center, February 10, 2017 explaining HLB problems and preventative measures in English. Students have also presented their research findings at different scientific meetings. Their Research abstracts have been published at different webpages: Subtropical plant and Agriculture Society, 2017: http://www.subplantsci.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/71-2017-Porceedings-Poster-abstacts.pdf Subtropical plant and Agriculture Society, 2017. Abstracts not published yet. Entomological Society of America Southwestern Branch Esymposium, UTRGV What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We will continue with the same dynamic, but will include additional activities such as: We will organize a networking meeting to get together all participants in the program (students and mentors) and discuss their experiences. We will invite potential trainees to attend the meeting to learn more about opportunities in the field of agricultural sciences. Invite alumni to provide motivational talks to present and potential students for the program.

        Impacts
        What was accomplished under these goals? The three main objectives of this research-training program have been achieved during the two years of our program. We have recruited 23 students. Eleven of these students attend UTRGV and twelve are non-UTRGV (4 from Texas A&M University- College Station, 2 from South Texas College (STC), 3 from Texas State Technical College, and 2 from the Mathematics and Science Academy (MSA)). Seventy percent of the students are Hispanic. After recruitment, students were assigned to a mentor according to their main research interest. Twelve students chose to work on CFT and eleven on HLB. Students and mentors designed a research project based on the scientific method (observation, question, hypothesis, method, results, analysis of results, and dissemination of the results). Students developed fieldwork, analyzed in the laboratory, and/or developed computer simulations based on the main question of their research project.

        Publications

        • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2018 Citation: Yovanna L. Soto. Impact of Selected Amino Acids and Nutrients on HLB Mitigation and Citrus Tree Health. Poster presentation. 72nd Annual Meeting, Subtropical Agriculture and Environments Society. February 9th, 2018.
        • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2018 Citation: Ariel Delgado, Jason Tidwell, Guilherme M. Klafke, Robert Miller, and Adalberto P�rez de Le�n. Detection of mutations in the sodium channel of Rhipicephalus microplus using High Resolution Melting Analysis. Poster presentation. 72nd Annual Meeting, Subtropical Agriculture and Environments Society. February 9th, 2018.
        • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2018 Citation: Jose Guerra, Ariel Delagado, Jason Tidwell, Guilherme M. Klafke, Donald Thomas, and Adalberto P�rez de Le�n. Comparing DNA Extraction Methods to Extract Quality Rhipicephalus microplus DNA. Poster presentation. 72nd Annual Meeting, Subtropical Agriculture and Environments Society. February 9th, 2018.
        • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2018 Citation: Myrine Barreiro-Arevalo, Loles Esteve-Gasent, Tamer Oraby, Teresa Feria-Arroyo. Accepted. Ticks in Texas. Engaged Scholar Symposium (ES 2), University of Texas Rio-Grande Valley. Poster presentation. April 2018.
        • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2018 Citation: Samanta Gomez, Mamoudou Setamou, and Teresa Feria. Interaction Between Copper and Biochar on the Severity of HLB or Citrus Greening Disease in Citrus Groves. Poster presentation. 72th Annual Meeting, Subtropical Agriculture and Environments Society. February 9th, 2018.


