Progress 01/15/17 to 01/14/21
Outputs
Target Audience:To encourage students to pursue careers in STEM/Agricultural STEM providing opportunities for experiences in these career areas is valuable. The area of STEM has consistently had fewer students from underrepresented groups enrolled in programs aimed at educating and providing experiences on these topics. Specifically, Agricultural STEM careers have a low percentage of professionals who self-identify in an underrepresented group. The Applied Plant Systems (APS) program was created to provide undergraduate students the chance to work directly with professionals in Agricultural STEM, specifically in plant systems. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Diversity and Inclusion Title IX Research Ethics Graduate Student Panel Financial Literacy Symposium/Poster Workshop GRE 1 and GRE 2 Faculty Panel Presenting Yourself Professionally Graduate School/Personal Statement Workshop 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?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Thegoal of this projectis to implement and evaluate an internship/professional development program for undergraduate agriculture and natural resource students that is designed to achieve specific improvements in students' abilities to translate the knowledge and skills learned in the program to address real-world agricultural and natural resources challenges. Theeducation objectiveof this project is to achieve improvements in the following skill sets among participating students: Growth in teamwork, decision making, and efficacy in the process of science skills from reported baselines declared at the start of program. Ability to demonstrate how the research or application of knowledge connects to agricultural and natural resources challenges. Ability to demonstrate how the decision making process evolved through the learning experience. Storytelling skills for sharing the science learned through videos and lesson plans. Ability to report on the tools and strategies used to achieve specific stated program goals (i.e., metacognition). Selection process by project directors considered diversity, match to mentors and applicant information on their choice of project from a list of 10 plus projects. The total applicant pool each year was 100 to fill eight to nine internship spots. The applicant demographics are described below: Total applicants who selected the APS program as their first choice along with self-identified gender and race/ethnicity: 2017: 38 applicants, 9 male, 29 female, 55% URMG 2018: 37 applicants, 9 male, 27 female, 49% URMG 2019: 39 applicants, 14 male, 25 female, 54% URMG Recruited students came from the following institutions:Virginia Tech, State University of NY-Genesco, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, University of Puerto Rico, West Liberty University, Florida A&M University., Pierce College, California State University-Fullerton, Harvard University, Purdue University, University of Central Florida, Taylor University, University of Scranton, Houghton College, Villanova University, St. Mary' College, College of St Benedict, Wheaton College, Washburn University. Accomplishments: The internship experience was designed around three major components . The first component was the internship based on the student selection and the match with their corresponding mentor. The various research topics included (1) soil science and microbiology, (2) rangeland, grassland, and fire ecology, (3) plant breeding, (4) crop management, (5) entomology, and (6) on-farm research. Given the focus on student experiential learning, mentors were asked to aid students in designing experiment hypotheses and conducting research related to that hypothesis. Given the focus on enhancing student decision making, students were asked to communicate how they viewed their individual research and research related decision making during weekly think tank sessions(TTS). The second component ofthetraining was weekly think tank sessions designed by co-PIsand the graduate student coordinatorto prepare students with work-force skills. TTS were designed around team building and decision making, science communication and science literacy, systems thinking, and entrepreneurship. Two additional TTS were field trips designed to exposeinterns toNebraskaagricultureand a combination of United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), academic, and extension research. These two TTS were designed to exposeinterns to the various institutions that conduct and communicate agricultural research, and to highlight the importance of interagency collaboration. The TTSalso includedposter design mentorship and a symposium where they presented their summer research to the UNL community. Think Tank Sessions were adjusted after the first year based on observation and APS intern needs. The 2018 and 2019 TTS increased emphasis on the science communication and science literacy project work. Interns continued to engage in the same work-force skills, but discussionon the science literacy project began earlier in the summer. Additionally, short "lightning round" talks (3-5 minutes) occurred during the TTS where an intern shared about the research they were involved in with their mentor. The "lightning round" talks targetedscience communication skill development since each student was involved in different areas of plant research.The"lightning round" talksalso replaced the journalingreflectionactivityinwhich studentsdid not fully engagein 2017. The last component of our training model consisted ofthe students developing ascienceliteracy and communicationdeliverable. The goal of this final deliverable was forinterns to synthesize and summarize their summer research experience to communicate their science to a target audience.Final products included written extension publications, infographics, recorded presentations and videos. Theco-Pi team implemented anevaluationwhichwas designed to include apre and post assessment. Interns responded to these two surveys online during the first and last Think Tank Sessions, so participation was 100%. A follow-up survey was added in February 2020 to do a more specific job of assessing interns' progress on content objectives. Given the time lag, many students were no longer available at the e-mail addresses we had, but the eight who responded gave invaluable feedback, including an update on what they were doing.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Speth, C, M. Mamo, D. Lee, L. Sandall, S. Ramirez. 2018. Expectations and Experience Of Mentoring In An Undergraduate Summer Research Internship. NACTA Meeting, Ames, IA.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Mamo, M. Invited Panel Presentation. The USDA-REEU Applied Plant Systems Program. UNL Research Fair on Summer Experience, Lincoln,NE
- Type:
Websites
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Mamo, M. Applied Plant Systems USDA-NIFA REEU.
