Recipient Organization
WESTERN NEW MEXICO UNIVERSITY
1000 W COLLEGE AVE
SILVER CITY,NM 880614112
Performing Department
Natural Sciences
Non Technical Summary
Western New Mexico University (WNMU) is a rural, Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) located in remote southwestern New Mexico in a low-income region, within a state that has the second-highest poverty rate in the U.S. according to the 2018 U.S. Census. Over 70% of WNMU's students are from families whose income is below the national average. WNMU offers undergraduate degrees and some graduate degrees in diverse areas including Education, Business, Social Sciences, Sustainable Development, Nursing, Allied Health, Humanities, Natural Sciences, Mathematics, Social Work, and Liberal Arts. As an open-enrollment postsecondary institution, WNMU is committed to educating all of its learners and to fully expanding the career and professional opportunities available to its diverse and often disadvantaged student population. A critical need in this context is an expanded and more relevant agriculture studies track that aligns with WNMU's nascent efforts to fulfill its role as a Non-Land Grant College of Agriculture (NLGCA).In 2018, slightly more than 24% of degrees awarded were in a Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) field, including graduate degrees in Nursing and Allied Health. However, only 3% of bachelor's degrees were awarded in the fields of Natural Sciences and Mathematics by WNMU in 2018. As we are aware of the important role that STEM workers play in the U.S. economy, through this project, we seek to increase the number of undergraduate degrees awarded in our STEM-related academic programs. These include but are not limited to Botany, Biology, Chemistry, and Sustainable Development. The projected increase of science degrees awarded at WNMU is based on the hypothesis that developing a sustainable agriculture research program for WNMU undergraduates will positively impact students' self-efficacy and their level of confidence to persist.In accordance with WNMU efforts in actively participating as a NLGCA and due to the investigators' expertise, the incorporation of nanotechnology in agricultural is the central topic for the proposed undergraduate research experiences.According to the United Nations, the world population is projected to reach 9.8 billion in 2050. The consequent food demand and the expected decrease of arable land due to climate change are challenges that will be faced by agriculture, whose production will need to increase by 60% to meet the demand. In current agricultural practices, agrochemical use is inefficient, with a significant amount of pesticides and fertilizers lost to air, soil, and water, never reaching main targets and causing environmental damage. Improving agricultural productivity and efficiency of agrochemical use is crucial to achieve food security and to improve the sustainability of agriculture.Nanotechnology represents a potential approach to diminish the inputs of chemicals and water required in agriculture with the possibility of reducing ecological consequences. Uses of nanotechnology in agriculture include sensors, pesticides, fertilizers, and synthesis of materials for targeted delivery of chemicals. Nano-agrochemicals (NACs) are manufactured to enhance productivity and efficiency, while decreasing cost and waste. We suggest that incorporating NACs into current agricultural practices represents a promising pathway for sustainably enhancing crop production and nutrition.The goal of this project is to improve student recruitment and retention in STEM-related career tracks currently offered at WNMU by providing nanotechnology and agriculture education background in undergraduate courses and by offering research experiences in agriculture.The first approach to accomplish our main goal is to provide formal instruction in agriculture and nanotechnology to students enrolled in general education courses taught by Dr. Medina. Curriculum development for classroom instruction in ALAS 1830 will be developed by Dr. Medina in collaboration with ALAS-1830 co-instructors, Dr. Manda Jost and Dr. Scott Smith. Topics will include, but are not limited to: a) the scientific method, b) the agricultural revolution and agriculture in the modern world, c) agricultural practices, d) agriculture and climate change, e) introduction to nanotechnology, and e) nanotechnology in agriculture. Classroom methodologies will be designed with the aim of fostering students' interest in science, and hence, using this approach as a recruitment tool to increase enrollment in STEM-related programs. While learning about modern, relevant topics in agriculture and nanotechnology, interested students will be invited to participate as volunteers in the ongoing research projects to enhance their science experience.The second approach to achieve our goal involves integrating agriculture studies and research into our