The laboratory is another tangible step in the growing partnership between IANR and NSRI that brings together researchers from both institutes to increase research and development in:

• Agricultural and natural resources security, defense and countermeasures;
• Biological defense in support of the U.S. Departments of Defense and Homeland Security, and other government stakeholders;
• Development and deployment of biosurveillance, biodetection and diagnostic tools; and
• Pandemic preparedness related to human, livestock and crop plant diseases that could result in disruptions to the U.S. and global food systems.

“This new effort is a perfect marriage of key strengths and priorities of the entire University of Nebraska system: national security, preparedness, and agriculture and natural resources. The lab will be a pride point for our university and state. I’m thrilled that IANR and NSRI are collaborating in this way, and I’m excited to see the innovations that will result from this forward-thinking partnership,”

said NU President Ted Carter. 

The new laboratory also aligns with Nebraska’s commitment to bold, innovative and important research, said Chancellor Ronnie Green.

“No university is better positioned to lead with a new collaborative biosecurity laboratory. We have a long history of seeking bold solutions to complex problems, and our expertise in agricultural and defense-related innovation is exceptional,”

Green said.

The location of the lab, adjacent to other molecular life scientists, biomedical engineers and the Nebraska Center for Virology, provides opportunities for NSRI researchers, staff and program leaders to engage with faculty, students and staff throughout IANR and the university.

“Ensuring the safety of our food supply is a wickedly complex endeavor. A broad, collaborative approach drawing on disciplines including virology, biological systems engineering, chemistry and biochemistry, statistics, animal science, veterinary medicine, plant pathology, natural resources, food science and many others will be key to the success of this exciting collaboration,”

said Mike Boehm, NU vice president and Harlan Vice Chancellor for IANR.

In addition to the lab, NSRI appointed 10 IANR researchers as NSRI Fellows in May 2021. One fellow is already contributing to the Nebraska Drug Discovery and Development Pipeline, a long-term project funded by the federal government through NSRI to develop drugs needed by warfighters. NSRI, the Department of Defense-designated University Affiliated Research Center of the University of Nebraska, and U.S. Strategic Command also recently leveraged IANR’s West Central Research and Extension Center to test unmanned aerial systems for a DOD sponsor.

“We are actively seeking opportunities to collaborate in a meaningful way with IANR. This lab demonstrates the foresight NU and NSRI can bring to the DOD — combining Nebraska’s tremendous strength and leadership in agriculture and biosecurity with NSRI’s deep understanding of the complexities of strategic deterrence across the threat spectrum and in multiple domains,”

said retired Maj. Gen. Rick Evans, NSRI executive director.

Joshua Santarpia, NSRI research director of chemical and biological programs and associate professor of microbiology and pathology at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, leads the Collaborative Biosecurity Laboratory affirmed:

“This lab represents a host of new opportunities for both NSRI and IANR. Through this lab, and the collaboration that it represents, we can look at ways to leverage NSRI’s research into agricultural problems, bring new opportunities for IANR scientists to grow the research to support national security and build new programs in agricultural biosecurity together.”

Source: University of Nebraska 

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“Monarch Tractor continues to accelerate the adoption of sustainable farming practices by helping farmers achieve environmental and economic goals. With the support of the USDA, we are excited to team up with Hopville Farms and further our commitment to innovation in the agriculture sector,”

said Praveen Penmetsa, co-founder & CEO, Monarch Tractor.

Monarch Tractor and Hopville Farms’ strategic alliance was made possible through the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. The organization selected Hopville Farms for funding under the Conservation Innovation Grant program to integrate and test Monarch Tractor’s autonomous electric tractor.

“Monarch Tractor is an ideal partner due to its collaborative approach to solving the issues facing farmers today. We’re eager to implement Monarch’s technology into our operation as its autonomous capabilities will help improve labor productivity, while electrification will reduce our carbon footprint,”

said Jim Hoffmann, owner, Hopville Farms.