https://agronomy.unl.edu/applied-plant-systems
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Mamo, M. Applied Plant Systems Experiential Learning Program. The Association of Public and Land-grant Universities Agricultural Research Congressional Exhibition, Washington DC
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Speth, Sandall, Lee, Mamo, Ramirez. 2021. STEM Research Experiences and Mentoring in Agriculture and Science Communication Journal to be determined
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Progress 01/15/19 to 01/14/20
Outputs
Target Audience: Undergraduate students Other faculty UNL Office of Graduate Studies Changes/Problems:A no-cost extension was requested and approved. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Diversity and Inclusion Title IX Research Ethics Financial Literacy Symposium/Poster Workshop GRE workshop Presenting Yourself Professionally Graduate School/Personal Statement Workshop 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?A no-cost extension was requested and approved. The following will be accomplished before final report submission in 2021 Combine and complete 3-years formative evaluation including qualitative analyses of systems thinking case study completed before and after program (systems thinking, team work, and decision making) Evaluate the impact of the program on participants one plus year after completing the APS REEU program as summative evaluation of program Disseminate findings through peer review publications
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
RECRUITMENT AND EXPERIENCES Student selection process by project directors (Keshwani, Lee, Sandall, Ibach, and Schacht) considered diversity, match to mentors and applicant information on their choice of project from a list of 10 plus projects. Recruited students were from the following institutions: University of Puerto Rico, Houghton College, Villanova University, St. Mary' College, College of St Benedict, Wheaton College, Washburn University. The nine interns obtained two kinds of experiences with the program. They were matched up with a research mentor and four days a week they were part of that research team. On Fridays, the PIs met with all the interns to work on thinking about how their research teams accomplishments fit into the big picture of our food and natural resource system. Friday sessions also included tours to showcase research/service in academia and industry. The Think Tank sessions focused on team building, systems thinking, and science literacy. REEU RESEARCH ACTIVITIES Determining the Amount of ARBs in the Soil throughout the Growing Season after the Application of Bio-Amendments Selecting Solid Wheat Stem Lines for Wheat Saw Fly Resistance Temporal duration of antibiotic resistant genes on manure amended soils Long-term Crop Rotation and Nitrogen Rate Effects on Soil Organic Carbon Interactive effects of tarping and bioamendments for nutrient and weed management Establishment and Richness of Wildflower Islands on Roadsides Magnetic Effect on Herbicide Treatment for Palmer Amaranth Disk tillage results in a greater carbon footprint than no tillage in a corn-soybean rotation system FIELD TRIPS UNL's Eastern Nebraska Research and Extension Center (ENREC) in Ithaca, Nebraska. The purpose of this tour was to expose mentees to field research conducted by extension, academic and government agencies Syngenta hybrid corn breeding station located in Goehner, Nebraska. The purpose of this tour was to meet with professionals in the Crop Production Systems products and services industry, learn about the work they do and put student in position to understand the relationships between the decision making in their jobs and the development of new products and management systems for Nebraska Farmers COMMUNICATIONS Mentees were required to pick one concept from their research project (WHY AND SO WHAT) and to explain it to APS leadership . This exercise helped mentees focus on using language and descriptions that were easily understandable for an audience that did not have a scientific background. Each developed a science literacy product to communicate the value of their research to a target audience. Presenting research at the APS and UNL wide Poster symposiums. Nicole Spanier and Chiara Smorada placed 1st and 3rd place across all UNL REEU poster competition (200 students)
Publications
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Progress 01/15/18 to 01/14/19
Outputs
Target Audience: Undergraduate students Other faculty Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Each student participated in the following professional development workshops. Diversity and Inclusion Title IX Research Ethics Graduate Student Panel Financial Literacy Symposium/Poster Workshop GRE 1 and GRE 2 Presenting Yourself Professionally Graduate School/Personal Statement Workshop 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? Update website and application information Recruit 9 students for the 2019 Summer APS program Recruit 2019 summer graduate student coordinator Summarize and publish 3-year evaluation results
