Source: TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY submitted to
REEU AT THE INTERFACE OF PLANT, MICROBIAL AND BIOENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
ACTIVE
Funding Source
AFRI COMPETITIVE GRANT
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1029863
Grant No.
2023-67037-40307
Cumulative Award Amt.
$749,590.00
Proposal No.
2022-09114
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Aug 1, 2023
Project End Date
Jul 31, 2028
Grant Year
2023
Program Code
[A7401]- Research and Extension Experiences for Undergraduates
Project Director
Shim, W.
Recipient Organization
TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY
750 AGRONOMY RD STE 2701
COLLEGE STATION,TX 77843-0001
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
Training the next generation of leaders in stakeholder-serving agricultural science research and extension is the principal educational goal of the land-grant institution. Achieving this goal requires providing students with high-quality experiential learning opportunities to develop critical thinking and stakeholder outreach skills in research and extension particularly in plant pathology and environmental sciences. Our goal for this Research and Extension Experiences for Undergraduates (REEU) proposal is to train 100 upper-level undergraduates from TAMU and partnering universities during a 5-year period in the practice of hypothesis-driven scientific research and extension projects at the interface of plant, microbial, and bioenvironmentalsciences.Based on historical BURS participation and purposeful support we have forged with partner institutions; our expectation is to have greater than 66% of REEU students from underrepresented groups. We will create a yearly intensive 10-week summer research/extension experience through which students will join an inclusive high-impact learning environment. Our intellectual focus includes: (a) reinforcing interest in scientific research and extension; (b) developing capacity in scientific thinking and desire to pursue graduate studies in agricultural science; and (c) developing interest in professional careers in academia, government, and industry directly relevant to agricultural and environmental sciences. We will establish a long-term engagement process to follow students upon return to their respective campuses and during their post-baccalaureate professional advancement. The long-term goal of this REEU project is to increase highly qualified and diverse future workforce in agricultural research and extension disciplines.
Animal Health Component
40%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
60%
Applied
40%
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
2124099110020%
2124099110120%
2124099110220%
2162499108020%
2162499116020%
Knowledge Area
212 - Pathogens and Nematodes Affecting Plants; 216 - Integrated Pest Management Systems;

Subject Of Investigation
4099 - Microorganisms, general/other; 2499 - Plant research, general;

Field Of Science
1101 - Virology; 1160 - Pathology; 1100 - Bacteriology; 1102 - Mycology; 1080 - Genetics;
Goals / Objectives
The goal of this project entitled "REEU at the Interface of Plant, Microbial and Bioenvironmental Sciences" is to train upto twenty rising junior- or senior-level undergraduates per year, a total of upto one hundred undergraduate students from Texas A&M University (TAMU) and partner universities, including Prairie View A&M, Univ of Texas (UT)-Rio Grande Valley, UT- San Antonio, and TAMU- Kingsville. Our aim is to have greater than 60 percent of REEU participants from underrepresented groups each year to conduct intensive 10-week summer research/extension experience where students will join an inclusive high-impact learning environment at TAMU main campus. We will establish a long-term networking process to follow the students upon return to their respective campuses and during their post-baccalaureate professional advancement.
Project Methods
Microbes affect global climate patterns, nutrient cycling, biomass degradation, crop production, and plant and animal health. Using the platform of the plant-microbe-environment interface, we will provide opportunities for students to experientially learn fundamentals of plant, microbiological, and environmental research, and to translate these into high-impact applications through extension, all through independent research within active laboratories. This REEU projects will be structured so that students can transition from directed to independent research and extension activities. The intellectual focus for this REEU is on the interface between plants (key crops), microbes (fungi, bacteria, and viruses), and the environment (soil, water, and pollutants). Our REEU will be composed of two major phases: (a) a 10-week summer experience at TAMU laboratories and (b) the long-term tracking of students upon return to their home universities and during pursuit of their graduate or professional careers. TAMU will be the lead organization, where the 10-week summer experience will be conducted. Project management will be performed by the PD and Co- PIs who will oversee all aspects of the REEU, including the development, implementation, and evaluation of project activities; fiscal management; the selection and mentoring of the students at TAMU; and tracking students.We have defined three pedagogically sequenced and measurable objectives. During the 10-week REEU, participating students will learn and demonstrate their knowledge of; 1) Scientific method: by formulating hypotheses for assigned projects and designing experiments with controls to test the hypotheses and interpret results; 2) Scientific communication: by reporting status of experiments in laboratory group meetings and preparing oral and/or poster presentations of findings; and 3) Career and professional development: by attending seminars, understanding the management of hypothesis-driven research, and interacting scientifically and socially with faculty mentors, graduate students, REEU student peers, our Professional Board, and extension personnel.We will achieve these learning objectives through our 10-week summer program followed by interactions with students and faculty at home institutions and through LinkedIn tracking of students. We will also promote REEU students to share their experience, research finding, and enthusiasm through social media and foster their development as "ambassadors of science" who generate enthusiasm for agricultural science in general, and our REEU programs in particular.

