Ingenuity | Spring 2020

The Magazine of the School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences

Spring 2020

Ingenuity A Bright Future for SANS

Nurturing Great Minds: Creating and Applying Knowledge.

A Carnegie 2 Research Institution

About the School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences The School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences (SANS) has three academic departments: Agriculture, Food and Resource Sciences; Human Ecology; and Natural Sciences.

Academics

Undergraduate programs in pre-veterinary medicine, plant and soil science, animal and poultry science, agribusiness, agricultural studies, nutrition, dietetics, fashion merchandising, early child development, family and consumer sciences, biology, chemistry, biochemistry, and environmental science are representative of the School’s varied curricula. Graduate programs, at both the master’s and doctoral levels, are offered in chemistry (M.S.), marine estuarine and environmental sciences (M.S., Ph.D.), food and agricultural sciences (M.S., Ph.D.), and toxicology (M.S., Ph.D.). Strong research and extension programs are integrated with the School’s academic programming.

Research

UMES is one of two land-grant institutions in the state of Maryland that provides leadership for research in agriculture, food, biomedical science, and natural resource conservation and use. The School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences is unique among the academic schools at UMES in that it underpins the institution’s land-grant status. Over the years, the SANS research program has established and maintained strong collaborative partnerships with state and federal agencies as well as other academic institutions. These linkages allow the program to be highly responsive to priorities in Maryland and the nation.

Support for research comes from several sources: the Evans-Allen Program through the U.S. Department of Agriculture; several state departments; a number of federal agencies, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the National Science Foundation, and the National Institutes of Health; and the private sector.

Extension

University of Maryland Eastern Shore Extension is one part of a cooperative relationship between the University of Maryland Eastern Shore and the University of Maryland College Park. A statewide educational organization funded by federal, state, and local governments, Extension provides practical education to help people, businesses, and communities solve problems, develop skills, and build better futures. University of Maryland Eastern Shore Extension is in the business of extending research-based knowledge and changing lives.

Table of Contents

Ingenuity is the Research and Extension Magazine of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. It is published yearly for alumni, students, stakeholders, clients, and friends of the School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences.

2 | A Message from President Heidi M. Anderson

4 | A Message from Dean Moses T. Kairo

Administration

5 | Editor’s Note

Heidi M. Anderson, Ph.D. President

Features

6 | State Senator Examines UMES Research

7 | UMES Helps Pave a Way to a Newly Legalized Hemp Industry

32 | Farm Credit Foundation Partners with UMES

Departments

Moses T. Kairo, Ph.D., DIC Dean and Director of Land-Grant Programs School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences E. Nelson Escobar, Ph.D. Interim Associate Administrator for UMES Extension Jurgen Schwarz, Ph.D. Associate Research Director and Chair, Department of Agriculture, Food and Resource Sciences

3 | Research Briefs

Grace Namwanba, Ph.D. Chair, Department of Human Ecology

8 | Extension

Deborah Sauder, Ph.D. Chair, Department of Natural Sciences

15 | Linkage Spotlight

16 | International Research

18 | Undergraduate Research & Scholarship

21 | Alumni Corner

22 | Graduate Research and Scholarship

25 | Faculty and Staff Focus

33 | Select Publications (2019-2020)

Paulinus Chigbu, Ph.D. Director, Living Marine Resource Cooperative Science Center Laura Duck Assistant to the 1890 Research Director Tracie Bishop CRIS Site Administrator Earle Canter Farm Manager, Crop Research and Aquaculture Ingenuity Magazine Editor-in-Chief: Suzanne Waters Street, M.B.A. Contributors: Gail Stephens, Tanesha Hankerson Designer: Debi Rus, Rus Design, Inc. Photographers: Jim Glovier, Muhammad Khan, Gail Stephens, Suzanne Street,

Dr. Simon Zebelo Opinions expressed are not necessarily shared by the University, School, or editor. This publication is available in alternative media upon request.

UMES is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

This publication has been funded in part with EvansAllen Program and other state appropriated funds.

Ingenuity is printed on recycled paper.

Cover photo by Jim Glovier

Dear Stakeholders It has truly been a stellar year for the

of the University of Maryland College

School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences

Park to provide seamless programming to

(SANS). With a wide range of programs

Maryland’s citizens.

spanning teaching, research and extension,

On the research front, I am excited

SANS typifies UMES’ core mission as a

to see faculty and students investigating

top land-grant university. During the past

issues relevant to Maryland and the nation.

year, SANS has implemented many exciting

Their work spans from research on coastal

programs, some of which are covered

marine resources out of our laboratory

in this magazine. However, I wanted to

on the Atlantic Coast, to work on the

specifically mention a few that continue to

UMES Education and Demonstration

position UMES to be more effective in the

Farm and various laboratories on campus

delivery of its mission.

covering such important topics as: crop

First, I am pleased to see the School’s continued efforts to

development, poultry and small ruminants, food safety, pest

develop talent with its focus on B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. programs

management, nutrient management, and many others. I am

in several critical science disciplines. I was especially gratified

also delighted that we will soon begin construction of the new

to see the tremendous efforts by the team to get the Department

Agricultural Research and Education Center as well as the

of Human Ecology accredited by the American Association of

renovation of facilities on the Education and Demonstration

Family and Consumer Sciences (AAFCS). While we await the

Farm.

final determination from AAFCS later this April, the process

I look forward to 2020 with much optimism; but before

allowed the Department to focus and sharpen its academic

I conclude, let me take this opportunity to thank our many

offerings – which is already benefitting students.

supporters, including the Maryland Legislature and our federal

I am also pleased with the work that has gone into the

partners such as USDA, NOAA, and NSF as well as a range of

establishment and re-imagining of UMES Extension. We have a

private entities. Let me assure you that the SANS and UMES

ways to go; but we are here now, and the future is bright. Along

teams are concerned about remaining current and relevant. And

with the expansion of the faculty and staff component within

it’s a good thing, because I feel it is our duty to do so all while

the unit will be an expansion of programs aimed at enhancing

growing students who will take up the agricultural banner in the

and improving the lives of the families and communities that

not so distant future.

surround us. For instance, the UMES Small Farm Program

You will find details about all that I’ve mentioned and more

implemented various educational outreach programs to a wide

within these pages. Know that even as you read, we are working

range of stakeholders, including offerings as part of its annual

to make all that is good in SANS better and what is better, best.

conference. Its 16th installment this past November attracted

Happy New Year to you, our stakeholders, and to my faculty,

nearly 170 attendees. The conference was preceded by a statewide

staff, and students . . . and Happy Reading!

Hemp Conference that brought more than 200 participants to

Heidi M. Anderson

UMES. I am also gratified that UMES Extension is working in concert with the University of Maryland Extension team out

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UNIVERSITY of MARYLAND EASTERN SHORE

, Ph.D.

President

Exploring Potentials of Bioactive Phosphopeptide Production from Phosvitin in Hen’s Egg Yolk as a Novel Functional Ingredient Developing value-added products from egg yolk will increase its value and utilization and therefore improve the sustainability of the U.S. egg industry.

Although the consumption of processed egg products has considerably increased, egg yolk has Dr. Byungrok Min been underutilized because of consumer health concerns regarding its cholesterols and lipids. Consequently, novel ways to increase the utilization of egg yolk should be developed. Phosvitin is one of the major egg yolk proteins and has a great amount of potential to produce bioactive phosphopeptides that

Potential Availability of Urban Wood Waste Stream: Their Conversion to Platform Chemicals for the Synthesis of Novel Bioenergy/ Bioproducts in Maryland

Dr. Yeong Nain Chi

Urban forest/wood waste-streams (UFWWS) in Maryland represent potential raw material sources for producing platform chemicals that can be converted to higher value-added products for its emerging bio-economy.

Research Briefs can be utilized as novel functional ingredients in food, nutraceutical, and pharmaceutical products. Because of their strong binding capacity to metal-ions such as calcium, iron, and magnesium and their inhibitory capacity against the formation of insoluble metal deposits, phosphopeptides can improve the intestinal absorption of nutritionally essential metal-ions. They also can prevent biomolecule oxidation and microbial growth in foods. However, the production of bioactive phosphopeptides in small sizes from phosvitin is challenging due to its structural characteristics.

Recently, preliminary testing showed that the novel combination technology of the pressurized heat treatment and twoenzyme system could effectively produce small phosphopeptides from phosvitin. This is a breakthrough in phosvitin hydrolysis.

The overall goal of the project is to determine the potentials of the production of bioactive phosphopeptides from phosvitin, using the novel technology and its applicability as nutraceutical, cosmeceutical, or pharmaceutical agents. The results will be used to develop a research proposal for the USDA/NIFA-AFRI program that involves scale-up manufacturing and the evaluation of the health benefits associated with egg yolk.

This work is supported by the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative, Grant No. 2019-67018-29185, from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

The current practice of landfilling urban/wood waste-streams is expensive (tipping fees) and eventually results in long-term environmental problems. Further, current products from this resource are high-volume, low-value products such as landscape mulch, soil conditioner, animal bedding, compost additive, etc. A multidisciplinary collaborative research effort between UMES and a scientist from West Virginia University’s Division of Forestry and Natural Resources will address this problem through the following objectives: a) estimate available UFWWS in 60 towns/ cities in Maryland; and b) develop alternate low-volume, high-value novel bioenergy/bioproducts from these waste-streams to meet Maryland’s emerging bioeconomy market.

This proposal responds directly to the research needs of foresters, arboriculturalists, natural resource managers, researchers and directly addresses one of the high priority areas of the Capacity Building Grant Program - bioenergy/biofuel and natural resources.

The proposed research seeks to upgrade the research capability of the urban forestry program at UMES by providing experiential research training to undergraduate and graduate students and a post-doctoral fellow.

Findings from this research will be distributed through several mechanisms: fact sheets, poster and conference presentations, refereed journal articles, the UMES urban forestry website, and to stakeholders (Maryland Department of Natural Resources, arborists, forest products utilization companies, etc.).

This work is supported by Capacity Building Grant Program, Grant No. 2019-38821-29294, from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

INGENUITY | SPRING 2020

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It is always with much joy that I take the opportunity to pen this dean’s letter for our magazine. 2019 was a very exciting year for SANS with significant progress pertaining to the various teaching, extension, and research endeavors and many new initiatives, some of which are covered in this magazine. For me, leading the wonderful and hardworking faculty and staff of SANS is a tremendous joy, honor, and privilege. The opportunity to work on the many critical issues addressed in the School with such a talented team is very gratifying.

SANS priorities are driven by our stakeholders given that our primary purpose is to serve the citizens of Maryland and the nation. In an environment where resources are limited, it is therefore critical that our priorities are tied to the most pressing challenges. The development of a strong workforce – especially in the areas of agriculture, science, and technology – underpins our core academic programs while on the research and extension front, our programming remains focused on four critical themes: • agriculture and food with a focus on food and nutritional security; • natural resources and environmental sustainability; • human health and development; and • products to market.

Within these four themes, activities are focused on the development of integrated solutions to issues around food systems, water, energy, community wellbeing, youth development, and economic development among others. In our endeavors, we are cognizant of some of the overarching disruptive forces such as those imposed by population growth and climate.

As we implement our 2020 plans of work, we remain positively focused and are committed to continue working closely with our many partners and stakeholders in addressing all that concerns our communities, our nation, and our world.