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The goal of this project is to implement and evaluate an internship/professional development program for undergraduate agriculture and natural resource students that is designed to achieve specific improvements in students' abilities to translate the knowledge and skills learned in the program to address real-world agricultural and natural resources challenges. Student selection process by project directors (Mamo, Lee, Sandall, Lamb, and Schacht) considered diversity, match to mentors and applicant information on their choice of project from a list of 10 plus projects. The total applicant was 90 to fill the eight positions. The applicant demographics are described below: Female: 55; Male: 35; Under-represented Minority:44; White: 46. Recruited students were from the following institutions: Florida A&M, West Liberty University; Purdue University; University of Central Florida; Taylor University; Pierce College; California State University; University of Scranton The eight interns obtained two kinds of experiences with the program. They were matched up with a research mentor and four days a week they were part of that research team. On Fridays, the PIs met with all the interns to work on thinking about how their research teams accomplishments fit into the big picture of our food and natural resource system. Friday sessions also included tours to showcase research/service in academia and industry. The Think Tank sessions focused on team building, systems thinking, and science literacy. Objective 1: Growth in teamwork, decision making, and efficacy in the process of science skills from reported baselines declared at the start of program. Research Experiences Students completed the following research projects with their mentors Impact of manure & nitrogen on the amount of antibiotic resistance genes in soil Juniper recovery following initial restoration with extreme fire How does size of roadside wildflower Islands affect wildflower establishment? Effects of corn residue and cover crops on soil greenhouse gas emissions Exploring milkweed health in agricultural landscapes Nitrogen source and rate effects on corn yield and economics in the Western Corn Belt A Genetic conundrum: Evaluation of a wheat breeding selection program The impact of drone crop monitoring on the efficiency of research farms Field trips UNL's Eastern Nebraska Research and Extension Center (ENREC) in Ithaca, Nebraska. The purpose of this tour was to expose mentees to field research conducted by extension, academic and government agencies Syngenta hybrid corn breeding station located in Goehner, Nebraska. The purpose of this tour was to meet with professionals in the Crop Production Systems products and services industry, learn about the work they do and put student in position to understand the relationships between the decision making in their jobs and the development of new products and management systems for Nebraska Farmers This tour focused on plant breeding with wheat and soybeans. Mentees visited Bayer Cropscience to explorethe facilities and meet with multiple professionals working within that system. Mentees were able to visit professionals in the quality lab, the plant pathology lab, the greenhouse, the shop, and the processing labs. Team work and communications Mentees were required to pick one concept from their research project and to explain it to APS leadership like they were teaching it to a 15 year old student. This exercise helped mentees focus on using language and descriptions that were easily understandable for an audience that did not have a scientific background. Mentees had to work together and leverage the strengths of individuals to complete the activity. Objective 2: Ability to demonstrate how the research or application of knowledge connects to agricultural and natural resources challenges. Finding connections and leadership Mentees answered the question "what impact will your project have on the world" during their lightning presentations. This was a challenging question that required mentees to think of ways their research would work within a bigger system and critically evaluate the impact research would have on current and future generations. Objective 3: Ability to demonstrate how the decision making process evolved through the learning experience. This session was spent on decision making strategies. Dr. Dauer discussed the importance of decision making as a skill and introduced her decision-making tool. The tool is based on normative models in the decision-sciences and can be used widely in different complex situations. Objective 4: Storytelling skills for sharing the science learned through videos and lesson plans. APS leadership facilitated poster making by scheduling time during weekly Friday meeting to evaluate and provide feedback on posters. Poster presentations were held on August 3 and August 6 PIs led lessons on science literacy and reviewed project drafts to provide feedback and brainstorm ideas. Objective 5: Ability to report on the tools and strategies used to achieve specific stated program goals (i.e., metacognition). The evaluation included data related to participants' knowledge and skills prior to the internship, such as prior research experience, confidence in their science research skills, and expectations of knowledge/skills gained from participating in the program. Mentees reported growing confident in the following areas: designing experiment, managing data, considering alternative hypothesis, communicating scientific ideas, interpreting results, and analyzing data.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Speth, C, M. Mamo, D. Lee, L. Sandall, S. Ramirez. 2018. Expectations and Experience Of Mentoring In An Undergraduate Summer Research Internship. NACTA Meeting, Ames, IA.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Mamo, M. Invited Panel Presentation. The USDA-REEU Applied Plant Systems Program. UNL Research Fair on Summer
Experience, Lincoln,NE
- Type:
Websites
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Mamo, M. Applied Plant Systems USDA-NIFA REEU.