existing natural sciences academic programs at WNMU. In their research projects, students will be provided with the necessary technology that enables scientific experimentation. Additionally, student researchers will receive student stipends, which will encourage and promote their commitment to research. The design and development of the research projects will be done with the support of subject matter experts and published researchers in this field, specifically Dr. Medina and her collaborators at The University of Texas at El Paso, New Mexico State University, and The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station.Students pursuing degrees in natural sciences programs at WNMU are required to complete a senior research project. In the timeframe 2018-19, as in the past, most science majors at WNMU provided senior-year capstone projects that were compelling, but lacked real-world context. Our proposed undergraduate research experiences will focus on the study of NACs under the hypothesis that they offer enhanced activity in comparison to traditional agrochemicals. The general idea is to evaluate different levels of NAC concentrations for crop fertilization and pest control, and identify the effects on food quality and crop productivity. The premise is that the research experiences facilitated by real-world technologies and methodologies will offer students a way to publish in scientific journals and share results in different scientific venues. Eleven students will benefit with a stipend while completing their research projects. With the development of research projects, we hypothesize that such experience will improve student performance, persistence, and motivation, which will indirectly increase our graduation rate in the programs currently offered in the department of Natural Sciences.Completion of all components of this project will benefit students enrolled at WNMU by making them aware of the impact of research to society. Project participation will provide real-world research experience to the students. Throughout the project, students will realize the integral importance that agricultural research has and will continue to have in global problems, as the food demand increases to meet population growth.Furthermore, scientific information gathered from the performed research will provide more data on the proposed use of NACs for fertilization and pest control. NACs will represent a viable option to face the food demand in the coming years. Since smaller amounts of NACs are required, NACs represent a sustainable option that requires less energy and produces less waste in comparison to traditional agrochemicals. The development of sustainable approaches in agriculture has a broad impact into society.
Animal Health Component
50%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
50%
Applied
50%
Developmental
0%
Goals / Objectives
GoalThe goal of this project is to improve student recruitment and retention in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)-related career tracks currently offered at Western New Mexico University (WNMU) by providing nanotechnology and agriculture education background in undergraduate courses and by offering research experiences in agriculture.General objectivesThis project has two main objectives. First, we seek to improve retention rates of WNMU students in STEM-related career tracks by improving the relevance of our agriculture-related curriculum and experiential learning activities across different disciplines. Second, and specific to offering a more engaging curriculum and experiential learning opportunity, we seek to engage learners in scientific research. Research experiences will focus on the evaluation of nanoagrochemicals (NACs) under the hypothesis that they offer enhanced effectiveness in comparison to traditional agrochemicals. The general idea is to evaluate different levels of NAC concentrations for crop fertilization and pest control, and to identify their effects on food quality and crop productivity.Specific objectivesObjective 1. Increasing student retention and the number of undergraduate degrees awarded in science programs.WNMU is a rural, Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) located in remote southwestern New Mexico in a low-income region. As an open-enrollment postsecondary institution, WNMU is committed to educating all of its learners and to fully expanding the career and professional opportunities available to its diverse and often disadvantaged student population. A critical need in this context is an expanded and more relevant agriculture studies track that aligns with some WNMU faculty members' nascent efforts to fulfill its role as a Non-Land Grant College of Agriculture (NLGCA). In 2018, approximately 24% of WNMU's available degrees were in a STEM field, including graduate degrees in Nursing and Allied Health. However, only 3% of undergraduate bachelor's degrees awarded to WNMU students that year