Moses T. Kairo,

Ph.D., DIC

Dean, School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences

Research Briefs Recent survey studies indicate that less than 10 percent of the crops produced on Delmarva are organic.

Dr. Simon Zebelo One of the key reasons for this low level of organic fruit and vegetable production is the lack of information on organically-based insect pest management. Dr. Simon Zebelo and his co-workers intend to expand organic vegetable production in the Delmarva region by assisting growers in adopting integrated organic pest management practices.

This summer the team developed acceptable tactics involving the use of trap crops for managing the cucumber beetle that

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UNIVERSITY of MARYLAND EASTERN SHORE

Zebelo Researches Effect of Trap Crops on Insect Pests attacks watermelon. By definition, trap crops are the preferred hosts of the target insect pests. And through preliminary study, they learned that cucumber beetles are attracted by summer squash plants.

For the study, the summer squash was planted along the perimeter of the test watermelon plots at UMES’ Agricultural Experiment Station and on the fields of Delmarva farmers at the beginning of the spring season. It has been demonstrated that when watermelon plots are bordered with summer squash, there is a reduced infestation of cucumber beetles and an increased yield in watermelon. These

Grad student Brandon Jackson weighing healthy watermelons.

findings are exciting, and they can be easily transferable to similar crops like cucumber, cantaloupe, and pumpkin.

This work is funded by the USDA/NIFA Capacity Building Grant (CBG) Program, Grant No. 2018-38821-27749, from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

Research Briefs Phage Endolysins as Alternative Antibiotics to Control Clostridia in Poultry This study will provide a new intervention for reducing Clostridium perfringens (Cp) colonization in poultry, reducing the risk of necrotic enteritis (NE), improving animal health, and reducing production costs for the industry.

Editor’s Note Dr. Jennifer Timmons

Clostridium perfringens is a Gram-positive, spore-forming anaerobe and causative agent of NE, a huge problem to the poultry industry. There are regulatory moves reducing the use of antibiotics in animal feed.

Alternative antimicrobials to fight this pathogen are needed.

Bacteriophage (viruses that infect bacteria) lytic enzymes (Ply) (peptidoglycan hydrolases; PGHs) degrade the major structural component of the bacterial cell wall (peptidoglycan; PG) and can kill Gram-positive bacteria (Cp) via osmolysis when enzymes are purified and exposed to the bacteria externally (Roach and Donovan, 2015).

Screening of 43 Cp genomes yielded one key phage lytic enzyme (Ply) (PlyCP41) with the highest lytic activity against all 74 Cp isolates tested (56 chicken, 8 pig, 10 beef) (Swift SM et al., 2018). To protect the PlyCP41 protein from conditions in the chicken gut (acidic pH and proteases), PlyCP41 has been expressed in yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and plants (Nicotiana benthamiana) as potential carrier organisms for delivery of the enzyme to the lower gut. The first major goal is to feed chickens transiently expressed PlyCP41 in plants and yeast and to assay for the ability of these feed additives to reduce a Cp colonization in the gut. A second major goal of this project is capacity building with two historically black colleges or universities (HBCUs): University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) and Morgan State University (MSU). Each of the Co-PIs are faculty at these institutions. UMES is located in a region of Maryland that has close ties to the poultry industry and MSU, located in Baltimore, has an underutilized green house facility.

This work is supported by the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative, Grant No. 2019-67016-29959, from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

Suzanne Waters Street The individual stories that make up this edition of Ingenuity signal a bright future for agricultural and natural sciences at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. How exciting is that? Our story continues, and everyone is doing their best to do their part.

To our researchers, I hope you get a glimpse of what your work and what the work of your colleagues mean to the big picture. You are amazing! To our student researchers, I hope you see that we need you and that we praise you for joining the world of scientific discovery. You are remarkable! To you, our readers, I hope you will continue to cheer us on our way.

It is important to us . . . important to our work. You are our wings!

For the Office of Agricultural Communications, looking back and capturing brief moments (in the scheme of things) and committing a narrative to the page is our way of stewarding the work that has been done and communicating that UMES SANS is concerned with what concerns you. But not just that. It is a way for us to help everyone involved to remember the challenges we’ve already overcome, no matter the size, and to allow what has been accomplished to spur us on in tackling the challenges ahead.

“All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts . . ..”

-William Shakespeare

INGENUITY | SPRING 2020

5

State Senator Examines UMES Research

Senator Hester gets the lay of the land from Dr. Nadine Burton, farm management specialist, during her visit to the UMES Education and Demonstration Farm.

6

During a recent July 2019 visit to UMES, Maryland State Senator Katie Fry Hester (D-Howard/Carroll) evaluated UMES research relevant to nutrient management and water quality issues in the Chesapeake region. She also discussed the relevance of the work to the implementation of the Maryland Phosphorus Management Tool (MD PMT), having been recently appointed to the MD PMT Advisory Board. Recent scientific findings at UMES and other institutions have led to modifications to the PMT, including representation of subsurface phosphorus (P) transport as a result of research on ditch drainage and ‘legacy’ phosphorus.

With over 20 years of research focused on improving nutrient management on the Delmarva Peninsula to improve the health of the Chesapeake Bay, the UMES Chesapeake Water Quality Center has played a significant role in the progress toward achieving the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL), which requires a significant reduction in nutrient and sediment pollution to the Bay by 2025.

Specifically, UMES’ work is heavily aimed

UNIVERSITY of MARYLAND EASTERN SHORE

at helping farmers mitigate P runoff using low cost modifications to their drainage systems. Additionally, UMES’ ditch research, combined with its research on P leaching, has established the foundation for the coastal plain component of the Maryland PMT. Finally, a new technique, called inversion tillage, that could be relevant to the PMT is currently being tested at UMES in collaboration with USDA-ARS scientists.

Drs. Eric May, associate professor of fisheries science, and Amy Collick, research professor of agriculture, food and resource sciences, led the robust discussion with the Senator that covered the following topics: phosphorus transport and losses in ditches, various research projects concerning P mitigation, gypsum curtains and sawdust walls/bioreactors, the Subsurfer, phytoremediation as it pertains to sorghum and energy beets, and deep tillage or P redistribution in the soil profile.

The field portion of the visit entailed brief tours of the UMES Research and Teaching Farm and the UMES Education and Demonstration Farm.

UMES Helps Pave a Way to a Newly Legalized Hemp Industry On October 31, while the nation observed the day known for offering tricks as well as treats, the university’s first ever Industrial Hemp Conference gave only treats while attracting the attention of stakeholders as well as the local media.

Following a Hawk’s welcome from President Heidi Anderson, UMES researchers joined industry experts in providing the more than 200 attendees with up-to-the-minute information about the production and processing of the crop as well as about marketing and laboratory analyses and the legal and regulatory aspects of the business.

The industrial hemp industry is growing by the day as more and more farmers and ag professionals embark upon the commercial production of the cash crop. UMES responded to the prospect of creating a niche for area farmers by establishing in early 2019 its own Industrial Hemp Pilot Research Program, thereby providing an avenue for academic and agricultural research as well as for partnership efforts with stakeholders statewide. Dr. Sadanand Dhekney, associate professor within the Department of Agriculture, Food and Resource Sciences, was chosen to head the Program, which attracted 11 partners who were part of the effort to study the production and management of industrial hemp.

“As anticipated, a significant number of farmers showed interest in the program,” said Dhekney. “The Maryland Department of Agriculture’s stringent selection process helped secure a productive outcome in terms of the farmers and ag professionals we have chosen as partners.”

In addition to working toward helping the farmers grow hemp on their own land, the UMES research team planted and maintained a hemp plot for CBD production at the Education and Demonstration Farm. Farmers and gardeners visiting the location had the opportunity to see the crop at various developmental stages and to obtain information about hemp production.

Along with Dhekney, Drs. Benham Khatabi and Simon Zebelo are guiding the research that will benefit growers in the state of Maryland. Under their leadership, several research projects have been completed, namely: Assessment of Hemp Propagation Techniques and Screening Industrial Hemp; Cultivars for Production of Cannabinoids; Identification and Characterization of Fungal Pathogens Causing Diseases of Hemp in Maryland; Hemp Diseases and Disorders in Maryland; and Cataloguing Insect Pests on Industrial Hemp and Studying the Effect of Insect Foraging on Chemical Profiles of Hemp Flowers.

President Anderson welcomes conference-goers.

WBOC-TV’s Faith Woodard interviews UMES’ Sadanand Dhekney.

UMES’ USDA Liaison Lisa Purnell poses with USDA/NIFA Chief of Staff and keynote speaker, William Hoffman.

Dr. Benham Khatabi (right) talks about research data with Dr. Moses Kairo, dean of the School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences.

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Extension

4-H STEM Education

Over the past year, some 2,500 grade school students and educators throughout Somerset, Wicomico, and Worcester counties benefitted from programming provided

by UMES Extension’s 4-H STEM faculty.

Youth, ages 5-18, participated in hands-on, research-based projects and activities in science, health, agriculture, and citizenship in a positive environment. The 4-H STEM faculty also trained other educators to offer programs utilizing the experiential learning and targeting life skills models.

Educators in UMES’ 4-H STEM program, Bradley Hartle (Wicomico County) and Lisa Murphy (Worcester County), worked closely with public and private schools and boards of education in their respective counties. A sampling of school-based programs include: inschool enrichment such as vermicomposting in the classroom, the STREAM Afterschool Program, the Summer Scientist Academy, the AgDiscovery Summer Program, and STEM Saturdays.

Activities designed to spark STEM interest in young minds included: learning about shark biology by handling a preserved specimen; dissecting squid and worms to learn about internal and external anatomy; extracting DNA from a strawberry to learn the importance of our genetic code; learning about edible insects and the field of entomology; experiencing physics principles such as projectile motion by building paper, straw, and stomp rockets; learning engineering concepts by taking part in building bridges, towers, and paper pop up books; building beginning robotics concepts through LEGO WeDo Robotics; learning about sustainable innovations by studying nature’s structures and functions; and discussing climate change and human involvement.

They also strengthened partnerships with over 30 local organizations who work with youth programming such as Future Farmers of America, the Ward Museum, Assateague and Pocomoke state parks (Meaningful Watershed Education Experience), and Maryland Coastal Bays.

New programming like the 4-H Chesapeake Bay Adventures summer residential

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UNIVERSITY of MARYLAND EASTERN SHORE

Tashe Williams, the Next Generation Scholar Program coordinator in Wicomico County for the Maryland Business Roundtable for Education, helps a summer camp participant identify organisms she found while snorkeling in the Chesapeake Bay as part of the 4-H Chesapeake Bay Adventures.

camp has helped create new partnerships with entities like the Maryland Business Roundtable for Education’s Next Generation Scholars Program. Last summer in the camp’s first year, 20 youth were immersed in nature and STEM activities while exploring the northern end of the Chesapeake Bay. Another new collaboration was formed with UMES’ School of Pharmacy as a result of its being awarded a 5-year, $1.3 million grant for a project: Drug Discovery and Biomedical Research Training Program for Underserved Minority Youth. The grant provides for a summer camp for Somerset County high school students where they gain biomedical lab training by pharmacy faculty and staff.

Murphy trained the faculty on “The 4-H Way: Learn by Doing,” which demonstrated team building techniques and the application of the 4-H Experiential Learning Model through hands-on activities.

UMES School of Pharmacy faculty and graduate students participate in a team building activity building marsh mellow towers to learn how to teach using hands-on activities.