The USDA Conservation Innovation Grant program is one of several funding opportunities available to farmers deploying Monarch Tractor for its unique, fully electric, driver-optional features. This approval for funding through the USDA adds to a growing list of funding awards for Monarch partnerships that includes California, Norway, and New Zealand. Each program aims to improve agricultural operations through green and sustainable technology and best practices.

The Monarch Tractor is the first to offer a trifecta of electrification, automation, and data analysis that empowers sustainable farming increases efficiency, safety and maximizes profitability for farmers. To see the Monarch Tractor in action, watch this video.

Source: Monarch Tractor

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They teamed up with the team of the University of Nebraska‘s Testing Ag Performance Solutions competition (UNL-TAPS), whose mission is to encourage growers to adopt new technologies to help them boost efficiency.

As part of the program, a group of selected growers competes in several categories (Most profitable grower, highest yield, etc), while using different tools and technologies. Last year, two teams who used Phytech took home three awards.

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Layne Mustian is a senior at Texas A&M University where she is majoring in agricultural communications and journalism and minoring in both agricultural economics and tourism management. Layne’s interest in agriculture grew into a passion at a young age as she watched her father grow and conduct critical research on various crops in the Texas panhandle. In high school, Layne combined her passion for agriculture with communication through youth leadership organizations like FFA and 4-H.

In college, Layne continues to strengthen her agriculture knowledge and communication skills through multiple organizations on her campus including, Sigma Alpha Professional Sorority, Texas A&M Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow, Texas A&M Meat Science and Technology Association and the 2019 Fightin’ Texas Aggie Meat Judging Team.

Layne currently works as the communication student technician at the Texas A&M Natural Resource institute where she helps bring attention to NRI efforts through creating blog articles, managing social media, assisting in collecting communication data and producing curriculum aid for private landowners. After graduation, Layne plans to attend graduate school and eventually pursue a career in the agricultural industry.

In her free time, Layne enjoys practicing her photography skills, traveling with friends, cooking new recipes and reading inspirational novels.

Vice President: Rachel McGreal

Rachel McGreal is a sophomore at the University of Illinois majoring in Agricultural Communications with a concentration in Journalism and a minor in Food and Environmental Sciences. Rachel grew up on a family farm in Central Illinois where she enjoyed learning about production agriculture from the cab of the combine alongside her father. She was actively involved in her high school’s FFA chapter where she successfully earned a state championship in the Vet Science and Agricultural Communications contest. In 2018, she was on the FFA National Championship Agricultural Sales team.

While in college, Rachel is involved in Illini Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow and Illini Equine Rescue Society. She has broadened her communications skills by taking on a number of different videography and photography projects for some of the colleges and departments within the university. A hobby she picked up from a young age, photography and videography have easily become a passion she hopes to pursue in a future career in the agriculture industry. Rachel would also like to return to the family farm in pursuit of becoming a fifth-generation farmer.

In her free time, Rachel enjoys traveling, photography and videography, helping on the farm, and riding her horse.

Secretary/Treasurer: Lauryn Luttrull

Lauryn is a junior at West Texas A&M University where she is pursuing a degree in Agricultural Media and Communication with a minor in Management. Lauryn has also received her event planning certification.

Lauryn has always had a passion for agriculture due to her family’s roots. She plans to attend graduate school and one day open her own event management company. In her free time, Lauryn enjoys volunteering at Make a Wish through her sorority Chi Omega. She also enjoys spending time with her friends and family.

Member Relations Coordinator: Zach Andrews

Zach Andrews is currently a Junior at the University of Arkansas where he is triple majoring in Agricultural Business, Communications, and Leadership. Originally, he is from Camden, Arkansas where he marked the third generation in his family’s registered Hereford cattle operation.

Zach credits his lifelong experiences in the cattle industry and his year serving as an Arkansas FFA State Officer for his passion for the agricultural industry and the people that make it up. After graduating with his undergraduate degrees, he hopes to attend graduate school.

Communications Coordinator: Callie McClay

Callie McClay is currently a junior at the University of Illinois studying Agricultural Communications with a concentration in Advertising. She is also pursuing a double minor in Food & Environmental Systems and Food & Ag Business Management. Having grown up on a farm, Callie has been interested in agriculture from the very beginning. She grew up showing cattle for 4-H and was involved in FFA through high school.

