Methodology
Priority Areas
- Plant health and production and plant products
- Animal health and production and animal products
- Food safety, nutrition, and health
- Agriculture economics and rural communities
Rationale
There is an urgent need to train and prepare agricultural scientists to cope with current and future challenges in food security and climate change. Two ongoing, important threats for food security in Texas’ Lower Rio Grande Valley (LRGV) region are citrus greening disease or Huanglongbing (HLB) and Cattle Fever Ticks (CFT). HLB is a major threat to the sustainability of US citrus production and in recent months the incidence of the disease has been on the rise in the LRGV. Re-invasion of the US by CFT, which are established in Mexico, remains a serious threat to the national livestock industry because they transmit deadly diseases to cattle despite a century-long eradication program. Frequent CFT outbreaks have led to quarantines in the three southern-most counties of the LRGV (Starr, Cameron and Hidalgo) both within and outside the Permanent Quarantine Zone (PQZ) that buffers CFT incursions from Mexico. Climate variability can affect the range of human activities and also the distribution of pests and disease vectors. Hands-on training on these major agricultural threats will help students develop critical skills needed to generate innovative solutions that will meet these and future challenges in food security and climate change in the US.
Overall Goal
To develop, reward, and graduate a diverse cohort of undergraduate students mentored by world-class agricultural research scientists in food security and climate change research of significance to US agriculture.
Specific Objectives
- Training students in fieldwork, monitoring, and analysis of lab samples to detect and control the pathogens responsible for HLB and CFT.
- Training student to understand the plausible responses of species to climate change.
- Instructing students in data presenting skills through scientific writing workshops as well as poster and platform presentations.
Approach
Students will participate in field studies, laboratory analysis and computer modeling. Students will be organized into two major research groups, Plant Health and Animal Health respectively. The Plant Health group will study HLB. Students will work directly with the industry (TCPDMC) to help monitor and obtain samples to be analyzed in laboratories of the Citrus Center (CC). At the CC, students will develop research projects to be trained in a) detection of HLB b) control of the vector that carries HLB and c) treatment of citrus plants against HLB. The Animal Health group will be studying CFT. Students will obtain tick samples from the PQZ that will be analyzed at TAMU and the USDA-ARS CFT Research Laboratory in Edinburg. Students will develop research projects to understand a) the distribution of CFT, b) molecular approaches to detect pathogens, and c) how to control–manage disease. Finally, all students in this program will be trained in the use of software to correlate geographic distribution of target species (e.g., CFT) with climatic variables present and future. Students will be trained in how to analyze their results that will be presented as a scientific manuscript, poster and platform presentations. A total of 24 students will be recruited from UTRGV, Kingsville, TAMU, TSTC (Texas State Technical College) and STC (South Texas College). Students will work on their research projects for 10 hours/week during fall and spring semesters and 30 hours/week during summer. Students will attend safety workshops at UTRGV, TAMU, CC, and USDA laboratories. Students will present their research progress every month. Evaluations of this initiative will be completed by participating students, faculty, and USDA personnel. External evaluation will be performed by Dr. Xiaohui Wang from the Center of Statistics at UTRGV.
Potential Impact and Expected Outcomes
Students will become more scientifically literate and knowledgeable about food safety and climate change issues of relevance in agriculture production. We will prepare a cohort of students with the tools to engage in graduate studies or to join the agriculture workforce with a clear understanding and training on novel approaches on food security and climatic change.