Sixth grade students in Worcester County learn about wetlands and animals living in the Maryland Coastal Bays as part of programming led by Assateague State Park’s Meaningful Watershed Educational Experience.

Agriculture Law Education Initiative

The Agriculture Law Education Initiative (ALEI), a University of Maryland: MPowering the State effort, was designated a University of Maryland Signature Program in 2019.

“The designation indicates that the program meets critical clientele needs; has a mixture of research, evaluation, and scholarship; and establishes public value,” said Nicole Cook, UMES’ environmental and agricultural faculty legal specialist with ALEI. ALEI specialists reached nearly 3,000 people through 58 inperson presentations and webinars to Maryland farmers and agricultural service providers in 16 counties in Maryland and the City of Baltimore, along with six presentations nationally as invited talks, Cook reported. Topics ranged from food safety, pesticide drift liability, and farm succession to employee management, environmental regulation compliance, and direct farm marketing on social media.

One of the year’s highlights was an annual Agricultural and Environmental Law Conference organized by ALEI that attracted some 100 farmers, environmentalists, agricultural service providers, educators, governmental officials, attorneys and students, Cook said. Maryland farmers were also the focus of continuing education efforts addressing legal issues facing them, such as H-2A Farm Employer Compliance, Right-to-Farm law issues, and the Food Safety Modernization Act’s Produce Safety Rule. UMES received funding related to Cook’s Produce Safety Rule educational work from the Maryland Department of Agriculture.

A 3-year Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program grant allowed for an ALEI and University of Maryland Harry R. Hughes Center for Agro-Ecology series of workshops training 110 clientele on how a farm lease can be used to protect the leasing parties and support on-farm conservation practices.

ALEI continued to deliver estate planning education to Maryland farmers during the year and Cook collaborated with

Extension

Penn State Extension on a Legal Considerations for Social Media Marketing guide to help farmers promote their products directly to consumers without legal ramifications. Cook authored the chapter “Managing Legal Risks to Grow Your Urban Farm” for the UME online manual From Surviving To Thriving: Strategies For Urban Farm Success.

ALEI specialists continued to impact students and educators at the undergraduate, graduate, and law school levels; leveraging MPower funding with funding from the University of Maryland College Park (UMCP) Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, UMES School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences, and the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law. In addition, Cook and ALEI specialist Mayhah Suri presented in June 2019 at the Maryland 4-H Congress. The workshop introduced students to the policy-making process through a mock debate about an environmental rule that affected farmers. The students reflected on the importance of scientific information in policy development and the authority of government to legislate about the public good balanced with the importance of protecting individual rights.

For the third consecutive year, an undergraduate and a law student had the opportunity to live and work at the UMCP Wye Research and Education Center through the Russell Brinsfield Summer Internship Program funded through the Hughes Center.

This program combines ALEI resources with funds leveraged from the Hughes Center to offer the students the chance to work on a variety of agricultural research and writing projects to benefit Maryland’s farmers.

Last year was Cook’s first full year with ALEI and as a result of having legal specialists at all three campuses, ALEI was able to provide substantially more education and outreach. Cook said she and her colleagues “are already working on reaching even more people in 2020 with expanded ways to learn about how the laws affect Maryland’s farming operations.”

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Extension

Dixit makes strides in extension programs Strides are being made in alternative and small-scale agriculture extension programs being undertaken by Dr. Naveen Kumar Dixit, assistant professor of horticulture and extension specialist and Maryland’s Northeast SARE coordinator.

Integrated programs focus on the rejuvenation of the fruit industry on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, once a six million poundper-year crop (apple production 1925 USDA census). A multi-variety apple orchard was established in 2017 at UMES for hands-on training for growers, beginning farmers, farm managers, stakeholders, state sustainable agriculture research and education coordinators, small farm program coordinators, nutrient management coordinators and extension associates. Interested parties can see the progression of the orchard from planting through initial productivity and harvesting. A $16,000 per year SARE grant enables Dixit to conduct four training workshops per year.

“This program is also empowering veterans by providing training for fruit cultivation in Maryland,” he said. “Two workshops were held since last spring at Therapeutic Alternatives of Maryland to train veterans.”

Dixit is looking to boost another fruit industry that once flourished on Delmarva: strawberries. One hundred years ago there were 5,260 strawberry farms in Maryland compared to 187 farms 7 years ago, 24 of which were local.

“There is an urgent need to extend the growing season of strawberries to enhance farm income, promote local produce, reduce carbon foot print and rejuvenate the lost strawberry legacy on the Eastern Shore,” Dixit said. A program, “Strawberry Season Extension Using Day Neutral Cultivars, High Tunnel, and Biochar on the Delmarva Peninsula,” aims to do just that. Dixit is the principal investigator on a $173,140 USDA-Evans Allen grant through 2021.

The strawberry industry is dominated by June-bearer, short day cultivars, which restrict the peak production to spring or early summer seasons in the Mid-Atlantic, he said. “There are no comprehensive studies nearby to evaluate the potential of multiple day DNS in open bed and low tunnel regimes to accelerate the local production and extend the season. Strawberry research and extension has enormous potential in the Tri-County area to promote local strawberry

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UNIVERSITY of MARYLAND EASTERN SHORE

production with the leadership of UMES and UME.” Dixit is also a Co-PI on a $10,000 ICTAS Diversity Proposal grant with Virginia Tech titled, “Enhancing Learning, Research and Collaborations among Berry Programs,” through 2021.

Nanotechnology is also being used in another of Dixit’s programs for sustainable soybean production with biotic and abiotic stresses.

Soybean, a dominant crop in Maryland, occupies more than 515,000 acres with a net contribution of $173 million to the state economy, he said. Substantial yield losses can occur due to the plant’s susceptibility to pests and pathogens.

The project involves the use of nano-technological approaches to control soybean insects and fungal diseases in Maryland. “We will use nano-clay, nano-zinc oxide, and their combinations in potted soybean plants in greenhouse and field conditions to generate data,” Dixit said. “Successful outcomes of these nano-particles will reduce environmental pollution and open potential avenues for the cultivation of organic soybeans, which are in demand for raising organic chickens.”

Also with Virginia Tech, Dixit is a Co-PI on a $20,000 grant titled, “Phosphate Reclamation in the Mid-Atlantic: an ICTAS Diversity Proposal” through 2021. The objective, he said, is to build a research partnership between the two institutions located in the Mid-Atlantic, a region in which phosphorus pollution in the form of inorganic phosphate (Pi) is an environmental issue.

Dixit’s lab and the lab of Virginia Tech biochemist Dr. Virginia Gillaspy will transfer an artificial gene cassette that has enhanced Pi accumulating abilities into pennycress, a cover crop being developed for biofuel production. “The ability of Pi accumulating pennycress will be evaluated in Pi-polluted soil here at UMES,” Dixit said. “Eventually, Pi-accumulating pennycress could be used to simultaneously remediate soil Pi, provide soil stability as a cover crop, and the seed oil could be harvested for biofuel.”

As part of a $65,000 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Grant, “Well Connected Communities: Culture of Health in the Tri-County area of the lower Eastern Shore of Maryland,” Dixit established four community orchards (Fruitland, Eden, Princess Anne and Stockton) this year.

Extension

Well Connected Communities (WCC)

Culture of Health Initiative Impact The Well Connected Communities (WCC) project is a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Culture of Health Initiative. On the Lower Eastern Shore of Maryland, the Project’s aim was to engage three communities (Fruitland, Pocomoke, and Princess Anne-Eden) in implementing a culture of health.

Each of the three communities conducted a health needs assessment and then developed and implemented an action plan.

As a result, a coalition-building and a multi-sector health council was initiated to foster cross-sector collaboration with the goal of improving each community’s well-being.

Approximately 250 youth, 50 adults, 12 community-based organizations, seven businesses, and eight government agencies were involved in the project. Under the leadership of youth and adults alike, three projects were implemented: Healthy Street-Healthy Me, Make Fruits Available to All, and Reading and Group Therapy Garden.

Through the collaborative efforts of the WCC project, a farmers market policy was voted and passed in Fruitland, one of the selected communities. In addition, approximately five miniorchards, including three at three different Head Start centers, were developed. The mini-orchards changed the educational environment at the selected centers, and in approximately 2 years, diverse fruits will be available in all three centers as well as in the Fruitland City Park and the Lower Shore Shelter, which spans the three communities.

A multi-sector health council is a critical step in engaging a community and in initiating a collaborative decisionmaking process. More importantly, empowering the community may lead to more positive and sustainable health behavior changes and may move all involved toward achieving health equity within the selected groups of people.

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Extension Most people recognize hibiscus as a tropical plant with beautiful bright blossoms, but little do they know of its importance as a crop. Dr. Nadine Burton, an alternative crop specialist at UMES’ Education and Demonstration Farm, is researching the plant’s validity for local farmers.

Hibiscus, or Hibiscus sabdariffa as it is scientifically known, belongs to the Malvaceae family. There are over 300 species of annual or perennial herbs to the genus hibiscus.

Hibiscus is rich in nutritive value and has been shown to possess phytochemical and pharmacological properties. It is very high in vitamin C and flavonoids and “is right up there with aronia and pomegranate with antioxidants,” Burton said. The calyx, or sepals of the flower that form a whorl that encloses the petals and forms a protective layer around a flower in bud, are used to make tea, juice, jams, and jellies. Burton said it can also be used in cosmetics such as shampoo and soap. In some countries, the leaves are an ingredient in stews and the stems have been used in making fishing nets.

Different countries have different names for hibiscus. It is commonly known in English speaking countries as roselle, hibiscus, and Jamaica sorrel, Burton said. In Arabic it is known as karkedeh, while in Thailand it is known as Krachiap daeng.

To date, 350 pounds of hibiscus seeds have been harvested from the 170 plants on the Demonstration Farm, Burton said. Planted outside in June, they were harvested in September and October. This is the first time in 3 years that the current variety has grown well, Burton said. The UMES Extension’s Michael Sigrist and Dr. Nadine Burton pay plants require 13 hours of sunlight before the calyx forms. a visit to Black Narrows Brewing in Chincoteague, Va. The Mid-Atlantic “adopted” variety, as it is being renamed, is a “high value-added property.” One quart of drink “When Dr. Nadine Burton pops by the brewery, it’s always special. Her is made from ½ lb. fresh calyx and can give three tireless efforts at UMES’ Department of Agriculture, Food and Resource 12-ounce bottles, which carries a market value Sciences are paving the way for local farmers to find small scale value- of $7, Burton said. The UMES research is not added crops to buffet income in the face of an ever-changing climate. Crops for profit, but to introduce to local farmers and the agriculture community. Four major clients like this beautiful hibiscus, destined for our 2nd Anniversary spontaneous currently use UMES’ processed hibiscus: Black collab with our friends at Bluejacket Brewery.”

Narrows Brewery in Chincoteague, Va., for its Black Narrows Brewing, Chincoteague, Va. beer; Shore Gourmet (Roxanne Wolf) in Denton, Md., for its kombucha tea; Habanera Farms, LLC in Tyaskin, Md., for its herbal teas; and for research by Corrie Cotton, an assistant research professor at UMES. Farmers that are interested are also given seeds and seedlings with which to experiment. Burton shows them different techniques to maximize their growing space and still produce a high yield.

Harvesting is a labor intensive process. First the calyxes are plucked from the plants. Seeds are hand removed with an apple corer.