Callie stays busy on campus working as a Media Communications Intern for the Agricultural and Biological Engineering Department and as a Social Media Intern for the Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communications (ALEC) program. She’s also involved in several clubs and organizations. She’s currently the President of the Illini ACT Chapter, Vice President of the UIUC National Agri-Marketing Association and a member of Collegiate Farm Bureau, 4-H House Cooperative Sorority, College of ACES Student Advancement Committee, and an ALEC Ambassador.

This summer, Callie will be interning at Caterpillar as a Corporate Technical Marketing Intern. In the future, she plans to continue working for Caterpillar or an agriculture company in the marketing sector. Eventually, she would like to return to her family’s farm in hopes of being a 9^th generation farmer.

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In this role, Dr. Wagner-Riddle will report on the strategies and developments within her region, providing an internationally coordinated approach to achieve the INI aims.

INI is an international program, set up in 2003 under the sponsorship of the Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment (SCOPE) and from the International Geosphere-Biosphere Program (IGBP). The key aims of the INI are to:

• optimize nitrogen’s beneficial role in sustainable food production, and
• minimize nitrogen’s adverse effects on human health and the environment resulting from food and energy production.

The program is currently a sustained partner of Future Earth.

Garth Whyte, President and CEO at Fertilizer Canada, said:

“We are delighted to hear the news of Dr. Wagner-Riddle’s appointment as Director of the North America regional chapter of INI, and extend our best wishes to Dr. Groffman as well. Dr. Wagner-Riddle creates impacts that extend beyond Canada and enables knowledge transfer and collaborations at an international level.”

Over Dr. Wagner-Riddle’s research career, she has authored or coauthored over 136 publications in peer-reviewed journals. Her Google Scholar h-index is 36 (29 since 2015). She is lead author on an original article about nitrous oxide (N₂0) emissions induced by freeze-thaw cycles, recently published in Nature Geoscience, an international journal with a very high impact factor.

Dr. Tom Bruulsema, Chief Scientist of Plant Nutrition Canada, said:

“Having served on advisory committees for several of Dr. Wagner-Riddle’s past graduate students, I can attest to her world-class research expertise in assessing both the beneficial and adverse impacts associated with nitrogen management in agriculture. I look forward to continued collaboration with her diligent research team.”

During the past six years, she supervised six post-doctoral research associates. Post-doctoral projects included several assessing 4R Nutrient Management practices for their impact on N₂0 emission, net greenhouse gas balance, and crop productivity. A large part of her career has contributed to the development of agrometeorological methods relevant to an international application.

Dr. Claudia Wagner-Riddle, Editor-in-Chief, Agricultural and Forest Meteorology and Professor, School of Environmental Sciences University of Guelph, said:

“I am honoured to have been selected for this position and I look forward to working with Dr. Groffman and the INI steering committee to advance INI’s goals. It is extremely important to have stakeholders such as Fertilizer Canada on board to achieve the goals of improved nitrogen use efficiency and to minimize the impact of nitrogen use on the environment”.

Source: Fertilizer Canada

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Registration is now open for a new United Fresh-Cornell University External Education / eCornell certificate program Navigating Emerging Issues in the Fresh Produce Industry, a six-part workshop series to be delivered through the United Fresh LIVE! 365 platform, October 26-30, 2020.

Amanda Griffin, United Fresh’s Vice President of Education & Program Management, said:

“We’re thankful for the ongoing collaboration with Cornell University, allowing us to continue to offer strong programming, specifically for the produce industry. As we continue to work from home we’re also learning from home, and certificate programs like this allow fresh produce professionals to excel in today’s environment.”

Sessions will be led by Cornell instructors and take place on the United Fresh LIVE! 365 virtual platform during the week of October 26. The sessions will cover the following:

• Blue Ocean Strategy: Change, Disruption and Growth
• The Future of Farming and Food: Internet of Things, Blockchain and other Disrupting Technologies
• Consumer Behavior Today
• Business of Politics and the Politics of Business
• Leading Digital Transformation
• Managing Remote Teams

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