Progress 12/15/18 to 12/14/23
Outputs
Target Audience:The targeted audience was students at Prairie View A&M University who majored in Agriculture, the Sciences and Engineering fields. The students were selected based on their interestin engaging in research based hypothesis driven scientific engagements focused on discovering ways to feed the world. Theprojects selected had the goal of providing solutions to feeding the growing world population as a result of the population growth to nearly 10 billion people by 2050. Changes/Problems:Major changes/problemsstemmed from COVID related issues. Specifically, there was a reduction in the number of students (from 8 students to 3 students)that could be hired. Additionally, these threestudents were only allowed to work 20 hours/week during summer months. During the next reporting period, students who were currently working were re-hired and only four students were allowed to perform lab based research. These students worked to recruit other students who eventually became re-interested in participating in lab based research. Further during the COVID period, personnel responsible for the study abroad retired and the year following that the personnel leading the scientific method discussionwas promoted to another position outside the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources. Thus, minimum work was completed in leading classroom discussion as PI has recently become a teaching faculty member. After successfully filing and getting approval for an extension, some of the remaining students were provided an opportunity to complete their research projects. After which, the students presented their findings at 1890 ARD meeting held in Nashville, Tennessee, April 2024 . What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Students, who engaged in research activities and who attended local and national conferences, attended professional development sessions. For example, of the 65% students who attended conferences, like Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students, the Texas A&M Systems Pathways Research Symposium and 1890 Association for Research Directors' Conference, professional development sessions were held and students were required to attend the sessions. Other Agriculture majors (8 each trip) were chaperoned at the 1890 Career Development Conferences held in Atlanta Georgia, and MANNRS Regional Cluster Meeting and MANNRS Conference in Atlanta, Georgia (14). Additionally, sessions were held here in the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources where 40 students in the Agriculture, Sciences and Engineering fields learned dining etiquette for interviewing. Other sessions included Elevator Speechesand how to create and deliver scientific research presentations. Additionally, prior to starting their research engagements, student researchers are required to take Laboratory Safety Training, Fire and Life Safety Training and Biosafety Training as mandatory TAMU System trainings. If students are working in agricultural research laboratory, then they are required to take CITItraining to include module readings like Biomedical Responsible Conduct of Research which includes Mentoring, Research Conduct, Data Management, Authorship, Peer Review, and Conflict of Interest How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The results have been disseminated to the communities of interest using a number of outlets. First, students presented their research at local and national conferences. Local research symposiums were held here on campus and throughout the State of Texas and included the Biology Research Symposium, PVAMU Student Research Day Symposium, Biology Research Symposium, Ag Day on the Hill, Student Summer Research Expoand TAMU Systems Research Symposium. The first five events provided us an opportuntyto have discussions with our local community members; while the latter allowed discussions with institutions within the Texas A&M System. Nationally, students shared their findings at the Annual Biomedical Conference for Minority Students,the 1890 Association for Research Directors' Meeting and Tuskegee'sPAWC Research Conference held in Montogomery, Alabama. Recently, one student presented her research findings at ASA-CSSA-SSSA International Annual Meeting in St. Louis, MO. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Objective 1: Training students on the scientific method: For objective 1, Thirty-five students enrolled in the AGHR 1313 class (primarily freshmen) received basic research training about the scientific method and completed a pre- and post-test regarding their knowledge under the supervision of Wash Jones. The results from two exams (pre- and post-test) indicated no significant difference in learning about the scientific method. The perceived primary rationale is that many of the students guessed at the correct answers rather than knowing the answers. At the end of the semester, all of the students were required to develop and present an oral presentation on their knowledge of the scientific method wherein they outlined a simplified research project. For the most part, students seemed to have gained a good understanding on the concepts based on the projects developed. Additionally, two sessions were held to discuss the importance of agriculture in our daily lives through the lens of international communities by traveling abroad to Panama and was hosted by Deland Myers. He recruited five PVAMU students for the travel abroad trip to Mexico but due to the persistence of COVID-19 virus, the trip was cancelled by our university out of an abundance of caution. Additionally, the instructional strategies became virtual, and no hands-on activities or additional subject matter content were provided. Other activities under objective 1 after re-opening of the University activities included taking students to professional development sessions. Agriculture students were supported to attend two trips to 1890 USDA Career Development Conference in Atlanta, Georgia and two trips to