After seeds are removed, they are washed with Tsunami five percent concentration. They are then spread to dry and finally are freeze dried in a USDA-approved system. Studies have shown that no nutrients are lost in freezing, Burton said.

The UMES Education and Demonstration Farm is “gearing up to be a kitchen to help farmers process and package hibiscus.” Currently, our farmers’ products are not in a condition for long shelf life. Processed and packaged correctly, the seeds can be kept for 3 to 4 years.

UMES Researcher Delves into Hibiscus Processing

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Extension

Small Farm Program Reaches Maryland Farmers Through IFARMS Initiatives Two years ago, the On a hot summer day in University of Maryland July, approximately 60 visitors Eastern Shore’s Small Farm braved extreme temperatures Program entered into a to attend UMES’ 2nd annual partnership agreement with Demonstration Farm Field the USDA to implement a Day. The purpose of the event special initiative entitled was to introduce and educate “Improving Farmers Access to participants about alternative Resources and Management crops along with appropriate Solutions (IFARMS).” As production management expressed in the very title, practices. During the morning the overall goal is to expose program, participants were Dr. Nadine Burton, alternative crop specialist with UMES Extension, farmers (particularly those split into small groups in shares the bounty of the UMES Education and Demonstration Farm classified as limited-resource order to walk from station-towith attendees of the 2019 Demonstration Farm Field Day. and underserved) to a cadre station gleaning information of agricultural programs, about growing specialty herbs, services, and experiential aronia, hops, callaloo, high learning activities designed tunnel vegetable production, to increase their ability to honeybee production, and start and maintain successful more. “Following informative agricultural businesses. exchanges, no one left empty“In 2019, we centered handed, carrying a gift of fresh our IFARMS efforts on produce and herbs away with strengthening farmers’ them,” Rogers said. knowledge and skill-base in Rounding out the year on alternative crop production a high note, the UMES Small and sustainable farming Farm Program celebrated practices and in how to their 16th annual Small Farm Warren Blue, owner and operator of The Greener Garden, an become more business and Conference in November. urban farm in Baltimore City, is pictured with UMES Small Farm market savvy,” reported The 2019 conference, which Conference keynote speaker, Mike Beatty, director of the USDA Berran Rogers who serves attracted over 170 participants, Office of Partnerships and Public Engagement in Washington, D.C. as Small Farm Program has substantial impact on the coordinator. The following activities represent a summary of small farm community, Rogers said. Demonstrations and tours took highlights and accomplishments made by the project team. place on UMES’ Demonstration Farm and at a local orchard, while Helping farmers get off to a good start, the UMES Small Farm workshops conducted on canning, small flock poultry processing, Program partnered with Delaware State University and National and pasture rotation for sheep and goats were held simultaneously.

Crop Insurance Services by offering a three-part workshop series Over the 2 days, informational sessions gave attendees the that trained 25 farmers on how to develop marketing plans and opportunity to learn more about the USDA Farm Bill, alternative strategies for their farm business. agriculture, business and marketing, and resources for beginning In response to an increasing interest in growing specialty farmers. Also, a networking session connected participants to a herbs among small growers and gardeners, the UMES Small number of agricultural service providers from the government, Farm Program collaborated with Habanera Farm in Tyaskin, Md., public, and private sectors. Excited about what is to come, planning to establish a specialty herb demonstration garden introducing for next year’s conference is already underway! participants throughout the 2019 growing season to the cultivation “Overall, the IFARMS project has made significant gains by and harvesting practices of select herbs, marketing opportunities, attracting new agricultural clientele and increased participation and to different types of value-added herb products. “As a result of in meetings, workshops, and conferences,” Rogers said. “The workshops held, we have identified approximately 20 small farmers University of Maryland Eastern Shore’s Small Farm Program will and gardeners interested in working with us on growing one or continue to build on the momentum generated as we expand our more specialty herbs,” Rogers said. “Through technical assistance outreach efforts and support of limited-resource and underserved and support, one African American beginning farmer growing farmer audiences.” hibiscus has already developed a market for his crop by selling Stay tuned, as they look forward to even greater service and value-added products.” outcomes in 2020!

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Extension

New Beginnings with SHEEP AND GOATS Some 40 students, grades K-7, traveled from the New Beginnings Youth and Family Services Center in Cambridge, Md., to UMES for a quick visit. While on campus, they interacted with the sheep and goats that are managed by Dr. E. Nelson Escobar, small ruminant specialist and interim associate extension administrator.

The farm visit resulted from an invitation from Marilyn Buerkle, lecturer in the School of Education, Social Sciences and The Arts, who initially began coordinating the visit for Dr. Theresa Stafford, UMES alum and executive director of New Beginnings. It followed a tour of the radio and television facilities on the 1st and 3rd floors of the Engineering and Aviation Science Complex. To the excitement of the children and their chaperones, Leon Lewis and Bill Brophy, both digital media staff, served as gracious and informative hosts.

At the farm, Solomon Kirongo and Harry Taylor introduced the students to the sheep and the goats and to their peculiarities. After braving the “poop” and the skittish nature of the animals, and with some military-style encouragement from their director, the children soon became acclimated to their surroundings.

Committed to planning and developing educational, recreational, and cultural activities for afterschool and summer programs, Stafford made sure the children made the best of their time on campus. She also devotes her time to coordinating activities for families who live in subsidized housing.

Stafford is a retired Maryland supervisor of college and career readiness and has 37 years of experience in public education. She is

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also retired from the Maryland Army National Guard. As a therapeutic foster care provider, she has provided 10 years of guidance for atrisk children. Finally, she is certified to offer training for Restorative Practices in Maryland and Delaware. Having successfully introduced her students to her alma mater and exposing them to technology and live animals, she expressed the desire to return next summer.

New Beginnings is one of many groups who regularly come to UMES to spend time with the animals at the UMES Small Ruminant Farm.

“Watching the children interact with the sheep and goats is one of the rewarding activities within my job,” said Escobar. “I think it is important for today’s youth to come face to face with nature and with food production livestock as often as possible. The interaction helps students of all ages to realize where food come from.”

Linkage Spotlight

Socially Disadvantaged Groups Grant Delivers Farmers converged upon the Student Services Center to display their wares during the special event farmers market held in conjunction with the annual Small Farm Conference.

A mid-August van tour ushered area farmers to three farmsteads where on-farm demonstrations associated with the UMES Socially Disadvantaged Groups (SDGs) Grant highlighted successful farming techniques. One stop landed the participants on the Four Mothers Farm, which specializes in organic scotch bonnet peppers, organic hibiscus, renewable energy, and emerging farm technology. Another stop was on the K&M Farm, which specializes in amaranth, okra, tomatoes, scotch bonnet peppers, and pigs.

And yet another stop was on the Pugh Farm, which specializes in goats and beef cattle. Each of the farms highlighted farming techniques that came out of the training provided by the community development project that was funded by the USDA Rural Development Business and Cooperative Program ($172,000) in 2016.

Designed by Drs. Arthur Allen, Fawzy Hashem and Eric May, and UMES Extension’s Small Farm Director Berran Rogers, the goal was to identify individuals within SDGs who are interested in developing or expanding small businesses involved with the production and sale of various consumer products including, but not limited to, goats, sheep, yellow perch, fruits, and vegetables. SDGs, as identified by the grant, include African Americans, Hispanics, American Indians, Asians, women, and veterans. In addition to identifying such individuals, the grant supported technical training and

assistance on various aspects of business development and business management.

More specifically, farmers who were a part of the grant were taught to develop business plans, prepare fresh produce and other food products for market, market through cooperatives or other joint enterprise approaches, and finance small businesses. The grant was specifically involved in developing a small, but growing cooperative, Somerset Solutions, which has established a produce market that will be located in Somerset County, less than a mile from the university.

Additional accomplishments from this grant include the establishment of a UMES campus-based farmers market, which occurred for the past 2 years in concert with the UMES annual Small Farm Conference. It is anticipated that the market will continue at UMES for years to come. Finally, the team was able to establish a UMES-housed “Single Port Portal,” which provides small businesses, including farmers, with access to valuable online resources that can be used to upgrade, improve, and grow their businesses. The Portal is presently undergoing beta-testing for improvement, efficiency, and productivity.

Dr. Arthur Allen addresses farmers during the project’s first (located in Somerset County) of four listening sessions. Subsequent sessions were held in Salisbury, Md., Delaware, and Virginia.

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International Reach

INTERNATIONAL SERVICE LEARNING IN Costa Rica Four UMES students participated in an international service learning project trip to Costa Rica led in part by Dr. Stephan Tubene, associate professor in the UMES Department of Agriculture, Food and Resource Sciences.

The purpose of the project was to enhance learning, discovery, and engagement in tropical agriculture and food systems for faculty as well as students. Tuskegee University, Delaware State University, Tennessee State University, and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore are working together to train globally competent students while working in partnership with CATIE (the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center) and EARTH University, both in Costa Rica.

Activities planned for the students involved urban farming, traveling to the farmers market, exposure to farmers using grafting to grow fruit, a chocolate making demonstration, making fertilizer, planting trees, and more.

Above, pictured from left, are: Jade Madison, junior, general agriculture major; Tylijah Cephas, senior, animal science/pre-vet major; Joshua Wilmer, graduate student studying agricultural education; Dr. Stephan Tubene, associate professor, UMES Department of Agriculture, Food and Resource Sciences; Miyoung Oh, senior, general agriculture major.

Reid Named Among 2019 Teenovators

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Tyler Reid was one of 367 “fantastic speakers,” their words, during the 2019 Seeds&Chips Global Food Innovation Summit held in Milan, Italy. The Summit, focused on integrating food and agricultural innovation, provided a global platform for the voices of young people, policymakers, entrepreneurs, NGOs, investors, and opinion leaders from all over the world.

Forty-six of the speakers, including Reid, were labeled “Teenovators” (or 19 and younger), a title Their voices are crucial to the synonymous with “the voice of tomorrow.” For development of solutions to the her one-minute presentation, Reid addressed over global challenges they will inherit.

30 attendees while discussing her perspective on With their choices and efforts, they ag innovation. will help humanity transition to a A member of Minorities in Agriculture, better food system.

Natural Resources and Related Sciences --http://www.seedsandchips.com (MANRRS) at UMES, she has been groomed over the last 4 years (three as a part of Jr. MANRRS and one at the collegiate level) to be a leader, a public speaker, and most of all to be professional, all while learning the wonders of modern agriculture. Her MANRRS journey has afforded her outstanding opportunities like completing a Borlaug-Ruan International internship in Tainan, Taiwan at The World Vegetable Center and presenting her research at the Global Youth Institute in Des Moines, Iowa. She has been a member since 10th grade, when she started in Jr MANRRS. “MANRRS has provided a platform for me to grow and evolve as a young professional in the field of agriculture,” said Reid. “The club has provided me with connections to people and other professionals that will last a lifetime. It has fueled my love for agriculture.”

UNIVERSITY of MARYLAND EASTERN SHORE

International Reach

UMES recognized for study abroad program growth

Ameir Boney works on a clothing fashion design project during her Summer 2018 study abroad program in Florence, Italy with the Knowledge Exchange Institute and in London with the Council on International Educational Exchange.

She spent her junior year at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. After graduating this May from UMES with a bachelor’s degree in Human Ecology (fashion merchandising) and an Associate of Applied Science degree in advertising marketing communications from FIT, Boney will work as a buyer for Burlington Industries where she recently interned.

