Source: NEW MEXICO STATE UNIVERSITY submitted to
A PIPELINE TO ENHANCE THE COMPETITIVENESS OF UNDERREPRESENTED SCHOLARS FOR ENTRY INTO AGRICULTURE, SCIENTIFIC AND PROFESSIONAL CAREERS
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
NEW
Funding Source
OTHER GRANTS
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1028657
Grant No.
2022-77040-37622
Project No.
NM.-2022-02628
Proposal No.
2022-02628
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Program Code
NJ
Project Start Date
Sep 1, 2022
Project End Date
Aug 31, 2026
Grant Year
2022
Project Director
Hernandez-Gifford, J.
Recipient Organization
NEW MEXICO STATE UNIVERSITY
1620 STANDLEY DR ACADEMIC RESH A RM 110
LAS CRUCES,NM 88003-1239
Performing Department
Animal and Range Sciences
Non Technical Summary
The goal of this project is to form a pipeline between New Mexico State University (NMSU) and California State University, Chico (CSU-CHICO) to enhance access to graduate student training and competitiveness of underrepresented groups in the nation's agriculture, and scientific work force. Within the Primary Discipline of Food and Agricultural Sciences we propose to train 15 undergraduate students, and 10 graduate students. The program will take advantage of CSU-Chico's strong undergraduate Animal Science program and NMSU's demonstrated history of successful graduate student training. The student pipeline will provide faculty and peer mentoring, innovative and training opportunities in research, extension and education development. Students from underrepresented groups will be recruited to enter the program in cohorts and participate in faculty-led research projects and summer internship experiences resulting in research presentations at professional conferences. Expected outcomes include acquisition of technical and professional competency, including oral and written communication, critical thinking, and problem solving as well as developing leadership skills. These competencies will ready undergraduate students to successfully transition to graduate programs, in particular NMSU's Animal and Range Science program. Graduate students will benefit from the established excellence in graduate student training at NMSU including conducting and disseminating research, serving as teaching assistants and participation at the campus farms. Additionally, graduate students will enrich their leadership skills in part by serving as mentors for undergraduate students in each cohort.
Animal Health Component
50%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
30539991060100%
Knowledge Area
305 - Animal Physiological Processes;

Subject Of Investigation
3999 - Animal research, general;

Field Of Science
1060 - Biology (whole systems);
Goals / Objectives
The major goal of this proposed project is to enhance access of underrepresented groups to graduate student training and increase competitiveness of underrepresented groups in the nation's agriculture, and scientific work force. The collaborative project between NMSU and CSU-Chico aims to train 15 undergraduate students and 10 graduate students in Masters of Science programs. It is expected that students participating in this project will have increased awareness of academic and career opportunities related to Food and Agricultural Sciences. Involvement in faculty-led undergraduate research projects will enable students to gain technical and professional competencies, including oral and written communication, critical thinking, and problem solving, professional development, as well as increasing leadership skills. These competencies will ready undergraduate students to successfully transition to graduate programs, in particular NMSU's Animal and Range Science program. Additionally, graduate students will benefit from the established excellence in graduate student training at NMSU including conducting and disseminating research, serving as teaching assistants and participation at the campus farms. Graduate students will enrich their leadership skills in part by serving as mentors for undergraduate students in each cohort. These objectives are aligned with the HSI Educational Grants Program goals to ultimately improve Hispanic representation in the Food and Agriculture Science work force by strengthening HSI's ability to carry out directed education programs.
Project Methods
This project will employ focused and engaging approaches to improve the quality of Food and Agricultural science education in an effort to address the higher education problem of low enrollment, retention and graduation of Hispanic students, and therefore advance educational equity. Faculty at both institutions will begin by promoting and informing students of this grant opportunity in undergraduate lower division classes in order for students to participate in their junior and senior years. This targeted recruitment will also have the added benefit of evaluating individual student qualifications and coaching for application to the program. Recruited students will be paired with a faculty mentor and begin participation in research activities. In addition to the above described involvement in research, undergraduate and graduate students will benefit from summer internship programs. These programs are designed to provide a hands-on learning environment, and will also be a source of career opportunities and networking. Representatives from USDA agencies and the public and private sector will be invited to the quarterly meeting to discuss career opportunities. The students will have the opportunity to choose from several internships and be introduced to the Pathways Programs at USDA agencies.

