Performing Department
College of Food, Ag., & Nat. Resource Sciences
Non Technical Summary
Faculty in the University of Minnesota's College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences (CFANS), and the graduate students they train, provide ground-breaking research in the six NIFA research challenge areas: 1) Food Safety, 2) Bioenergy, 3) Climate Variability and Change, 4) Childhood Obesity, 5) Food Security, and 6) Water. New and early career faculty represent the future of agricultural research for Minnesota. New faculty are active researchers and they publish and write grants across a broad range of expertise - from animal and plant science, to food science, to economics to veterinary medicine. These faculty generate and disseminate scientific research that is critical to address the agricultural grand challenges facing Minnesota and the world.For many new faculty, the funding for their research appointment (and potentially a graduate student) is tied to federal Experiment Station funding. The establishment and use of this collegiate Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station (MAES) project, around NIFA's six research challenge areas, more adequately enables the MAES to describe research being conducted during the time between the hiring of a faculty member and when they have developed an MAES project. A collegiate MAES project more accurately connects new faculty to the work they are doing, resulting in more accurate reporting of that work, including reports on technical progress and reports on financial resources allocated to each NIFA priority area.This approach of having a collegiate MAES project supports the mission of the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station to improve Minnesota's agricultural and forest products, horticultural crops, human nutrition, family and community life, and environmental quality.
Animal Health Component
0%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
50%
Applied
50%
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
Objectives:The global challenges of food, climate, water, energy and health, as well as the economic impacts that underlay all of these issues, intersect directly with CFANS. The primary focus of CFANS is doing the critical research that will inform society's discussion around these critical challenges facing humanity.Objective 1. Food SafetyThe state of Minnesota is committed to investigating and containing contamination related to foodborne illness outbreaks throughout the state and quickly informing Minnesotans of any product concerns.CFANS researchers are able to work closely and collaborate with researchers at the U of M College of Veterinary Medicine and the U of M Public School of Health to discover interdisciplinary solutions to food safety concerns. In addition, researchers partner with businesses locally and internationally to ensure food safe protocols and being disseminated and utilized.Objective 2. BioenergyMinnesota has been a national leader in sustainable energy initiatives.CFANS researchers are providing a better understanding of the uses of biomass, hydrogen, solar and other renewable technologies including trade-offs, and intersections of opportunities for sustainable energy with agricultural productivity, and environmental health. New sources of bioenergy are continuously being explored including energy from animal waste and algae.Objective 3. Climate Variability and ChangeFrom Minnesota's agricultural lands to prairies to forests and lakes, Minnesota is an important area to study the effects of climate change due to our diverse ecosystem and weather. Being at the northern edge of the corn belt and the southern edge of the boreal forest, it contains the headwaters of the Mississippi River and the Great lakes and is part of three continental watersheds, makes Minnesota an important research area for evaluating climate change impact and the mitigation and adaptation needed to maintain agricultural productivity and natural resources in to the future.CFANS researchers are exploring how climate change will affect our diverse forests, and wildlife as well as exploring alternative cropping systems and developing new varieties of crops with climate adaptable traits.Objective 4. Childhood ObesityThe Minnesota Department of Health emphasizes that, "Obesity in children and youth is a serious issue with health and social consequences that often continue into adulthood." (Website URL is www.health.state.mn.us/people/obesity/chldhdobesity.html.)By focusing on health and nutrition and taking advantage of the breadth of CFANS and University of Minnesota research capacity, CFANS researchers are able to take a holistic approach to improving the health of Minnesotans and the nation. From linking nutritional goals to plant breeding and genetics to impacting the way our food tastes, to studying the effect of parental practices and characteristics on children's eating and exercise behaviors, to uniting researchers with the broader community with our Healthy Foods, Healthy Lives Institute, our researchers are providing vital information to our industry partners, to Minnesotans, and to the broader nutrition community.Objective 5. Food SecurityAgriculture is very important to Minnesota. According to the MN Department of Labor and Industry, "Agricultural production and processing in Minnesota account for $57.5 billion in sales and more than 147,000 jobs." (Website URL is www.dli.mn.gov/business/workforce/agriculture.) As part of agriculture, and with the world's food needs expected to double by 2050, the issue of Food Safety is a primary concern for the University of Minnesota and its researchers.CFANS faculty address issues pertaining to Food Safety through research in many areas including crop breeding and genetics, food science, food safety and nutrition and breakthrough agricultural technologies and livestock welfare.Objective 6. WaterWater quality and quantity are critical issues now and will only increase in the future.As the land of 10,000 Lakes, located at the mouth of the great Mississippi River, Minnesota is a unique area to study water resources and how water can effectively interact with agriculture, natural resources, wildlife and humans.CFANS researchers explore issues related to our state's water in a variety of ways. Our Water Resources Center and the Minnesota Aquatic Invasive Species Research Center work to protect the quality of our water for future generations and for our native aquatic species. Water quality research related to agricultural and industry runoff also remains a key concern and will continue to be a focus of CFANS research efforts.
Project Methods
When faculty are hired in CFANS with AES funding, their effort will be associated with this AES project as they become acclimated and develop and submit their own AES project. Once their own project is approved, they will moved off this project and to their own AES project.