Dr. Lombuso Khoza received the Institute of International Education Generation Study Abroad Seal of Excellence award on behalf of UMES. The university was among 10 collegiate institutions and the only HBCU honored for their study abroad efforts at the organization’s Summit 2019.

Since Khoza took on the role as acting director of the Center of International Education in Fall 2015, the number of students who have participated in international education programs has increased significantly. An effort to give students access to international Dr. Lombuso Khoza travel by obtaining passports in accepts the IIE Study conjunction with the local post Abroad Seal of Exceloffice (a passport caravan), yielded lence award.

62 qualifying students.

“When I began my tenure in this role, UMES only had one student enrolled in a study abroad program,” Khoza said. “Within a 2-year time span, our study abroad program grew to 25 students and is currently at around 85. This number includes short (3 weeks) and long-term (a semester) study abroad, service-learning trips, and mission trips to support medical needs in countries such as Haiti and Vietnam by the School of Pharmacy.”

In Fall 2020, Khoza said, the program will have their first semester-at-sea opportunity. In addition, the office has supported the application of two U.S. Fulbright Award students and a Gilman Award recipient who will be in Peru for the Spring 2020 semester.

There is currently one student in Barcelona for the winter session.

Programs in 2019 included a service learning opportunity in the Dominican Republic and a 22 contingent faculty-led tour to Volterra, Italy. Previous students have studied in Brazil, Costa Rica, Italy, Estonia, Spain, China, South Korea, and Kenya, Khoza said.

According to Open Doors (2018), under six percent of African American students have studied abroad. “The Center of International Education, in participation with organizations such as CIEE and other study abroad partners, strive to raise that statistic higher in supporting UMES students to be competent global citizens,” Khoza said.

Rasimi Sharma, a biology student in UMES’ Department of Natural Sciences, is pictured (second from left) with a group of students testing water quality in the La Confluencia River in Jarabacoa, Dominican Republic during a January 2019 Service Learning Trip.

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Under g r aduate Resear ch & Scholar ship

Experiential Learning

Experiential or hands-on learning is the hallmark of academia for the School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences, particularly as it pertains to research. Summers at UMES are reserved for such learning experiences. We in SANS value each opportunity for our students to undertake internships in industry and/or the public sector. Here are examples . . .

Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Spans 10 Weeks

The NOAA Living Marine Resources Cooperative Science Center (LMRCSC) hosted a 10-week summer program for undergraduate students.

The Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Program, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), is an internship wherein undergraduate students from various universities around the country participate in laboratory and field research activities in the areas of marine and estuarine science.

In addition to field trips, the students were provided instruction on topics like scientific ethics, library resources for research, experimental design, and data analysis. They also attended seminars and workshops covering scientific writing and communication. The Program is administered by Dr. Paulinus Chigbu, director of the NOAA LMRCSC and the REU program, and Dr. Maggie Sexton, the program coordinator.

high school students the opportunity to work in an academic, industrial, or government research laboratory for 8 weeks during the summer.

The participants are exposed to science through learning and discovery, while earning income. In addition, the students are awarded a fellowship for their efforts. SEED students are encouraged to enroll at UMES and pursue a major in the sciences. Should a SEED student choose this route, the student will be eligible for a SEED scholarship to help meet their financial obligations of college at UMES.

The Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP), Lessons in STEM

Dr. Tracy Bell is assistant professor of biology and LSAMP coordinator. The NSF initiated the LSAMP program in 1991 to help the nation meets its science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce needs. Named for former U.S. Rep. Louis Stokes (Cleveland, Ohio), the program is designed to substantially increase Geoscience Bridge Summer Program Offers “When students are engaged in mean- the quantity and ingful summer research experiences, it quality of minority 6 Weeks of Educational Programming increases their scientific efficacy. For students receiving The Geoscience Bridge Summer Program hosted a group of some of these students, this was their baccalaureate degrees rising freshman who were set to begin college in Fall 2019. The first time presenting. So, the symposium in STEM disciplines interns participated in a 6-week educational program involving provided them with an opportunity to and, subsequently, marine geology and chemistry, atmospheric science, physical strengthen their communication skills to increase the oceanography, and remote sensing/GIS. The program was and get a sense of what it may be like number of minority established through a collaborative effort of four cooperative to present at larger conferences. Over- students entering science centers funded by NSF. all, the students were left with a sense graduate school to The Program offered lectures, hands-on laboratory and field of STEM identity and confidence in be- obtain STEM-related activities, field trips, and a freshman seminar course designed to doctoral degrees. coming a scientist.� prepare the future science majors for college life. In addition to Dr. Tracy Bell UMES, under the their science curriculum, the interns also completed college algebra umbrella of NSF and or calculus courses for credit. in collaboration with the University of Maryland Baltimore County Dr. Paulinus Chigbu, professor and director of the NOAA and the University of Maryland College Park, designed a Scholars LMRCSC, directs the program along with Dr. Ali Ishaque, associate Program that provides ongoing academic and social support for professor in the Department of Natural Sciences and associate students pursuing STEM majors. Select participants are eligible director of the Program. for stipend support and continued eligibility is based on academic Project SEED Engages High School performance and program participation.

Students

The Project SEED program at UMES is coordinated by Dr. Victoria Volkis, associate professor of chemistry, and funded by the American Cancer Society (ACS). Every summer since 2007, UMES has partnered with ACS to offer the program to high school students within commuting distance. Project SEED offers local, ambitious, economically disadvantaged or underrepresented

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A Finishing Touch

As a capstone project, students presented their research results to their peers and to faculty during a symposium held at the UMES Paul S. Sarbanes Coastal Ecology Center in Berlin, Md. A joint effort between the REU and LSAMP summer programs, a total of 11 students gave oral research presentations and 19 students gave poster presentations.

Under g r aduate Resear ch & Scholar ship

Scholarship

Webster’s dictionary defines scholarship as the character, qualities, activity, or attainments of a scholar . . . or as the serious formal study or research of a subject. The character, qualities, activities and attainments of several UMES scholars are demonstrated below.

NOAA EPP LMRCSC scholars complete 2019 summer internships Teemer Barry, a sophomore majoring in environmental science, took part in Savannah State University’s Bridge to Marine Science research program.

He spent 2 days on the water aboard a research vessel taking and categorizing samples. Afterward, he conducted research focused on analyzing the distribution of non-native lionfish in the area.

Chryson Best-Otubu, a senior marine science major, completed a Woods Hole (Mass.)

Partnership Education Program internship at the NOAA Northeast Fisheries Science Center. His research involved analyzing the condition factor (a weight/length relationship) of female summer flounder using structural equation modeling. Such analyses have the potential to improve stock assessments and future decisions in fisheries management.

DaQuan Davis, a junior majoring in environmental science, interned at the Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology in Baltimore, Md. He studied the occurrence of antimicrobial resistance in the Inner Harbor and IMET’s aquaculture research center by testing for antibiotic sensitivity on bacterial isolates, identifying the bacterial colonies with multiple resistance to certain antibiotics and finding bacteriophages for phage therapy techniques.

Semaj Fielding, a sophomore majoring in environmental science, did a Mayoral Fellowship in Charleston, S.C. Her research included habitat restoration and management plans for lands that were acquired through FEMA’s buyout process. The group identified plans for the city’s newly acquired properties, which included bioretention rain gardens, impervious pavement, stormwater infiltration trenches, stormwater wetlands, and urban tree canopies.

India Oliver, a biology major and senior, worked on investigating invasive mussel populations using their shells to learn more about their dynamics at the NOAA Great lakes Environmental Research Laboratory in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Her research goals were to assess the shell length and weight relationship at depths in lakes Michigan, Huron, and Ontario and to compare size distributions of live mussels and empty shells.

Rhyan Knight, a senior environmental science major, interned at the New Hampshire University. Geoscience interns there did field work and collected sediment cores at different depths from salt marshes, the bay and rivers to study the mercury, methane, grain size and Loss on Ignition within the cores.

The NOAA Living Marine Resources Cooperative Science Center (LMRCSC) trains and graduates students from underrepresented communities in marine science for careers in research, management, and public policy that support the sustainable harvest and conservation of our nation’s living marine resources.

With its partner institutions, the LMRCSC conducts research on marine and estuarine systems congruent with the interests of NOAA Fisheries. The Living Marine Resources Cooperative Science Center is supported by the NOAA Education Partnership Program with Minority-Serving Institutions (EPP/MSI).

Nylah McClain, a marine and environmental science major and senior, completed an internship at IMET optimizing methods to genetically type reproductively sterile sablefish. The research group used DNA extraction and PCR to determine if chromosomes were present to monitor the growth of farm-grown sablefish. They tested 3 DNA extractions methods and 2 PCR protocols to optimize genetic typing methods.

For more, visit umes.edu/LMRCSC INGENUITY | SPRING 2020

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Under g r aduate Resear ch & Scholar ship

Human Ecology major interns in Iowa Ayanna Lynn, a junior from Gaithersburg, Md., majoring in human ecology with a concentration in dietetics and a minor in chemistry, completed the Cyclone Scholars Summer Research Experience in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition at Iowa State University. It was an all-expense paid internship with a stipend.

Lynn was a summer scholar in Dr. Elizabeth McNeill’s lab, where the focus is on understanding the microRNAs’ contribution to certain human disease conditions as well as the aging process. She enjoyed her summer research experience so much that she applied for the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) Scholar Program at UMES. She was accepted and is currently an LSAMP Scholar conducting research in Dr. Behnam Khatabi’s lab.

Lynn would like to complete a dietetic internship, which is the next step after graduation to becoming a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN). Then she is interested in pursuing a graduate degree in nutrition. She would ultimately like to develop a program that teaches the importance of healthy foods such as a family initiative where lower-income families work together to help neighborhood friends and family eat three healthy meals a day and become a stronger community.

UMES Senior Awarded Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Hernan Osorio, a senior chemistry major, is the recipient of a Thurgood Marshall College Fund Scholarship. The $7,400 award is a 2019-20 TMCF Department of Energy Scholarship with funds going toward tuition and fees, on-campus room and board, and books or other class-related teaching materials.

“Hernan Osorio, a first generation Mexican American who, for lack of funds and familia commitment, almost gave up his college dream, has become an outstanding success in chemistry,” said Dr. Deborah Sauder, chair of UMES’ Department of Natural Sciences. “His undergraduate research accomplishments are significant. He credits his experiences in the Henson Honors Program with supporting him in developing the leadership skills his faculty observe every day. We cannot think of a more deserving student and offer him our heartfelt congratulations.”

Osorio is an aspiring physician. He currently holds a 3.9

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GPA while taking on such activities as being a Center for Access and Academic Success Hawk Mentor, a Richard A. Henson Honors scholar, an events manager for the UMES Pre-Professional Society, and a Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation affiliate/ student researcher.

For his research, he is working under Drs. Victoria Volkis and Udeochu Uche, both associate professors of chemistry in the Department of Natural Sciences. With Volkis, Osorio is working on extraction of essential oils from medical plants and their applications as organic pesticides and in medical textile.

With Uche, he is working on interactions between DNA and Emetine, an anti-cancer agent.

“Hernan is a very curious student, hard worker, and goal-oriented individual. He is passionate about science and excited about each and every discovery he makes in the lab. It is a pleasure to work with him,” Volkis said.

MANRRS Awards Alumna

Alumni Corner

Commander Nisha Oatman Antoine, the deputy director of the International Equivalence Staff in the Office of Policy and Program Development, USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service, was awarded the 2019 UMES MANRRS Alumni Achievement Award.