were in the fields of Natural Sciences and Mathematics.With this project, we seek to increase the number of undergraduate degrees awarded in our science academic program offerings. These include but are not limited to: Botany, Biology, Chemistry, and Sustainable Development. Each year of the program beginning in its second year, we anticipate an increase of 0.5% of degrees awarded across these academic tracks whereby at the end of the three-year program we anticipate a cumulative increase to 4.0% from our current 3.0% of undergraduate degrees awarded in the programs mentioned above.Objective 2. Increasing recruitment of undergraduate students in STEM-related career tracks. A projected 1% increase in student recruitment in STEM-related careers builds upon the incorporation of a sustainable agriculture education background into undergraduate courses currently offered at WNMU. Specifically, with WNMU's Applied Liberal Arts and Sciences (ALAS) designation and through its corresponding curriculum for a STEM track (ALAS 1830), students will learn applications of Chemistry, Computer Science, Biology, Environmental Science, Ecology, and Mathematics to solve today's important problems of pollution, population growth, conservation, climate change, food shortage, sustainability, etc. Topics in current applications of nanotechnology will provide students with skills in inquiry-based approaches to problem-solving, collaboration, communication, critical thinking, digital literacy, quantitative analysis and reasoning, and personal and social responsibility. Our objective is to improve student recruitment into STEM-related career tracks through science instruction and experiences in the ALAS 1830 (ALAS-STEM), offered every semester, during the six-semester duration of this project.Objective 3. Promoting an authentic learning experience through the development of research projects in nanotechnology in agriculture.Combined with WNMU's commitment to a culturally relevant curriculum and sensitive support structures, this proposal sets out to integrate agriculture studies and research into its existing academic programs by providing the needed technology that enables scientific experimentation, together with student stipends that help ignite their commitment to research. We believe that this can be achieved through the support of subject matter experts and published researchers in this field. Specifically, students from natural sciences degree programs who are currently required to complete a Senior Research Project course will now have the opportunity to enroll in a research project in the evaluation of nanomaterials in agriculture.A significant portion of the requested funding will be designated to purchase a modern spectrometer necessary to perform experiments to test the hypothesis whether NACs offer enhanced activity in comparison to traditional agrochemicals. Using the instrumentation purchased with the provided funding, we will evaluate different levels of NAC concentrations for crop fertilization and pest control, and will be able identify their effects on food quality and crop productivity. Additionally, we believe that this research experience facilitated by real-world technologies and methodologies will offer learners a way to publish the results in scientific journals and to share results via presentations at scientific meetings.For this project, students receiving a stipend will be working directly with Dr. Illya Medina on their senior research projects. Each student will be addressing one of the following research areas described below or some facet of it. This cohort model of learning provides the necessary social learning and peer interaction that will foster a positive learning environment and research engagement. For many of the students, this is a new process and subject area. Having a subject matter expert and mentor such as Dr. Medina goes a very long way toward building self-efficacy and sense of belonging, whereby both are necessary dimensions of improving retention and attainment as described below. The specific objectives for the research activities in which this proposal is built upon are:3.1 Assess the effects of commercially available NACs in the physiology and elemental composition of crop plants and evaluate the risks/benefits relative to conventional products.3.2 Evaluate the uptake, translocation, and accumulation of NACs by economically important crops in New Mexico, such as pepper, common beans, peas, and potato plants grown in environmentally relevant conditions.3.3 Compare the fertilization/pesticide efficacy of NACs versus traditional agrochemicals.Students will be required to present their research findings at the biannual WNMU Student Academic and Research Symposium in a poster and to attend one regional or national conference available at the time of completion of their project. The ultimate goal is to produce at least two research articles to disseminate the projects results.