https://agronomy.unl.edu/applied-plant-systems
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Mamo, M. Applied Plant Systems Experiential Learning Program. The Association of Public and Land-grant Universities
Agricultural Research Congressional Exhibition, Washington DC
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Progress 01/15/17 to 01/14/18
Outputs
Target Audience:Undergraduate students Other faculty Changes/Problems:Due to cost increase in room, student number was changed from 8 to 7. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The Think Tank Sessions served as professional development or trainings as described in the accomplishment section. In addition, interns participated in weekly workshops/seminars organized by the Office of Graduate Studies as described below. Research Ethics Developing a research poster Preparing for GRE Diversity & Civility: Why It Matters Applying for Grad School Presenting Yourself Professionally How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Lunch and Learn brown bag presentation to other UNL REUs programs interested in our Think Tank Approach and Success https://news.unl.edu/newsrooms/today/article/project-aims-to-develop-agriculture-natural-resource-professionals/ Participant Interviews- Pure Nebraska at 10/11 NOW What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Recruit and train 6-7 students for the 2018 Summer APS program Complete project website Recruit 2018 summer graduate student coordinator Present 2017 results at NACTA meeting in summer 2018 Present progress at NIFA PD meeting in April 2018
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Six students were recruited and trained during the 8 weeks summer program. The six interns obtained two kinds of experiences with the program. They were matched up with a research mentor and four days a week they were part of that research team. On Fridays, the PIs met with all the interns to work on thinking about how their research teams accomplishments fit into the big picture of our food and natural resource system (Think Tank session). The interns had two deliverables- experience in professional communication with a poster presentation on Aug 4 and 9 and story telling with a science literacy product that is geared to educate the general public about their work Details on the Think Tank Sessions (TTS) June 9- TTS #1 was a program introduction which APS mentees and mentors attended. During this orientation, APS leadership, mentors, and mentees introduced themselves, and APS leadership discussed the goals of the program. June 16-The focus of TTS 2 was team building and decision making. Dr. Gina Matkin lead the team building portion of TTS 2. Dr. Matkin's research at UNL aims to develop globally and environmentally responsible leaders. Dr. Jenny Dauer lead the decision-making activity during TTS 2. Dr. Dauer discussed the importance of decision making as a skill and introduced her decision-making tool. The tool is based on normative models in the decision-sciences and can be used widely in different complex situations. June 23-The focus of TTS 3 was science literacy project planning. Leah Sandall (http://agronomy.unl.edu/sandall), assistant professor of practice and coordinator for online learning in the Department of Agronomy and Horticulture, led the discussion on developing science literacy resources. Sandall's session helped to lay the foundation for the students to begin thinking about and planning their science literacy projects. June 30-The purpose of this tour was to meet with professionals in the Crop Production Systems products and services industry, learn about the work they do and put us in position to understand the relationships between the decision making in their jobs and the development of new products and management systems for Nebraska Farmers. We accomplished this by meeting with four professionals who all worked for the same company but had different professional roles in the product and services development process. July 7-The focus of TTS 5 was system thinking. Rather than seek a qualified faculty member to speak about systems thinking, the leadership decided to instead design a systems thinking experience by inviting multiple speakers with different perspectives surrounding water usage in the state of Nebraska. The four speakers were Dr. Don Lee, Dr. Nick Brozovic, Steve Tippery, and Brant Burkey. Dr. Lee (http://agronomy.unl.edu/lee) shared an academic perspective of water usage in the state of Nebraska by discussing plant water relations. Dr. Brozovic discussed driving factors for water policy in the US and in the High Plains region, as well talking about the important role of governance in water management. Following Dr. Brozovic were Steve Tippery