DSU Awarded Almost $900,000 in USDA Grants

DSU’s College of Agriculture and Related Sciences recently received almost $900,000 in U.S. Department of Agriculture grant funding in support of projects in the areas of research, teaching and cooperative extensions.

The funding to DSU was part of more than $18 million that the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture has recently awarded through 53 competitive grants to support research teaching and extension activities at 1890 historically black land-grant colleges and universities.

The grant awarded to DSU will go toward the following projects:

• A $499,982 research grant for “The Development of Epigenomic Tools in Legumes – Global Understanding of Biotic Stress Methylomes and Transcriptomes in Common Beans.” Dr. Venugopal Kalavacharla, grant principal investigator (PI) and associate professor of agriculture and natural resources, and his team will use cutting-edge molecular genetics and epigenomics techniques to better understand the resistance and susceptibility mechanisms for rust resistance in beans. This is a collaborative project between researchers at DSU, the University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Mayville State University.
• A $149,838 teaching grant for “Nanomaterial Detection in Food, Water and Environmental Waste by Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry.” This grant will enable DSU to acquire a Mass Spectrometer instrument to support the teaching nanotechnology concepts to food science students. Students will learn hands-on preparation of nanoparticles currently used in food applications and nanoparticles analysis through this mass spectrometer. The project has relevance to food science and agriculture, and will contribute to the development of the next generation of agricultural and food scientists. Dr. Daniela Radu is the PI for this grant.
• A $249,993 extension grant for a “Collaborative Initiative to Assess and Develop Intervention Programs to Combat Obesity among Low-Income Families.” This project will develop outreach initiatives to improve nutrition education to help consumers understand serving size demonstrated on food packages and promote the reading of “Nutrition Facts” panels as important tools to combat obesity and other eating disorders. This project also aims to strengthen collaboration between DSU’s Food and Nutritional Sciences Program and its Cooperative Extension to develop educational programs that can be effective in changing poor dietary habits in socioeconomic disadvantage communities. Dr. Samuel Besong, chair of the Department of Human Ecology, is the PI of this grant.