Progress 09/01/22 to 08/31/23

Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience of this project includes both graduate and undergraduate students in Agricultural Sciences at New Mexico State University. Additionally, undergraduate students at California State University - Chico will be targeted to increase exposure to graduate training that is not available at CSU-Chico.The students recruited to participate from both Universitieswill be of underrepresented groups in Agricultural Sciences. The project aims to enhance the competetiveness of underrepresented groups in agriculture and the scientific work force by enhancing access to graduate student training. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Several opportuntities have been provided to students in the program. Quarterly meetings are held and workshops are conducted to increase professional development opportunites. Informational meetings on summer internships were presented. Resume and Curriculum vitae workshops have been conducted that occurred in person at NMSU and via Zoom for CSU-Chico to allow for students from both universities to interact. Additionally, gatherings at professional meetings to discuss the objectives and outcome of the meetings have been held. One NMSU graduate student and one NMSU undergraduate particpated in the 6 week US Dairy Consortium in Clovis, NM (May - June 2023). A second NMSU graduate student particpated in the US Beef Academy in Corona, NM (June 2023). How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The project has been widely advertised through NMSU news releases, New Mexico News Connection - a public news service, NMSU College of Agricultural Consumer and Environmental Sciences magazine as well as several social media sites. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?During this upcoming year, we plan to recruit more undergraduate and graduate students to NMSU. We expect to recruit a new cohort of students from CSU-Chico. We hope to bring students from CSU-Chico to NMSU to participate in a research rotation. We also expect to have students from both Universities to participate in ongoing research and summer internship opportunitites. We will continue to hold quarterly meetings and will have the meeting be in person and virtual so both universities can participate and the students can begin to learn more about each other and opportunities for graduate training.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? To date, 3 hispanic, female students from New Mexico State University have been recruited to participate in this program and are currently enrolled in Masters of Science programs in Animal Sciences. One of these individuals has recently, successfully defended here Master of Science and is currently preparing manuscripts to be submitted on her research projects. This individual has been accepted into a PhD program at the University of Madison-Wisconsin. Two of the three students attended the American Society of Animal Science meeting in July. Additionally, 2 undergraduate studentsfrom New Mexico State University are participating in undergraduate research in Animal Science. In June, 3 undergraduate students from CSU-Chico were recruited into the program and are currently participating in independent research projects.

Publications

  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Castro, B., M.M. Austin, C.A. Gifford, J.A. Hernandez Gifford. 2022. Endotoxin-induced inflammation on immune markers and steroidogenesis in granulosa cells. West. Sect. Amer. Soc. Anim. Sci.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Castro, B., M.M. Austin, C.A. Gifford, J.A. Hernandez Gifford. 2022. Bacterial endotoxin inflammation on immune markers and female fertility. New Mexico State University. Cooperative Extension Service Beef & Livestock Research Update. Proc.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: J.F. Dominguez Arellanes, B. Castro, C.B. Shuster, C.A. Gifford, J.A. Hernandez Gifford. 2023. Impact of lipopolysaccharide endotoxin on growth and viability of ovarian granulosa cells. West. Sect. Amer. Soc. Anim. Sci.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: M.M. Austin, B. Castro, J.F. Dominguez Arellanes, K.L. Luna, L. Ochoa, K. Duran, M. Gutierrez, C.A. Gifford, J.A. Hernandez Gifford. 2023. Implications of repeated lipopolysaccharide exposure during synchronized estrous. West. Sect. Amer. Soc. Anim. Sci.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Castro, B., J.I. Candelaria, M.M. Austin, C.B. Shuster, C.A. Gifford, A.C. Denicol., J.A. Hernandez Gifford. 2023. Subclinical lipopolysaccharide exposure during oocyte maturation disrupts early bovine embryonic development. West. Sect. Amer. Soc. Anim. Sci.