MANNRS Conference, MANNRS Conference in Atlanta, Georgia and MANNRS Regional Cluster Meeting in Chicago Illinois. Other activities throughout the lifetime of the grant were related to job interview skills, where 40 Agriculture, Biology, Chemistry and Engineering students, were actively engaged in training for dining etiquette at an interview meal. Finally, Richard Griffin, Agriculture Professor engaged with Quincy Moore, Associate Professor in Biology to study the population of microbes on specific plots on our University Farm. Both professors had their class to do final powerpoint presentations related to the project.Overall, 105 students were engaged in this activity. Objective 2: Engaging students in hypothesis driven scientifc research: For objective 2, students who majored in Agriculture, Biology, Chemistry and Engineering were recruited, and overall 23students were selected to engage in research projects in the following areas, namely, Plant and Soil Sciences, Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, Animal Sciences and Social and Allied Sciences. The project involved 13 Agriculture majors, 5 Science majorsand 4 Engineering majors and 1 English major throughout the lifespan of the project. Seventy-eight percent (78%) of the students graduated, 17% are on track to graduate and one student transferred to our sister 1862 institution.The research engaged students worked on topics related to plant science, microbiology, electrical engineering,chemistry and social science. Seventy-eight percent (78%)of thestudents also participated in a community service project related to the establishment of a student-led community garden and engaged in providing vegetables to our surrounding communities. Forty three percent (43%) of the students planned, promoted and actively participated in a Summer Research Expo where they presented their summer research findings to the campus community, incoming summer Bridge students and surrounding community members; provided workshops for how to garden in pots; discussed the nutritional values of crops grown in the established garden; provided a tour of student garden that was composed of raised beds and a traditional field plotand created taste testing items with the assistance of our Cooperative Extension Program. Additonally, overall 65% ofthestudents presented their research findingsat local or national conferences and symposiums and 4% won awards for presenting their research findings. Of the 23 students, 17% of the students served as co-authors on peer reviewed publications and 50% of the co-authors had multiple publications.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2024
Citation:
Multi-functional Copper Oxide Nanoparticles Synthesized using Lagerstroemia indica Leaf Extracts and their Application, Heliyon, May 2024
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2024
Citation:
Effect of Climate-Smart Practices on Soil CO2 Emissions from Grain Sorghum Cropping Systems
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2024
Citation:
Aerial-Based Crop Water and Nutrient Stress Monitoring System Using Machine Learning
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Evaluation of Strawberry Varieties Grown at Different Planting Dates in Southeast Texas
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2024
Citation:
Evaluating IMERG Precipitation Datasets using GPM Gauge and other Gauge-based
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2024
Citation:
Green Synthesized Nanoparticles for a Wide Spectrum of Applications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2024
Citation:
Developing Novel Polysaccharide-Ascorbic Acid- Ag-ZnO Nanocomposites
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Progress 12/15/21 to 12/14/22
Outputs
Target Audience:Undergraduate and graduate students with an interest in engaging in real world agriculturalissues were targeted. First, students whowere enrolled in the College of Agriculture and Human Sciences, then students who were enrolled in the College of Arts andSciences or the College of Engineering were given an opportunity to engage in research activities. Changes/Problems:Due to COVID related issues, the project was extended until September 2023. We have made changes to allow students to continue performing research to gather data for submission of a manuscript. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?SOme of the students participants traveled to research sympoiums in College Station, Texas and Montogomery Alabama. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The information will be displayed on our college website. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?For the next reporting period, the students will continue engaging in research activities and will seek to submit their research findings for publication.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Since the approval for the extended Project TLC, our efforts were focused on enhancing students' engagements through hands-on research activities. Each student worked with an active research scientist here in the Cooperative Agricultural Research Center and was given a guided research project. Student presented their research findings at two local research symposiums. These enagagements helped two studentsto secure external summer internships.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
2. Geremew A., Carson L., Woldesenbet S. (2022). Biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles using extract of Rumex nepalensis for bactericidal effect against food-borne pathogens and antioxidant activity. Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences, 9:991669.doi: 10.3389/fmolb.2022.991669.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
1. Geremew A., Carson L., Woldesenbet S., Wang H., Reeves S., Brooks N., Saganti P., Weerasooriya A., Peace E. (2023). Effect of zinc oxide nanoparticles synthesized from Carya illinoinensis leaf extract on growth and antioxidant properties of mustard (Brassica juncea). Frontiers in Plant Science, 14: 19.