Project Methods
Methods for Objectives 1 and 2.Data in enrollment of students in STEM-related degrees will be requested from the WNMU Registrar's Office at the beginning of Fall 2020. The number of students close to graduation will be recorded to track down graduation rates during the duration of the project. This practice will be implemented every semester, until the end of the project and the projected outcomes will be evaluated regarding retention, graduation rate, and recruitment in the natural sciences degrees offered at WNMU.At the beginning of Fall 2020, research opportunities in this project will be outlined by Dr. Medina and Dr. Norris to students in the Natural Sciences Department that are required to enroll in BIOL 486 or CHEM 490 Senior Project.At the beginning of every semester, starting Fall 2020, an initial survey in self-efficacy and sense of belonging will be implemented in all students registered in Senior Project in the Department of Natural Sciences. At the end of the semester (or each student's project) a final survey will be conducted to the same individuals. Using software for statistical analysis (RStudio or the IBM Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS)), qualitative and quantitative survey data will be compared (i.e., initial and final surveys) from students involved in the projects in NACs, and also in comparison to survey data obtained from students involved in other projects in the department.Curriculum development for classroom instruction in ALAS 1830 will be developed by Dr. Medina collaborating with ALAS-1830 co-instructors, Dr. Manda Jost and Dr. Scott Smith. Topics will include, but are not limited to: a) the scientific method, b) the agricultural revolution and agriculture in the modern world, c) agricultural practices, d) agriculture and climate change, e) introduction to nanotechnology, and e) nanotechnology in agriculture.Advertising of volunteer opportunities will be done in multiple WNMU courses (e.g. ALAS 1830- ALAS STEM, CHEM 1215- General Chemistry, CHEM 1120- Introduction to Chemistry, and BIOL 1110- General Biology) each semester during the first 2.5 years of this project's duration. A list of students participating in each project will be compiled every semester, and initial/final surveys in self-efficacy and sense of belonging will be implemented at the beginning and at the end of each student's participation time-frame. Qualitative and quantitative data will be analyzed using software for statistical analysisAt the end of the first year, the research board will be created and displayed in the hallway of natural sciences.Along with the marketing department, a flyer to promote research experiences will be developed during the Fall semester of 2020 and will be distributed beginning in the Spring 2021 semester.At the end of the first year, student highlights will be produced and distributed in the university and the community of Silver City, mainly through social media.Methods for Objective 3.During the first year of operation, the research will focus on assessing the effects of NACs reported in current literature as beneficial for plant growth and pest control, such as nano-ZnO (nZnO), nano-Cu(OH)2 (nCu(OH)2), and nano-Mn2O3 (nMn2O3).The experimental approach will begin with the design of mesocosms with environmentally relevant conditions followed by the selection and characterization of commercially available nanomaterials (NMs) with significant evidence as beneficial NACs (fertilizers and pesticides). Selection of realistic NMs concentrations and mesocosm design will be key to demonstrate its advantage compared to traditional agrochemicals.Plants will be grown in organic soil, natural soil, or hydroponically in a greenhouse under semi-controlled conditions of humidity, temperature, and watering. Plants will be exposed to the selected NMs via soil or foliar application. Chlorophyll content will be recorded using a Soil Plant Analysis Development (SPAD) chlorophyll meter.After plant exposure to the NACs and growth in a greenhouse, the effects on plant physiology will be evaluated using agronomical parameters.Finally, the overall effect in crop productivity will be assessed by mass (yield) and the nutritional quality of produce will be measured by elemental quantification using inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES), inductively coupled plasma-mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS), and/or atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS).Because the first year of this project will be dedicated to identify the safest NMs to be incorporated as NACs, the following years will be dedicated to explore the potential benefits of NACs.The experimental approach of the second phase of the research portion of this project will start with the selection and characterization of growth media and conditions that are close to those experienced by plants in an agricultural field. NACs that will be evaluated include nZnO, nCu(OH)2, nMn2O3, and others reported in the literature as potential fertilizers and pesticides.Plant species of economic relevance in New Mexico, including pepper, common bean, onion, and potato plants, will be exposed to NACs at different doses to identify the maximum efficiency, when compared to traditional agrochemicals. The responses that will be evaluated include uptake, transport, and accumulation of NACs in edible tissues using spectroscopy instrumentation. Physiological responses to be evaluated are chlorophyll content, shoot, root and fruit biomass, and production (yield). Nutritional quality will also be evaluated, including micronutrient composition, performed via ICP-OES/MS or AAS, and sugar, starch, fat, and protein content, the latter if collaborations are available. Our parameters will be discussed as indicators of the fertilizing and/or pesticide effects of NACs.Statistical analyses using RStudio or SPSS will be performed to all research data acquired in each specific project. Graphs and tables will be generated and research articles will be composed when significant findings have been completed.At the time of completion of every student's portion of the research, students will be asked to submit a summary of all research data and results in a scientific-article-format and to present their findings at the available venue at the time of completion, and according to available funding.