Antoine joined the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service in 1995 through the USDA/1890 National Scholars Program. She joined the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps in 2007 after 11 years of civil service.

In her current post, Antoine is responsible for ensuring that meat, poultry, and egg products imported into the U.S. are produced under standards equivalent to U.S. food safety standards. She provides leadership and management, ensuring the International Equivalence Staff apply a science-based equivalence process that aligns with World Trade Organization obligations.

Antoine earned a bachelor’s degree in pre-veterinary medicine/animal science with a minor in biology from UMES. She received her Master of Public Health in epidemiology/biostatistics from George Washington University.

NAA at Home with SANS Just ahead of Founders Day festivities, a National Alumni Association (NAA) contingent, led by its president, Deborah Hayman, made a much-welcomed visit to the School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences.

Upon arrival, the group was briefed about the many facets of Extension. Dr. Simon Zebelo (pictured far left, front row), assistant professor in the departments of Agriculture, Food and Resource

Sciences and Natural Science, followed with a discussion of UMES research. Subsequently, the alumni boarded a bus that took them to the UMES Education and Demonstration Farm on Stewart Neck Road where Dr. Nelson Escobar (pictured second from far left, front row) gave them an overview of the community-based research projects established there. On the return trip to campus, the group visited the small ruminant rotational grazing demonstration plot.

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Graduate Research and Scholarship

UMES Faculty and Graduate Students Win ARD Awards

UMES graduate students, from left, Jocelyn Simmons and Wendy Attuquayefio, took first and second place ARD awards, respectively, for their posters. Pictured with them are Dr. Rondall Allen, second from left, dean, School of Pharmacy and Health Professions, and Dr. Moses T. Kairo, right, dean, School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences.

Representing UMES, one faculty member and two graduate students came away from the 19th Biennial Association of Research Directors Research Symposium in Jacksonville, Fla. with top awards. Some 700 researchers from the 1890 Land-Grant Universities attended.

Jocelyn Simmons’ poster titled, “The Efficacy of a Field Collected Fungal Pathogen against Stinkbugs,” won first place in the graduate student poster presentation for outstanding achievement in plant health and production, and plant products.

Wendy Attuquayefio won second place in the graduate student poster presentation for outstanding achievement in animal health and production, and animal products. Attuquayefio presented two posters titled, “Effects of Oxidized Diet on Plasma Oxidative Stress, Postmortem Muscle Metabolism, and Meat Quality Properties of Broilers,” and “Effects of Heat Stress on Broiler Productivity and Postmortem Glycolysis and Quality Properties of Broiler Breast Meat.”

The two were among 236 undergraduate and graduate students competing in the poster competition with 68 receiving awards.

Students also competed in oral presentations.

Dr. Salina Parveen, a professor with over 27 years of experience in teaching, research, and outreach service associated with food

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safety, water quality, and food and environmental microbiology, received the ARD’s highest honor. In addition to the MorrisonEvans Outstanding Scientist Award, a cash prize of $1,000, was presented to her during the symposium’s closing ceremony. The award is in honor of Dr. Richard D. Morrison, president emeritus of Alabama A&M University, and Congressman Frank E. Evans of Colorado.

Parveen has spent the past 17 years at UMES teaching graduate level courses in food science and technology. She has also trained more than 100 graduate, undergraduate, and high school students; some 30 educators and scientists; eight technicians; and five postdoctoral associates and/or visiting scholars. As a researcher, she has addressed regional, national and international issues of food safety and quality. Her grantsmanship has won her more than $13 million of competitive funding that supports her scientific inquiry as well as the training she gives.

She has published three book chapters; over 150 abstracts in scientific meetings for local, national, and international audiences; 54 manuscripts in both nationally and internationally recognized peer-reviewed journals, and has been invited to give 60 presentations. Additionally, her students have won more than 15 awards as oral or poster presenters. Parveen also serves on several national and international scientific committees and as an editorial board member for many peer-reviewed journals.

Graduate Research and Scholarship

Fluid Flow Research Pays Off

Getting accepted to an Ivy League school is a dream come true; having them pursue you is even better. That’s just the position in which Ayobami Ogunmolasuyi, an engineering major with a mechanical specialization from Nigeria and a recipient of a Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation fellowship, was fortunate to find himself.

Following his December 2019 graduation from UMES, Ogunmolasuyi is now an engineering sciences Ph.D. student in the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College. Dartmouth offered the UMES student a full scholarship and stipend to attend the prestigious institution.

Ogunmolasuyi was “discovered” when he attended an Annual Biomedical Research Conference in Indianapolis in November 2018.

There he presented his research “Numerical Simulation of Fluid Flow and Mixing in Microchannels” that he conducted under the lead of Dr. Kausiksankar Das, associate professor of physics.

Microfluidics, the study of fluid flow and mixing in microchannels, has various applications, Ogunmolasuyi said, the most important of which are the functional organs on a chip. “These are functional human organs on a microchip that includes the kidney-on-a-chip and lungs-on-a-chip for testing drugs,” he said. “The bottleneck that the microfluidics industry faces, he said, is the inability of fluids to perfectly mix in these channels due to the miniature size of the mixing chamber, which is where our lab steps in.” He said they are exploring methods such as periodic slip and

no slip boundary conditions, and baker’s transformation to derive an efficient mixing technique for fluids in microchannels.

After the conference, a representative of the school reached out to Das and said they wanted to talk to Ogunmolasuyi about an opening in the lab there. Ogunmolasuyi had been in conversation with them since and was invited to visit Dartmouth in August.

“It’s a funny story,” Ogunmolasuyi said. “I will be working with the senior associate dean of the Thayer School of Engineering on Ice Mechanics research, which was not the original person that contacted me. He snatched me from him.”

His mentor couldn’t be prouder. “Achieving that feat (getting accepted to an Ivy League graduate school) from UMES shows that our students have the talent and potential to reach any peak of excellence in their career,” Das said. “I have no doubt that in the future Ayobami will continue to achieve more laurels and make us proud. Congratulations and best wishes.”

Book Chapter Expounds on Simmons’ Research Jocelyn Simmons, a food and agricultural sciences graduate student, co-authored Chapter 14, “Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria-Induced Defense Against Insect Herbivores,” in the book “Field Crops: Sustainable Management of PGPR.” Dr. Simon Zebelo, an associate professor of entomology and plant biology in UMES’ Department of Agriculture Food and Resource Sciences, and Joseph Disi, Department of Entomology, University of Georgia, were the other authors.

The 17-page chapter focused on PGPR-induced defense against insect pest in field crops with emphasis on the mechanism of action involved against insect pests. It examined PGPR-mediated biochemical and physical changes in the host plant that display insect pathogenicity, methods mixtures application, and challenges associated with their use of PGPR in sustainable agriculture.

The findings show that growth-promoting rhizobacteria improve plant health and productivity by providing protection from diseases and pests and enhancing growth. “PGPR induce systemic resistance against microbial pathogens and herbivorous insects,” Simmons said.

“PGPR are important to farmers and the environment because it is an alternative way to combat chemical applications, which

have detrimental effects to the ecosystem, beneficial insects, and the environment,” Simmons said.

“PGPR enhances crop production by being able to self-replicate and improve productivity and fertility of desired crops.”

Simmons has received awards for her master’s research while serving as the Graduate Student Government president. She is currently studying how to use PGPR to control corn earworm, one of the key insect pests of sweet and field corn. Simmons’ master’s thesis generated interesting data on how to use entomopathogens (fungi), a disease that is only detrimental in insect pests that can affect the mortality rate of insects pests such as stinkbugs. She is preparing to submit her results for publication.

“Researching about ways of sustainable agriculture has influenced Miss Simmons to find more innovative ways to tackle these dilemmas, which is where this book chapter and her master’s degree were introduced,” Zebelo said.

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Graduate Research and Scholarship

Johnson appointed to White House subcommittee Zoe Johnson, a graduate student pursuing a doctorate in toxicology at UMES, was recently appointed to the President’s

President.” The Council is administered by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.

Council of Advisors on Science and Technology subcommittee on

Johnson has also served as an ambassador with the White

Students, Postdoctoral Education, and Early Career Professionals.

House Initiative on HBCUs for the past 3 years and was

“It’s an honor to be appointed and serve at the highest level

recognized during its 2019 Annual HBCU Week Conference in

of science and technology policy-making in our nation,” Johnson

Washington, D.C. He received a student recognition award as

said. “The subcommittee is the first of its kind and I’m challenged

part of the group’s Excellence in Innovation and Competitiveness

to be one of its trailblazers.”

Awards.

The Council is an advisory group of “the nation’s leading

Johnson, former president of UMES’ Graduate Student

scientists and engineers, appointed by the President to augment

Council, is poised to defend his dissertation next fall. His research

the science and technology advice available to him from inside

focuses on understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms

the White House and from cabinet departments and other

of environmental toxicants that play a role in the etiology of

federal agencies.” It is consulted about and often makes policy

neurodegenerative disorders and terms neuroprotective strategies

recommendations “concerning the full range of issues where

for neurodegeneration. In layman’s terms, he is studying promising

understandings from the domains of science, technology, and

approaches to attenuating Parkinson’s disease processes in the

innovation bear potentially on the policy choices before the

laboratory.

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UNIVERSITY of MARYLAND EASTERN SHORE

FACULTY AND STAFF FOCUS Khatabi Fronts Proteomics

Das lauded for research that includes undergraduate students

Dr. Kausiksankar Das (left) with two of the country’s pioneers in carbon nanotube and graphene research – Dr. Ray Baughman (center) and Dr. Ric Kaner (right).

Dr. Behnam Khatabi was recently featured on the front cover of a prominent scientific journal. Not his likeness, per se, but a part of him just the same.

The editors of Proteomics: Proteomics and Systems Biology invited Khatabi et al. to write the article he titled “Plant-Microbe Symbiosis: What has Proteomics Taught Us?” for inclusion in the August 2019 edition of the journal. Upon reviewing it, they chose the schematic he created that compares the effects of various types of symbiotic and non-symbiotic interactions on a host plant as the cover photo.

“I am very pleased to have my graphic on the front cover of one of the best journals in protein chemistry in the world,” said Khatabi.

Proteomics is published by Wiley VCH and has a 2018 ISI impact factor of 2.106. In 2015, the journal was ranked 13th out of 77 publications in “Biochemical Research Methods”

by Thomson Reuters and reported an impact factor of 4.079. It was first published in 2001.

“You are my hero by bringing frontier research to student experiments!”

Dr. Ray Baughman, editor of the journal Science and a distinguished professor at the University of Texas, wrote those words to Dr. Kausiksankar Das. Baughman’s praise came following the physics professor’s presentation of research findings at the Advanced Functional Materials Conference in Washington, D.C. and the Functional Materials Conference at the University of California, Los Angeles—both international events.

Das is especially devoted to teaching undergraduate students how to conduct high quality, cutting-edge research. “I am very impressed with Professor Das because of his enthusiasm in bringing science in novel ways to young people,” said Baughman. “His online videos are so attractive, showing plasma made using simple household items, for example.

They all show simple configurations of household devices to teach young people that science is approachable, enjoyable, and thrilling.”

