Performing Department
Horticulture & Landscape Arch
Non Technical Summary
Many industries within food, agriculture, natural resources, and human science (FANH) disciplines are facing critical issues including well-trained workforce shortage, shrinking university programs, poor public awareness and understanding, and lack of funding and grants. There is a critical need for explicit recruiting efforts by university programs and career development opportunities to increase student engagement and retention in specialized plant and food agriculture programs. This project will expand on a previous REEU project with adjustments and developments, and therefore increase our efforts in recruiting and training undergraduates within FANH and eventually close the workforce gap.The long-term goal of this project is to increase enrollment in FANH disciplines at the undergraduate and graduate levels. To this end, our objective is to implement an immersive 10-week summer research and extension program covering diverse areas of horticultural, agronomy, food sciences, and natural resource sciences. We plan to attain the overall objective through pursuit of the following specific aims: 1) recruit forty undergraduate students (half of which from underrepresented groups) over four years, 2) educate student fellows on the basics of growing food in small-scale field and greenhouse crop production systems, 3) train students in agricultural research methods and data analysis through mentorship under faculty in various sub-disciplines culminating in student presentations at a scientific conference, and 4) enhance leadership skills of student fellows through conducting experiments, presenting at a symposium and meetings, and participating in extension activities. Students will be specifically recruited from Oklahoma State University, Langston University (1890 land grant university), junior colleges in Oklahoma, Pawnee Nation College, and the OK LSAMP program. The project will strengthen relationships with regional institutions for development of sustained outreach education and student recruitment initiatives.
Animal Health Component
0%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
Our long-term goal is to increase enrollment and retention in specialized plant, environment, and food science undergraduate and graduate programs at OSU, which will lead to increased employment of graduates in FANH careers. The overall goal of this project is to implement a high impact experiential learning summer fellow research and extension program within multiple agriculture disciplines tailored toward student interest in sustainability that can be duplicated by other institutions. This project directly addresses the program area priority for REEU while incorporating elements of the Farm Bill priority area plant health and production and plant products. We plan to attain the overall objective through the pursuit of the following specific objectives: 1) recruit 40 undergraduate students (half of which from underrepresented groups) over four years to participate in a summer REEU program, 2) expose students to diverse plant, food, soil, and environmental science sub-disciplines and career options through extensive hands-on learning activities on our student farm, greenhouses, Food and Agriculture Production Facility, and partnering industries, 3) train students in research and Extension through multidisciplinary mentorship, and 4) enhance leadership skills of student fellows through conducting experiments, presenting at a symposium and meetings, and participating in other program activities.
Project Methods
Our approach to undergraduate education, research, and Extension training involves a broad curriculum of hands-on learning exercises to provide student fellows with a well-rounded view of the application and diversity within plant, food, and environmental sciences, and help student fellows develop technical and leadership skills needed for both the agricultural workforce and graduate programs. Specifically, activities include weekly summary presentations modeled after the commonly used 3-minute thesis (3MT's) contests, field trips, hands-on training of common equipment, access to local extension related field days and conferences, and guest speakers.Education Dr. Hu will lead activities on the student farm with a graduate student serving as the Farm manager. Students will grow a variety of horticultural crops throughout the program, experience the day-to-day requirements of horticultural food production systems, and learn management techniques including planting, maintenance, harvesting, and sustainable practices like cover crop implementation. Supplemental education will be coordinated by PD Fontanier. Workshops will be given from a rotation of faculty in various FANH disciplines to provide students with an overview of the land grant mission, careers, library resources, graduate school opportunities, research methods, public speaking, crop production, processing and storage, and food safety. For example, Dr. Dunn will lead hands-on workshops related to greenhouse management and hydroponic production systems. Dr. Jadeja and Hu will host a Produce Safety Rule standardized (Food Safety Modernization Act) training, where participants will receive Food & Drug Administration (FDA) recognized certificate after successfully completing the day long workshop. Lastly, Dr. Jilling will arrange a tour of mentor research facilities where mentors will discuss their research program and discuss how to use common research equipment in their program. Weekly 3MT's will enable student fellows to share their research topics and progress, practice public speaking, and grow closer to their peers in the program. Finally, field trips will be organized for students to visit industry operations in Tulsa and Oklahoma City.Research & ExtensionStudents will be assigned to two faculty mentors who will guide them on conducting research projects related to some aspect of plant, food, and environmental subjects, and build transferable leadership skills.Faculty mentors will meet with their students regularly to discuss research and extension methods, broader impacts of the research, communication methods, and professional development. One of the advantages of a multidisciplinary approach in an experiential learning project as proposed is the tremendous diversity of sub-disciplines that span commercial and consumer agriculture, production and post-harvest processes, controlled and field production, food processing and safety, ecology, soils, and environmental issues. The proposed project harnesses this diversity in an integrated manner to showcase the importance of all aspects to society. The faculty mentors represent a wide range of professional backgrounds and expertise and thus create significant opportunities for student fellows to learn about new areas that they did not know existed to identify a discipline within FANH that excites them.Faculty mentors will design research projects related to sustainability within plant, food, and environmental science representing their wide range of expertise. Students will select the research project that matches their interest during application and will be assigned a research mentor accordingly. Plant materials and other supplies will be prepared in advance to ensure a timely start and completion of student projects. Upon arrival, the student fellows will be tasked with developing a hypothesis, designing and implementing experiments, collecting data, analyzing results, and writing a research report. At the conclusion of the project, student fellows will deliver 12-minute presentations at the program symposium for evaluation by faculty mentors. By maintaining a high faculty to student ratio, we anticipate student mentorship will be a strength of this program.Fellows will participate in extension activities including planned efforts to develop extension training modules for Our Daily Bread Food & Resource Center (ODBF&RC), a local food bank with a newly developed garden. As part of this effort, students will help coordinate volunteer activities on select days, contribute to garden work days, and aid OSU personnel in dissemination of educational materials.