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Progress 12/15/20 to 12/14/21
Outputs
Target Audience:Undergraduate and graduate students with an interest in engaging in real world issues were targeted. First, students who were enrolled in the College of Agriculture and Human Sciences, then students who were enrolled in the College of Arts and Sciences or the College of Engineering were given an opportunity to engage in research activities. Changes/Problems:The major changes/problems have stemmed from COVID related issues. Specifically,there was a reduction in the number of students that could be hired; andstudents were only allowed to work 20 hours/week during summer months. During the next reporting period, students who are currently working will be re-hired,will help recruit other students and participate in researchpeer mentoring.With the novelty of COVID behind us,we have gathered more strategies for engaging students in lab researchactivities such as involvement ofmore research mentors who may be external to the Cooperative Agriculture Research Program but who have research projects directly related to agriculture research arenas. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Students learned how to create an elevator speech andresume as the hosts of the session provided suggestions for improvements. Through zoom meetings, students were led through instructions for how to conduct themselves during an interview and an interview meal. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The research findingswere presented as poster presentations at local and national conferences. The Student-led garden representative engaged in a Soil Health virtual meeting with one of our CEP extension specialists. The session involved providing information about gardening to individuals in the forty plus counties that we serve. The Student-led garden stemmed partially from the support of Project TLC as a community service project for TLC participants. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?During the next reporting period, the engagements of students in the projects discussed previously will continue. For example, while the general groups of microbes were identified, the students can seek to identify specific microbes. Students can also investigate the nutrient profiles for crops grown and look at how the profiles may change based onfertilizer combinations. With the changes occurring at our Farm, students can also studyhow carbon emissions change with the reduction in the number of animals or increase in the growth of certain crops. Thus, the next reporting period will continue to engage the current students while seeking to engage more students in hypotheses driven research investigations as such as been slowed tremendously due to COVID issues.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Under objective 1, students who majored in Agriculture did not travel abroad this past year due to university COVID restrictions, however, students had hands-on experiences related to Soil Health and planting certain crops at our greenhouses. Under objective 2, four Project TLC students and one former Project TLC (still enrolled but wanted more experience with gardening) engaged in research activities. The students mainly studied how to enhance the physiochemical properties of plants by treatment with combinations of commercially available fertilizers and biodegradable polymers. This study resulted in one publication. Another project identified the microbial population in vegetables grown in the Student-led Community garden. This project resulted in poster presentations in two conferences and the student won at both conferences.The third project was related to carbon emissions on our University farm. The student presented the work at one research conference.The fourth project involved using plant based NPs to treat cancer cells. The study was presented at one conference and the student placed second in the poster presentation competition.Although information was presented in a professional forum and students gained experiences in presenting technical information,there are extensions to each project.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Geremew, A. Y., Carson, L, Woldesenbet, S., Carpenter, C*, Peace, E.*, Weerasooriya, Interactive Effects of Organic Fertilizers and Drought Stress on Growth and Nutrient Content of Brassica juncea at Vegetative Stage (2021), Sustainability, 13(24), 13948, https://doi.org/10.3390/su132413948
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Progress 12/15/19 to 12/14/20
Outputs
Target Audience:The project will provide experiences for PVAMU Agriculture majors, Sciences and then Engineering majors. Changes/Problems:One of the underlying changes was related to the COVID-19 pandemic and the absence from engaging in face to face hands on activities. Other changes have occurred, specifically one team member recently retired. As such, we are seeking to replace him so that the work related to engaging the students in international experiences can occur. Finally, it is hoped that the project can be extended to provide more experiential learning activities for our undergraduate students. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Students who participated in the traditional research activities had sessions related to : 1) Elevator speeches 2) Interviewing skills 3) How to create a scientifc poster and orally present their research findings 4) Participated in virtual Research Symposium sponsored Professional Agricultural Workers ConferenceatTuskegee University and a summer research symposium held locally at PVAMU How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The results have been disseminated through virutal research symposiums only due to the COVID-19 pandemic. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?During the next reporting period, we will continue working on providing international travel experiences for our Agriculture majors. We will also seek to engage students in more undergraduate research activities as it relates to the agricultural field of study. Students will present their scientific findings at local and national conferences when permitted.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Due to the beginning of COVID-19 pandemic, instructional strategies became virtual and key personnel focused mainly on providing course materials with no hands on activities and no additional subject matter content. Six students were hired and gained experiences working in greenhouse setting, field plots and our goat center.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Green Synthesis of Silver Nanoparticles with Antimicrobial Properties Using Phyla dulcis Plant Extract, Foodborne Pathogens and Disease, Vol 17, 8
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Analyzing the Microbial Population on the Fresh Produce Collected from the Community Garden;