Baughman said that Das is able to communicate a “deep understanding of science and is innovative in showing how to accomplish complex science in simple ways.” He said he reminds him of someone in his life who, like Das, was inspiring to young people. Baughman recounted that in high school he was able to get a job at the University of Pittsburg because of Dr. George Jeffery, a structural crystallographer. Working with Jeffery, he said, was a “life changing experience” that inspired him to create the George A. Jeffrey NanoExplorers program in Jeffery’s honor following his death from Lou Gehrig’s disease in 2000 at the age of 84. The NanoExplorers program promotes nanotechnology-based education for high school sophomores and upper classmen.

Das received similar kudos from Dr. Ric Kaner, a professor at UCLA, who interacted with him during both conferences. Kaner was particularly impressed with the research Das presented on laser scribed graphene nano inductors.

“It’s very exciting work and follows up on some things we (researchers at UCLA) have done,” Kaner said. “I think it’s fantastic that he can do this while working mainly with undergraduates. He has really contributed a lot to the field and the development of different students.”

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FACULTY AND STAFF FOCUS

UMES researcher granted three quarters of a million dollars funding

Dr. Byungrok Min, assistant professor in UMES’ Center for Food Science Technology, was awarded a total of nearly $700,000 by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s 1890 Capacity Building Grant Program for two of his research projects.

His first project, “Development of Nutritionally Enhanced Corn Dried Distillers Grains with Solubles as Phytogenic Alternative to Antibiotic Growth in Broiler Production,” focuses on the use of nutritionally enhanced corn dried distillers grains (NE-DGGS) as an economically viable alternative to Antibiotic Growth Promoters.

The project, which received $499,999 in funding over a 2-year period, looks to combat antibiotic resistance that is due to

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the use of many antimicrobial agents used in livestock feed. Min’s goal, he said, is to further research NE-DGGS as a means to stop the use of antibiotics in animal feed, resulting in less antibiotic resistance in agriculture and human populations.

“Exploring Potential of Bioactive Phosphopeptide Production from Phosvitin in Hen’s Egg Yolk as a Novel Functional Ingredient,” is the second of Min’s projects to receive funding by USDA/ NIFA. The $200,000 research grant will go towards exploring novel ways to increase the utilization of the egg yolk. “Due to cholesterol and lipid concerns, many consumers underutilize the vitellus,” Min said. “However, phosvitin is a prominent protein found in the egg yolk

UNIVERSITY of MARYLAND EASTERN SHORE

and has the potential to produce bioactive phosphopeptides. These products can be used in nutraceutical and pharmaceutical products in addition to preventing microbial growth in foods.”

With nearly three quarters of a million dollars in funding, Min aims to “solidify the sustainability of the egg industry in addition to improving animal health and contributing to global efforts against antibiotic resistance.”

FACULTY AND STAFF FOCUS

Marsh Wins APLU Accolade Dr. Lurline Marsh was among five regional

Marsh touches and makes a difference in the

recipients of the 2019 Excellence in College

lives of students every day. I salute her for her

and University Teaching Awards for Food and

dedication and tremendous commitment to

Agricultural Sciences by the Association of Public

students.”

and Land-Grant Universities System at its annual meeting in San Diego in November.

“Today, we recognize the extraordinary

Marsh, a professor of horticulture at UMES over the past 15 years, has taught a range of courses including plant propagation,

efforts of educators, teachers, researchers, leaders,

current issues in sustainable agriculture,

and extension professionals whose science-based

crop physiology and ecology, international

work creates a tremendous positive impact by

agriculture development, and the general

helping their clientele seize the opportunities

education courses: Introduction to Plant Science

and overcome the

and the First

challenges they face

Year Experience

through advanced

Seminar. She

technology,” said

includes team-

Dr. Scott Angle,

based teaching with

director, National

the collaboration

Institute of Food

of peers to

and Agriculture,

complement her

USDA.

expertise and

The Excellence

enrich her courses.

in College and

Experiential

University Teaching

learning is an

Awards recognize

integral part of her

university faculty

teaching, including

for engaging and preparing students for the future, he said. It recognizes individuals committed to

Pictured, from left, at the awards ceremony are: Dr. Doug Steel APLU vice president, Food Agriculture and Natural Resources; Dr. Moses Kairo, dean, UMES School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences; Dr. Lurline Marsh, professor, UMES Department of Agriculture, Food and Resource Sciences; Dr. Scott Hutchins, USDA deputy undersecretary, Research, Education and Economics; and Dr. Juan Marcos Fernandez; chair APLU Academic Programs Committee on Organization and Policy (ACOP) and associate dean and director of Academic Programs, College of Agriculture, Purdue University.

programs in lifelong learning and contributions to improving communities.

her study abroad trips with students who affirm that the experiences improve their personal growth.

Marsh has

won over $4 million in collaborative teaching and research grants

“UMES has joined a distinguished list of universities

that support training, mentoring, and professional development of

being honored,” said Dr. Moses Kairo, dean, UMES School of

students at UMES. Across different agriculture disciplines, students

Agricultural and Natural Sciences. “This award affirms the high

hone their soft and disciplinary skills through these grants. Her

quality of instruction provided at UMES and is truly reflective of

research includes organic agriculture, food safety, soil health, and

the university’s push towards excellence. Without a doubt, Dr.

specialty crop and precision agriculture.

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FACULTY AND STAFF FOCUS

CHIGBU GRANTED WILSON H. ELKINS PROFESSORSHIP FOR FY 2020 Dr. Paulinus Chigbu, professor in the Department of Natural Sciences and director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Living Marine Resources Cooperative Science Center (LMRCSC) at UMES, received a 2020 Wilson H. Elkins Professorship.

“The LMRCSC and the Department of Natural Sciences are researching the effects the environment has on what fish eat,” Chigbu said. “This funding will allow for us to continue observing the changes in the

fish population in Maryland lagoons and the ocean.”

Of the 16 scholarship applicants, Chigbu is one of three recipients of the coveted award. He impressed the review committee with his plans to continue research focused on the environmental factors that influence fish recruitment and trophic dynamics.

In addition, Chigbu’s efforts to continue the recruitment and the expansion of the Geosciences Bridge Program was a factor in the committee’s final review process.

Xia wins NSF research funding 28

UNIVERSITY of MARYLAND EASTERN SHORE

The Geosciences Bridge Program is an annual program to recruit rising college freshmen and provide them with a 6-week internship that focuses on educating students who plan to pursue a career in the natural and atmospheric sciences. It is supported by the LMRCSC. The $70,000 in funding from the Wilson H. Elkins Professorship will allow Chigbu to continue conducting pertinent research involving local waterways and aid in supporting students in underrepresented communities.

Dr. Meng Xia, associate professor in the Department of Natural Sciences, is principal investigator for a grant project focusing on the Maryland Coastal Bays that received nearly half a million in funding by the National Science Foundation.

The project is ongoing until the end of June 2022.

The research is titled, “Excellence in Research: Wave Effects on the Dynamics of a Multiple-Inlet Bay System During Storms.” It will benefit the broader field of physical oceanography by developing field-tested parameterizations for the modeling of wave effects and by expanding knowledge of wave effects to a new range of geometric scales and physical conditions, Xia said.

Xia’s research interests involve river plume and estuary dynamics; ecological, biogeochemistry, and larval transport process (TMDL) modeling; nearshore wavecurrent dynamics and sediment transport process; and river watershed modeling.

FACULTY AND STAFF FOCUS

Parveen Honored Among USM Faculty The University the World Health System of Maryland Organization, the Board of Regents Food and Drug awarded Dr. Salina Administration, and Parveen, professor organizations in other of food science countries to develop and technology at more accurate UMES, a 2018-19 risk management Regents’ Faculty practices.

Award for Excellence She is currently in Research/ conducting Scholarship/ research on the Creative Activities. prevalence, sources, She was among four persistence, growth/ researchers to receive survival, control, the honor recognizing antibiotic resistance, research prowess. pathogenicity, Pictured left to right are USM Chancellor Robert Caret, UMES President USM faculty also genomics, Heidi Anderson, Dr. Salina Parveen, and Board of Regents Chair Linda were singled out in metagenomics, Gooden. the areas of excellence transcriptomics, and in teaching, public service, and mentoring. proteomics of major food and waterborne pathogens in seafood, Parveen’s award-winning research is aimed at improving the poultry, meat, fresh produce, and in aquatic environments to better safety and quality of seafood and poultry, and to safeguard aquatic understand their sources, persistence, and control in food and water. environments. Her research focuses on developing, evaluating, and As these pathogens have been responsible for several infections and validating rapid molecular immunological methods that aid in the outbreaks associated with the consumption of contaminated food, detection of both food and waterborne pathogens like salmonella, her team is also applying nanotechnology to establish regulatory vibrio and listeria. Parveen’s research findings have been adapted guidelines for food and water (shellfish harvesting and irrigation) as by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, information is limited about these guidelines.

Khoza receives Carnegie fellowship

Dr. Lombuso Khoza, a professor in UMES’ Human Ecology Department and interim director of The Center for International Education, spent a month this past summer at the University of Pretoria, South Africa, for a Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship she was awarded Fall 2018.

Khoza, along with her colleague, Dr. Nadine Sonnenberg of the University of Pretoria, worked on the project entitled, “Curriculum Co-Development for Sustainable Clothing and Textile Development Courses.” They visited four campuses and presented at three as part of their fellowship activities. During their time there, Khoza and Sonnenberg also hosted a workshop addressing curriculum gaps in textiles and apparel that was attended by participants from 10 institutions from South Africa and Eswatini. An abstract, “Insights derived from a curriculum codevelopment project for sustainable clothing and textile undergraduate courses,” was submitted and accepted for presentation at the 14th International South African Association of Family Ecology and Consumer Science Conference in March as a result of the experience, Khoza said. The theme of the annual event is “Sustainable Futures Through Consumer Science: Perspectives from the Global South in Pretoria.

From left, Dr. Nadine Sonnenberg of the University of Pretoria is pictured with Dr. Lombuso Khoza of UMES.

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FACULTY AND STAFF FOCUS

Tenure and Promotion Congratulations The School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences is pleased to announce that the following faculty members have received tenure and/or promotion 2017-2019:

Promotion to Full Professor:

Dr. Jennifer Bobenko Department of Natural Sciences

Dr. Mobolaji Okulate Department of Natural Sciences

Dr. Joseph Pitula Department of Natural Sciences

Tenure and Promotion to Associate Professor: Dr. Kausiksankar Das Department of Natural Sciences

Dr. Donna Satterlee Department of Human Ecology

Dr. Simon Zebelo Department of Agriculture, Food and Resource Sciences Department of Natural Sciences

Tenure: Dr. Maurice Crawford Department of Natural Sciences

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UNIVERSITY of MARYLAND EASTERN SHORE

Zoumenou recognized among EFNEP peers Dr. Virginie Zoumenou, professor of dietetics and nutrition and 1890 Nutrition and Health Programs director, will serve the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program in two leadership roles this year.

Her colleagues nominated her as an “Outstanding EFNEP Program Leader” and chose her from among them to serve as one of 15 “Program Leader Exemplars,” said Dr. Susan Baker, professor and extension specialist at Colorado State University and the EFNEP coordinator. The program leaders, she said, are a group of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education and EFNEP staff from 1862 and 1890 Land-Grant Universities working with the SNAP-Ed Program Development Team executive committee to develop core competencies for all job categories within their programs.

In this capacity, Baker said, Zoumenou will use the “Developing a Curriculum” process to create, validate, and confirm new core competencies or revise existing core competencies for four job categories: program leaders, program supervisors, professional educators, and paraprofessional educators.