and Brant Burkey of IntelliFarm, Inc. IntelliFarm is a startup AgTech company which aims to solve the biggest technical challenges in agriculture. Tippery, President and CEO of IntelliFarm, share the array of technology they have developed, providing a technical and economic perspective of water management in Nebraska. Burkey, Director of Product at IntelliFarm, was a producer in Nebraska, and shared his experiences as a farmer. July 14-The second trip was a tour of UNL's Eastern Nebraska Research and Extension Center (ENREC) in Ithaca, Nebraska. The purpose of this tour was to expose mentees to field research conducted by extension, academic and government agencies. During this tour, APS mentees interacted with Dr. Justin McMechan, APS graduate student coordinator Salvador Ramirez II, Dr. Virginia Jin. July 21- The focus of TTS 7 was entrepreneurship. Dave Lambe (http://agronomy.unl.edu/faculty) associate professor of practice in the Department of Agronomy and Horticulture and Chief Learning Officer with the Engler Agribusiness Entrepreneurship Program led the discussion about the future of agriculture and food waste and food distribution challenges during the TTS on July 21st. The video Lambe shared revealed future farming practices and ways technology is playing a part in agriculture from self-driving tractors, to tower farms located inside unused factory buildings in urban settings. This video set the stage for an idea storm group activity around how to reduce food waste in our country and also ways to distribute food more efficiently with the food that is produced. His reasoning for this activity was to have students use systems thinking in broad context about production agriculture from the perspective of not just efficient food production but efficient food use and distribution. July 28- The focus of TTS 8 was their research posters. APS mentees were asked to bring their posters in an electronic format to be projected. Each mentee presented their poster, and both APS leadership and mentees provided valuable feedback. Details on the end of program day symposium Welcome and introductory remark APS program directors (Mamo & Ramirez) Remarks: Timm Carr, Associate Vice Chancellor and Dean of Graduate Studies- "The value of undergraduate research experience" and Archie Clutter-Dean ARD-"21st century undergraduates tackling societal challenges" Coffee break and time to set up Poster sessions (Keim 2nd floor lounge) Panel Discussion (facilitator - Dr. Gina Matkin) Lunch speaker - Roch Gaussoin - "Science and Public Perception" Student highlight of Science Literacy Work (facilitator - Dr. Jenny Keshwani) Evaluation (Dr. Speth and Salvador Ramirez) Symposium Concludes Student Posters; Student Science Literacy Products; Program Website Twitter @UNL_APS Program Evaluation This evaluation used survey methods and a pre- post- design to assess students' confidence in their research-related skills and their plans regarding post-graduate study. Also, the long form of the Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students (ASSIST) was administered on the first and last days to document short term changes in their Approaches. Third, we used a survey developed by Retallick, M.S. and Pate, M.L. (2009), about Mentoring pre and post for the student participants and one time only for the Mentors. Reflection and Mentor Feedbacks Mentors were contacted with specific questions to ascertain mentor-mentee communication, professional relationship and the role of the program and the APS leadership in their mentorship experience. After holding a reflection meeting with leadership and mentors, it was agreed upon that areas of strength concerning the 2017 program was: 1) streamlined application process, 2) strong pool of 100+ applicants, 3) relevant and appropriate think tank sessions, and 4) room facilities and peer-to-peer interactions. Contrastingly, areas of improvement are: 1) create a centralized source of events and planning for mentors, and 2) elevate the mentor-mentee interaction as part of the mentor's commitment. To address these areas of improvement, a calendar will be created which will include the weekly theme of the think tank sessions, the professional development workshops organized by the Office of Graduate studies at UNL, and deadlines for poster presentations. Additionally, to enhance mentor-mentee interactions, it was proposed that there be regular mentor-mentee regular meetings, provide an experience that will allow mentees to develop a research story, and require mentors to participle in one to two think tank sessions and the half-day end of program symposium. Program Website https://agronomy.unl.edu/applied-plant-systems
Publications
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