        Progress 03/15/16 to 03/14/17

        Outputs
        Target Audience:From the total target audience, 50% are undergraduate students from the main sponsored university (UTRGV) and 50% are from non-UTRGV institutions(e.g., two year colleges). Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Opportunities for training and professional development can be divided eight categories: Mentor guidance. Students work closely with mentors on a daily basis. Students are developing their oral, written, and analytical skills according to the topic (CFT, HLB) and the goals of the study. In addition, the students have participated in weekly scientific discussions with laboratory team members with the objective of developing critical thinking skills. Students working with mentors in the citrus industry, in addition to the above mentioned skills, are also being trained to address the daily needs of the industry (e.g., producing biological control predators). At Texas A&M University, the undergraduate students worked together with PhD students in the Veterinary Pathobiology Graduate Program. At the USDA-ARS Cattle Fever Tick Research Laboratory students conducted collaborative research with world experts on cattle fever tick eradication efforts and acaricide resistance. At UTRGV, students developed models of potential effects of climate change on the distribution of Cattle Fever Tick and the Aphid Psyllid Citrus. Students interacted with faculty at biology department and school of mathematics. Social networking. A social event, the kick-off meeting, was held at which students and potential mentors had the opportunity to interact with each other. Administrators were also present to answer any logistical questions that students and mentors might have for them. A second social meeting is scheduled in May to congratulate the graduates on finishing their year-long program. Cohort monthly meetings. The director of this program has met with the students on a monthly basis in order to provide guidance in the preparation of power point presentations for oral talks and poster presentations. In addition, students presented their research findings to general audiences at UTRGV as part of our monthly meetings. Guest speakers. Two guest speakers were invited to talk to the students about "tips" for successful poster presentations. The speakers were: a former UTRGV student who is currently conducting his PhD studies at the University of San Francisco and the graduate coordinator of the Biology Department at UTRGV. Community outreach. Students have presented their main research goals and findings to the larger community at events such as the HESTEC (Hispanics in Engineering, Science and Technology Week) at UTRGV. Scientific meetings. Students attended scientific, local, regional, and national meetings. For example, five students presented their research findings at the annual Subtropical Plant and Agricultural Society meeting at the Texas A&M-Kingsville Citrus Center in Weslaco, Texas on February 3, 2017. Additionally, three students are presenting their research findings at the Esymposium at UTRGV, another student presented her research findings at the 2017 Entomological Society of America Southwestern Branch meeting, and two are planning on submitting their abstracts to the national SACNAS (Advancing Chicanos/Hispanos and Native Americans in science conference later coming fall 2017. Students attended a USDA Jobs Presentation by Ruby De La Garza, USDA Regional director Regional Director- Texas U.S., Department of Agriculture, and Hispanic-Serving Institutions National Program. Final meeting- applying to grad school or jobs related to the agricultural field. Students will have a final meeting with guest speakers who will further elaborate on these opportunities. Students have also had multiple opportunities to talk about grad school or agricultural science jobs with their mentors, researchers at scientific meetings and with potential employers at community outreach events. However, we will have a formal meeting in May to address the specifics about this topic. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Results have been disseminated on the webpage and the Facebook page created for this program. Students have participated in outreach activities such as the HESTEC at UTRGV. Six students participating in this program contributed their results at this event. Participation at Community Day HESTEC-UTRGV, October, 2016 explaining HLB issues, both in English and Spanish. Activities were incorporated into visual representations of the effects that Asian Citrus Psyllids (ACP) are having upon citrus produce and tree health. The community was exposed to the importance of the biocontrol wasp which targets the ACP, Tamarixia radiata. Participants who attended were also directed to guidelines they should follow to detect early symptoms of ACP presence within their ornamental citrus treees. Participation at Community Day HESTEC-UTRGV, October, 2016 explaining the Cattle Fever Tick life cycle, how they affect the cattle, and ongoing research, both in English and Spanish. Two students participated at the Annual Winter Texans Event, Texas A&M University-Kingsville-Citrus Center, February 10, 2017 explaining HLB problems and preventative measures in English. Students have also presented their research findings at different scientific meetings. Their Research abstracts have been published at different webpages: Subtropical plant and Agriculture Society: http://www.subplantsci.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/71-2017-Porceedings-Poster-abstacts.pdf Entomological Society of America Southwestern Branch Esymposium UTRGV What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We will continue with the same dynamic, but will include additional activities such as: A visit to the USDA-ARS Knipling-Bushland U.S. Livestock Insects Research Laboratory in Kerrville where students will learn from world expert researchers on science-based knowledge to mitigate the burden of pests affecting livestock, and job opportunities with the USDA. The meeting related to grad school or jobs in agricultural science will be moved to an earlier date then that used for the first year. This is in part due to the previous approval of a Master's in Agricultural Science program at UTRGV. During this second year, we will also have additional funds to provide students that are either presenting their research findings or for publication. Thus, outstanding students from the first cohort will be selected to travel to national meetings and receive funds (partial funds) to publish their main research findings. Texas A&M University (TAMU) student working on CFT will be conducting a 10-week summer internship at the USDA Cattle Fever Tick Research Laboratory (CFTRL) under the coordinated supervision of mentors at both TAMU and CFTRL. These efforts will teach the student collegiality and skills to work in multidisciplinary and multi institutional teams. TAMU students, after 2 semesters conducting research will qualify for the Undergraduate Scholar's Program and will be able to present their research as an Undergraduate Thesis, and as a platform presentation during the Annual Texas A&M Student Research Week. Information about this program will be translated in Spanish at our website with the ultimate goal to keep attracting Hispanic students into our program.

        Impacts
        What was accomplished under these goals? The three main objectives have been achieved by the 10 students who were involved in the first year of this program. We recruited 10 students. Five of these students attend UTRGV and 5 are non-UTRGV (1 from Texas A&M University- College Station, 3 from South Texas College (STC), and 1 from Texas State Technical College (TSTC). Eighty percent of the students are Hispanics. After recruitment, students were assigned to a mentor according to their main research interest. Five students chose to work on CFT and five on HLB. Students and mentors designed a research project based on the scientific method (observation, question, hypothesis, method, results, analysis of results, and dissemination of the results). Students developed fieldwork, analysis in the laboratory, and/or computer simulations based on the main question of their research project.

        Publications