Zoumenou will attend the 2020 national EFNEP meeting on March 2 in Arlington, Va., where she will begin her duties as a “Program Leader Exemplar.” She was selected based on a survey whereby peers nominated program leaders “who are experienced, well respected, and who might be described as outstanding by their colleagues.”

Zoumenou has been a faculty member at UMES since 2006. She develops and conducts Extension outreach programs and research projects emphasizing nutritional needs throughout the life cycle while targeting chronic disease prevention. For the past 10 years, she has provided leadership for three 1890 outreach nutrition and health programs: the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, and the Family and Consumer Sciences Program. She also launched the UMES Center for Obesity Prevention and serves as its director.

As a faculty member, Zoumenou holds doctorates in biochemistry and nutrition (National University of Abidjan Côte d’Ivoire) and dietetics and nutrition (Florida International University). She has built strong collaborations with underserved communities; social services; and community based organizations at local, state, national, and international levels. In addition, she has been awarded more than $2.5 million through external funding.

“It is not surprising that Dr. Zoumenou has been given such an accolade, because the quality of her programs and activities are hard to match. She is a unique asset to our UMES Extension Program,” said Dr. Nelson Escobar, interim associate administrator for Extension at UMES.

FACULTY AND STAFF FOCUS

UMES Professors Author Unique Textbook on Bioenergy

Drs. Madhumi Mitra, biological and environmental sciences, and Abhijit Nagchaudhuri, engineering, have reached the pinnacle of a project 4 years in the making. Their textbook, “Practices and Perspectives in Sustainable Bioenergy: A Systems Thinking Approach,” is now available.

What makes the textbook standout, Mitra said, is that it is a contributed volume with each original chapter written by relevant experts in the respective fields of research and teaching in the areas of bioenergy, bioproducts, and sustainability. Diverse contributors include chemists; biologists; mechanical, chemical, and agricultural engineers; environmental scientists; physicists; and experts in business. UMES is represented not only by Mitra and Nagchaudhuri, but also by Drs. Kausiksankar Das, associate professor of physics; Monisha Das, associate professor of business, management, and accounting; and Dr. Xavier Henry, lecturer in aviation sciences, as well.

The book presents “a systems approach to bioenergy and provides a means to capture the complexity of bioenergy issues, including both direct and indirect impacts across the energy economy.” It addresses critical topics such as: systems thinking; sustainability; biomass; feedstocks of importance and relevance; anaerobic digestion and biogas; biopower and bioheat; and policies, economy, and rights to access to clean energy.

Each chapter includes a review with highlights of the key points, critical-thinking questions, and a glossary. “The open-ended questions create the opportunity for readers to hone their skills, explore, and think out of the box,” Mitra said.

Advanced undergraduates and graduate students can use it as a primary or secondary textbook in courses related to sustainable bioenergy and bioproducts. Researchers, professionals, and policy makers will also be able to use it for current reference materials.

A launch seminar with some of the interdisciplinary collaborators in attendance will be held at UMES on May 7 at 4 p.m. Another launch is slated for June at the annual meeting of the American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE) where Mitra and Nagchaudhuri have served in different capacities, including division chairs with the Energy Conversion and Conservation Division, one of the largest divisions of ASEE. “All of us are very excited about this endeavor,” Mitra said. “We are thankful to the contributing authors for being patient and for believing in us that this would come to fruition.”

The book is available at www.springer.com.

“There has been an increasing trend in the Dr. Sadanand Dhekney, associate professor commercial cultivation of medicinal and aromatic of genetics and plant breeding, is co-author on the plants, and large-scale extraction of the active book, “Medicinal Plants: From Farm to Pharmacy.” compounds, along with their processing and The book includes 17 chapters written by marketing as dietary supplements,” Dhekney experts in the field of medicinal plants cultivation, said. “Chemical compounds with specific mode chemistry, and biomedical research and edited of action in the human body have also been

by Dhekney along with colleagues Nirmal Joshee discovered, tested, and produced as drugs. This of Fort Valley State University’s Agricultural trend has sparked the sharing of information across Research Station and Prahlad Parajuli of Wayne the world, providing impetus to research towards State University’s Department of Neurosurgery. It discovering potential life-saving drugs.” has been called, “an important treatise that covers The book, he said, provides timely information topics providing an excellent, in-depth review on techniques for the cultivation of plants with of the pipeline starting from the production, Dhekney medicinal properties, in vitro studies detailing mechanistic studies and efficacy testing up to the the effect of bioactive molecules from various time a plant-based product reaches the market.”

Co-Authors plant species using the human/animal cell culture “The book highlights the vast plant wealth Medicinal system as well as in vivo disease models and the around us and their tremendous benefit to both humans and animals,” Dhekney said.

Plants Book processing of various plant parts for formulation into medicines.

It is suitable for people with a limited “My fellow editors and I hope this book will instigate some level scientific background interested in knowing more about the effects of consciousness, enthusiasm, and gratitude towards the tremendous of plants on human health, Dhekney said, along with students at health benefits that are hidden in the flora surrounding us,” Dhekney both the undergraduate and graduate levels who wish to pursue a said. career in the field of medicinal plant chemistry and cultivation and The book is available at www.springer.com. researchers.

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From left, David Balcom, Brian Rosati, Ebony Jenkins, Walt Hopkins, Anthony Washington, Cheryl Steinbacher, Diamond Nwaeze, Dr. Heidi Anderson, Karl Binns, Jr., and Thomas Truitt.

Farm Credit Foundation Partners with UMES The Farm Credit Foundation for Agricultural Advancement committed $100,000 to collaborate with UMES on programs over a 3-year period, 2019-2021. The funds will benefit the World Food Prize—MD Youth Institute, the Maryland Future Farmers of America (FFA) State Convention, the Maryland Agricultural Teachers Association (MATA) Conference, and the Junior MANRRS Leadership Institute.

“The School of Agriculture and Natural Sciences at UMES plays such a crucial role in preparing the next generation of agriculture advocates,” said Dale Hershey, chairman of the Farm Credit Foundation for Agricultural Advancement. “The Foundation is proud to provide assistance to launch these valuable programs to educate students and continue to grow the other side of ag.”

Staying true to its mission, the Foundation donated more than $40,000 in 2019 to agriculture education programs in MidAtlantic Farm Credit’s footprint. In addition to

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UNIVERSITY of MARYLAND EASTERN SHORE

these donations, the Foundation also gave away five $2,500 scholarships to agriculture teachers last year and eighteen $10,000 scholarships to students studying agriculture this year.

“I am delighted with our partnership with Farm Credit and with their interest in developing talent to serve the agrifood industry,” said Dr. Moses Kairo, dean of the School and Agricultural and Natural Sciences. “For the sake of our students, I look forward to working more closely together in the near future.”

The Farm Credit Foundation for Agricultural Advancement is a $3M non-profit foundation formed in 2015 to help advance the future of agriculture. The Foundation’s scholarship program is open to all students residing in MidAtlantic Farm Credit’s five-state territory who fit the eligibility requirements. The scholarship program was announced in 2016 as part of its 100th anniversary.

SELECT PUBLICATIONS (2019-2020) Ahuchaogu CD, Ishaque AB, Elnabawi A. 2019.

Impact of polychlorinated biphenyl congeners on cell proliferation and estrogenic activity in human placental trophoblast cells. The Toxicologist: Late -Breaking, Supplement to Toxicolo. Sci. 168(1):11. ISSN 1096-6080.

Bediako A, Hamad T, Ishaque AB, Elnabawi A. 2019.

Exposure to bisphenol A impairs

mitochondrial function and alters the activity of antioxidant enzymes in human neuroblastoma cells. The Toxicologist, Supplement to Toxicol.

Sci. 168(1):77, ISSN 1096-6080.

Calvo P, Zebelo S, McNear D, Kloepper J, Fadamiro H. 2019. Plant growth-promoting

rhizobacteria induce changes in arabidopsis thaliana gene expression of nitrate and ammonium uptake genes. J Plant Interact. 14(1):224-231. DOI: 10.1016/j. envres.2019.02.019.

Cao Y, Deng Z, Wang C. 2019. Impacts of surface gravity waves on summer ocean dynamics in Bohai Sea. Estuar. Coast. and Shelf Sci. DOI: 10.1016/j.ecss.2019.106443.

Chigbu P, Malinis L, Malagon H, Doctor S. 2019.

Influence of temperature on the occurrenceand distribution of sand shrimp (Crangon septemspinosa) in mid-Atlantic Coastal Lagoons. J Crustacean Biol. 39(5):586-593.

Chung JS, Huang XS, Bachvaroff TR, Lawrence A, Pitula JS, Jagus R. 2019. Reovirus changes transcript levels of eukaryotic translation initiation factor eIF4E family members and elF4E-binding protein (4E-BP) in the blue crab, Callinectes sapidus. J Shellfish Res. 38:23-34.

Clinton-Scott, B. 2018. Retail organizations sharing tacit knowledge. IJBM. 6(6):17-22. BM 1806-015.

Cruz-Marrero W, Cullen DW, Gay NR, Stevens BG. 2019. Characterizing the benthic community in Maryland’s offshore wind energy areas using a towed camera sled: Developing a method to reduce the effort of image analysis and community description. PLoS ONE. 14(5):e0215966.

Disi J, Simmons J, Zebelo S. 2019. Plant growthpromoting rhizobacteria induced defense against insect herbivores in the field crops. In Maheshwari DK, Dheeman S, (eds) Field Crops: Sustainable management by PGPR. Sustainable Development and Biodiversity 23. Springer Nature, Gewerbestrasse. DOI: 10.1007/978-3030-30926-8.

Elfadul RA, Jesien R, Elnabawi A, Chigbu P, Ishaque A. 2019. Analysis of emerging contaminants in Maryland Coastal Bays using in vitro bioassays

as biological screening tools. The Toxicologist, Supplement to Toxicol. Sci. 168 (1), p 40. ISSN 1096-6080.

Hamad T, Bediako B, Ishaque A, Elnabawi A. 2019.

Influence of bisphenol A on hCG release, differentiation and proliferation of human trophoblast cells. The Toxicologist, Supplement to Toxicol. Sci. 168 (1), p 482, ISSN 1096-6080.

Haymaker J, Sharma M, Parveen S, Hashem F, May EB, Handy ET, White C, East C, Bradshaw R, Micallef S, Callahan MT, Allard S, Anderson B, Craighead S, Gartley S, Vanore A, Kniel KE, Solaiman S, Bui A, Murray R, Craddock HA, Kulkarni P, Foust D, Duncan R, Taabodi M, Sapkota AR. 2019. Prevalence of shigatoxigenic and atypical enteropathogenic escherichia coli in untreated surface water and reclaimed water in the Mid-Atlantic. U.S. Environ Res. 172(2019):630-636. DOI: 10.1016/j. envres.2019.02.019.

Jayarathne S, Stull AJ, Miranda A, Scoggin S, Claycombe-Larson K, Jung Han K, MoustaidMoussa N. 2018. Tart cherry reduces inflammation in adipose tissue of zucker fatty rats and cultured 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Nutrients.

10(11): E1576. PMCID: PMC6266132.

Jayarathne S, Stull AJ, Park OH, Kim JH, Thompson L, Moustaid-Moussa. 2019. Protective effects of anthocyanins in obesity-associated inflammation and changes in gut microbiome.

Mol Nutr and Food Res. PMID:31389663.

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