A Potential Solution to PVAMU's Food Insecurity Problem;
Application of Nano-size Chitosan-ZnS-folic acid as a Potential Photothermal Agent in Cancer Therapy
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Progress 12/15/18 to 12/14/19
Outputs
Target Audience:The targeted audience was the students enrolled in Agriculture, the Sciences and Engineering at Prairie View A&M University. The progression of the student garden targeted the general student population as well as food insecure individuals in the Prairie View community. Changes/Problems:The interaction of students during the interdisciplinary sessions takes careful planning especially when professors are not teaching during the same time slots. We will work to develop modules that can be used with each course to make concepts more adaptable to students in different courses. Secondly, Gloria Regisford will use her salary funding to go toward traveling to conferences with undergraduate students. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Students were trained in research techniques by their research mentor. Tony Green, Andre Johnson and Jayla LaDay (mentors were Laura Carson, Subhani Bandara and Debra Bradford) worked in synthesizing nanoparticles from vegetables and biodegradable polymers. Tony and Jayla performed microbial studies, while Andre performed cancer cell studies. Welsey Okafor (mentor was Ram Ray) worked on the CO2 emission as a result of the growth of collards greens on the University Farm. Reggie Jackson (mentors were Almoutaz El Hassan and Ripendra Awal) worked on the operation of the Farmbot that used robotics to serve as an irrigation system for produce grown on the Farm. Juleah Hall and Earlena Evans (mentors were Eric Obeng and Peter Ampim) performed studies on the fertilization of Purslane and Amaranth, respectively. Sydney Henderson and Marissa Gray (mentors were Mahta Moussavi and Deland Myers) performed studies on the physiochemical and nutritional properties of muffin made from sweet potato flour. Zulfa Eisa (mentor was Richard Griffin) studied the metal content of water flowing through our University Farm. Seven of the students mentioned above attended the one day workshop at the University of Houston Downtown related to the Community Gardening. Four students (Tony Green, Andre Johnson, Earlena Evans, Zulfa Eisa) participated in the TAMUS Pathways Research Symposium and two (Andre Johnson and Earlena Evans) were winners of poster presentation at this symposium. Tony, Andre and Jayla attended the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students where each presented posters of their research findings. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The results have been disseminated through poster presentation and a workshop. During the summer, student participants planned a community garden expo that included poster presentations for their research findings. Following the local poster presentations, student lead a session where two speakers discusses food security. The students also held workshop sessions related to food tasting, tour of the community garden, nutritional value of produce grown and how to grow plants in containers. Visitors from PVAMU campus and surrounding communities were invited. Students have had four farmers' market using the produce grown in the community garden. In all cases, produce left over from the activity was and will continue to be distributed to our on campus food pantry, called Hilltop Reserve. Seven of the students presented their research at the Biology Research Symposium and the Chemistry Research Symposium. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Plans are to continue working with currently hired students(Tony Green, Andre Johnson, Jayla LaDay, Lataisha Jeffery, Wesley Okafor, Earlena Evans, Centell Jackson, Lenaye Palmer and Marissa Gray) on the community service learning project. Each student will continue to work on their individual research project. During the summer, Lenaye will continue to work and nine more students will be selected to participate in the summer program. Tony, Andre and Centell will graduate tentatively in May 2020. All other participants will seek another internship on campus or away from campus. Summer students will continue with the community garden as a group service learning project with hopes of developing more projects related to scientific discoveries for the undergraduate student researchers. Richard Griffin and Quincy Moore will become more engaged in developing a viable interdisciplinary approach to teaching their classes about soil microbiome.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
For objective 1, thirty-five students enrolled in the AGHR 1313 class (primarily freshmen) received basic research training about the scientific method, and completed a pre and post test regarding their knowledge under the supervision of Wash Jones. Also, two exams in the course tested students' level of mastery of the concepts. The comparison between the pre and post tests did not reveal necessarily a definite difference in that some students did better and some did worse. The perceived primary rationale is that I expect that many of the students guessed at the correct answers rather than knowing the answers. At the end of the semester, all of the students were required to develop and present an oral presentation on their knowledge of the scientific method wherein they outlined a simplified research project. For the most part, students seemed to have gained a good understanding on the concepts based on the projects developed. Additionally, two sessions were held to discuss the importance of studying abroad in Panama and was hosted by Deland Myers. He has recruited five PVAMU students to travel abroad in May 2020. Richard Griffin, Agriculture Professor engaged with Quincy Moore , Associate Professor in Biology to study the population of microbes on specific plots on our University Farm. Both professors had their class to do final powerpoint presentations related to the project. For objective 2, eleven students were engaged in research activities during the summer 2019. Two, Andre Johnson and Reggie Jackson, were Electrical Engineering majors; one, Tony Green, was a Chemistry major; two, Wesley Okafor and Lataisha Jeffery, were Biology majors; and six, Jayla LaDay, Juleah Hall, Syndey Henderson, Earlena Evans, Zulfa Eisa, Marissa Gray, were Agriculture majors. Of the six Agriculture majors, three worked part time during the summer months due to their enrollment in classes and other obligations. While all students had individual research projects, the group members all participated in a community service based project related to the establishment of a student-led community garden.
Publications
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