Progress 08/01/23 to 07/31/24

Outputs
Target Audience:After receiving the award notice in spring 2023, we immediately began our marketing and recruiting effort to run our REEU program in summer 2023. As stated in our project summary, our goal for this Research and Extension Experiences for Undergraduates (REEU) proposal is to train 100 upper-level undergraduates from TAMU and partnering universities during a 5-year period in the practice of hypothesis-driven scientific research and extension projects at the interface of plant, microbial, and bioenvironmental sciences. We shared our program announcement with our partner institutions, Prairie View A&M, Univ of Texas (UT)-Rio Grande Valley, UT- San Antonio, and TAMU- Kingsville, as well as other schools, including Texas A&M International University (Laredo, TX), Texas A&M University-San Antonio, and Southwestern University (Georgetown, TX). However, we were cautious in our first recruiting effort due to the slow arrival of funds from AFRI and settled on accepting 14 students. We had 8 students from Texas A&M University Bioenvironmental Sciences,2 from Texas A&M University Environmental Studies, 1 Texas A&M University Studies, 2 Texas A&M International University Biology, and 1 UT-Rio Grande Valley Biology. Nine faculty mentors participated in our inaugural 2023 summer REEU program. Overall, this was a successful inaugural summer program.With the experience we gained in 2023 along with funds in place, we started our recruiting effort early and aggressively in 2024 spring. We continued to market our REEU program to our existing partners but also expanded our network, for instance UT-Austin, West Texas A&M University (Canyon, TX) and Austin College. We had a total of 18 students who were accepted and participated in 2024 summer REEU, 9 from Texas A&M University Bioenvironmental Sciences, 2 from Texas A&M University Biology, 2 from Texas A&M University Horticulture, 3 Texas A&M International University Biology, 1 UT-Austin Biology and 1 Austin College. While majority of our participants were from Texas A&M University, we were able to recruit from three different majors. Nine faculty served as mentors in in our 2024 summer REEU program. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?During the 10-week REEU programs, participating students had opportunities to learn and demonstrate their knowledge scientific methods in research and extension by formulating hypotheses for assigned projects and designing experiments with controls to test the hypotheses and interpret results. They also participated in weekly meetings hosted by a student mentor to improve on scientific communication by reporting status of experiments in laboratory group meetings and preparing oral and/or poster presentations of findings. Students also participated in professional development, including attending Field Days. Faculty job interviews, and Clifton Strength Assessment workshop. Lastly, both summer REEU program wrapped up with a poster symposium where REEU students presented their research/extension poster to the department faculty, staff and graduate students.? How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We promoted REEU students to share their experience, research finding, and enthusiasm through social media and foster their development as "ambassadors of science" who generate enthusiasm for agricultural science in general, and our REEU programs in particular. We also promoted students' understanding of agricultural science research and extension career paths. Through our social media networking, we can confirm that three 2023 REEU participants have now enrolled in Plant Pathology graduate programs in the US. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We are very energized by the successful launch of our REEU program in 2023 and 2024. We have an ambitious goal of training 100 students during our project. We will continue to market our program aggressively and recruit students who share interest inplant, microbial, and bioenvironmental sciences.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Our project is a undergraduate training program. In 2023 summer, we offered summer research and extension experience to 13 undergraduate students from Texas A&M University, Texas A&M International University and UT-Rio Grand Valley. In 2024 summer, 18 undergraduate students from Texas A&M University, Texas A&M International University, UT-Austin, and Austin College were provided this experience. As part of our REEU program, students participated in multiple field days hosted by Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension, and Ag industry partners. These include Stiles Farm Field Day (Thrall, TX), Beaumont Rice Field Day (Beaumont, TX), and BASF Innovation Field Day (Snook, TX). In addition, our REEU program offered a mentoring opportunity to our graduate students as well as undergraduate program manager. We were successful in recruiting students from historically underrepresented groups.

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