April 20, 2020
Second round of global food seed grants awarded
The Office of Research Development announces the results of the spring 2020 call for proposals for the Global Food Systems Seed Grant Program.
This funding is intended to support innovative research in all aspects of global food systems, with particular interest in projects that are interdisciplinary; promote job creation and economic development in the state of Kansas; engage graduate and/or undergraduate students; and partner with industry, particularly those based in Kansas.
All proposals were peer-reviewed by faculty members with a variety of relevant expertise.
Awardees and their project titles:
Christer B. Aakeroy, chemistry; and Ganga Hettiarachchi, agronomy: "Exploring co-crystal technologies for efficient and sustainable nutrient management."
Doina Caragea, computer science; and Krishna Jagadish SV, agronomy: "Performing novel high-throughput quantification of rice chalkiness using deep learning approaches."
Edgar Chambers IV, food nutrition dietetics and health; and Sarah Sexton-Bowser, agronomy, Center for Sorghum Improvement: "Marketing sorghum for human food consumption."
Ryan Hansen, chemical engineering; and Tom Platt, biology: "Site-specific screening and development of biofertilizer formulations for enhanced yield of corn."
Jeongdae Im, civil engineering; and Mike Brouk, animal science and industry: "Eco-friendly forage management towards sustainable cattle industry."
Sonny Lee, biology; and Megan C. Niederwerder, diagnostic medicine and pathobiology: "Identification of microbiome communities and core functional microbiota in healthy pigs across the stages of production."
Raj Kumar Pal, mechanical and nuclear engineering; and Kaliramesh Siliveru, grain science and industry: "A combined experimental and computational approach to prevent plastic contamination from grain handling equipment."
Caterina Scoglio, electrical and computer engineering; David Amrine, Beef Cattle Institute; and Don Gruenbacher, electrical and computer engineering: "Increasing safety and trust in beef cattle production: A blockchain approach for sharing movement data."
Vaishali Sharda, biological and agricultural engineering; and Katherine Nelson, geography and geospatial sciences: "Quantifying agricultural and social vulnerability to climate change in the Eastern Kansas River Basin to inform decision-making."
Aleksey Sheshukov, biological and agricultural engineering; Lucas Haag, Northwest Research-Extension Center; Jonathan Aguilar, Southwest Research-Extension Center; Bill Golden, agricultural economics; and Dan Devlin, Kansas Center for Agricultural Resources and the Environment: "Quantifying ET, water stress, and economic benefits for sustainable cotton production in Kansas."
Valentina Trinetta, Food Science Institute, animal sciences and industry; Cassandra Jones, animal sciences and industry; and Susan Rensing, gender, women and sexuality studies: "The journey of salmonella enterica serotype 4, [5], 12:i:- in pork production chain: From feed to fork."
Primary investigators of selected projects will provide progress reports after six months and at the end of the funding period, as well as participate in a poster session in spring 2021.