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:: Natural Sciences Department Nets $1.1 Million in Grants (Photo Op)


December 6, 2007


*******PHOTO/NEWS OPPORTUNITY*******

PARTNERSHIP AMONG COLLEGE, LOCAL TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY SYSTEM SITES AND OTHERS DEVELOPED TO ENCOURAGE STUDENTS TO PURSUE CAREERS IN AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES AND BIOTECHNOLOGY; FUNDS FOR INITIATIVES COVERED BY U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION GRANTS

WHO: Del Mar College (DMC) Natural Sciences Department faculty Dr. Jonda Halcomb (Chair) and Dr. Robert Hatherill (Assistant Professor of Biology); Dr. Bobby Eddleman, Resident Director of the Texas A&M University (TAMU) Agricultural Research and Extension Center; Drs. Charles Chilcutt, Carlos Fernandez and Gary Odvody, research scientists with the center; Dr. Kirk Cammarata, Associate Professor of Biology at TAMU-Corpus Christi; Dr. Roy Parker from TAMU Cooperative Extension; Dr. Shad Nelson, Chair of the Department of Agronomy and Resource Sciences at TAMU-Kingsville; and DMC Natural Sciences students

WHAT: Announcement of the South Texas Educational Liaison of Laboratories for Agricultural
Research (STELLAR)

WHEN: 1:30 p.m., Friday, Dec. 7

WHERE: Auditorium, Texas A&M University Agricultural Research and Extension Center, 10345 Agnes (between Corpus Christi International Airport and Robstown; take the U-turn just past DeDetrich to access frontage road and center entrance)

VISUALS: Displays from past internships completed by DMC biology students and displays by TAMU Research and Extension Center researchers featuring study on genetically modified organisms (cotton and corn) and bio-energy feedstock (sweet sorghum). TAMU researchers will be prepared to discuss their work and what students can learn from the research conducted in their specific areas. Media can film research areas, including the crop weather program for South Texas headed by Dr. Carlos Fernandez.

FYI: According to statistics from the Texas A&M University Agricultural Research and Extension Center here in Corpus Christi, agriculture production and related food and fiber system activities in South Texas directly impact Texas’ gross state production by $9.2 billion. Agriculture-related activities from across the state comprises about $73 billion of the gross state product overall.

“In fact, all activities related to agriculture, which encompasses farm outputs and production of food and fiber products, account for 20% of the jobs in Texas,” says Dr. Bobby Eddleman, Resident Director of the TAMU Agricultural Research and Extension Center.

Del Mar College’s Natural Sciences Department Chair Dr. Jonda Halcomb adds, “Students aren’t aware of the role agriculture plays in our area or the state and the employment opportunities the industry can provide. Students, and even the community at large, often fail to appreciate that agriculture is uniquely dependent upon advanced and integrated technologies. We want to initiate students’ interest in agricultural sciences by introducing them to career paths they might not have considered.”

So how does the College’s Natural Sciences Department plan to accomplish that goal?

The department received a $230,000 U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) grant through its Hispanic-Serving Institutions Education Grants Program, which aims to attract outstanding students and produce graduates capable of enhancing the nation’s food and agricultural scientific and professional workforce. Grant funding runs through 2010.

The grant will allow the Natural Sciences Department to partner with the Texas A&M Universities in Corpus Christi and Kingsville, along with the Texas A&M University Agricultural Research and Extension Center (including the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station and the Texas Cooperative Extension), as the South Texas Educational Liaison of Laboratories for Agricultural Research (STELLAR).

The primary goal of STELLAR is to increase the number of students earning degrees in agricultural science, especially through the baccalaureate and masters degree levels, while improving recruitment and retention of underrepresented students. Additionally, Del Mar College and Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi are enhancing their agro-technology curriculums with the College increasing its use of modern multimedia and computer-assisted instructional techniques to expand teaching and seminar presentation opportunities for students at both DMC and TAMU-CC.

Project leaders estimate that STELLAR will impact more than 1,000 students through seminars and courses. The initiative will also fund undergraduate research experiences for 15 second-year DMC students expressing an interest in agricultural technology. Selected by a faculty committee, those students will receive a $3,000 stipend each summer, along with an additional $800 to cover materials they may use during an eight-week period of research.

“Agricultural technology has the potential to improve food production efficiency, develop crops with greater nutritional value and to restore adverse environmental impacts,” notes Dr. Halcomb. “The technology skills DMC students will acquire are directly relevant to an increased understanding of the multidisciplinary nature of food and agricultural science.”

And, that’s where the three TAMU System partners come into play.

“The Agricultural Research and Extension Center serves the South Texas Region’s agricultural research and development needs,” notes Dr. Eddleman. “Our scientists can offer students hands-on experiences in several research areas as well as develop their sense of how lucrative agro technology is as a career choice, especially in the private sector in chemical and biotech ag research.”

Among the many research initiatives conducted by scientists with the TAMU center are:

• climate variability and complex soil-crop-pest-weather interactions,
• row spacing and planting density of grain sorghum and cotton,
• cotton growth and yields related to foliage applications of stimulants,
• cotton root-rot infestation control and researching fungicide use,
• crop rotations and the relationship between soil changes and grain yields,
• insect pest control through genetically engineered corn and cotton,
• legume development as a nutrition source for livestock and wildlife,
• central regulation of reproduction within the brain of beef cattle with focus on nutritional and metabolic signals,
• control of seasonal breeding in mares, and
• shrimp mariculture to determine the best methods to produce farm-raised shrimp.

Additionally, TAMU-Corpus Christi and TAMU-Kingsville have research facilities as well as established undergraduate and graduate degrees in agricultural sciences. Students can choose to conduct undergraduate-level research on plant bioremediation in Associate Professor of Biology Dr. Kirk Cammarata’s lab at TAMU-CC or expand their understanding of agriculture through work with TAMU-Kingsville faculty.

In addition to the USDA grant, the Natural Sciences Department also acquired a National Science Foundation (NSF) Advanced Technology Education grant for $831,532 for the South Texas Undergraduate Curriculum Consortium for Educating Biotechnical Science Students (SUCCESS). Led by DMC Assistant Professor of Biology Dr. Robert Hatherill, the project is a collaborative project among the College’s Natural Sciences Department and the Science & Technology Division at TAMU-CC, the University of Houston, Corpus Christi industry partners and the Life Sciences Division of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, CA.

A key goal of the project was the development of a new Biotechnology Program at Del Mar College.

The DMC Board of Regents approved the new program during their Nov. 13 meeting, and the Natural Sciences Department will begin offering a one-year technical certificate and two-year Associate in Applied Science degree in Biotechnology in fall 2008. (For the release announcing the program, go to www.delmar.edu/news.php?newsid=831)

Both the technical certificate and AAS degree are designed to prepare graduates for employment in the biotechnology industry as well as to provide opportunities for job advancement and retention for individuals currently employed in the field.

Training will cover current research and laboratory procedures as well as biotechnology uses in agriculture, medicine and other industries.

“DMC students will have the ability to gain employable biotechnical skills from the SUCCESS project with the technical certificate and AAS degree designed to prepare graduates for immediate employment in the biotechnology industry,” says Dr. Hatherill, adding: “Del Mar College is taking the lead in the field of biotechnology and starting the first biotechnology program in the south bend region.”

Additional SUCCESS goals include building a competent, customized workforce of underrepresented students in South Texas for local employment with industry partners, improving scientific literacy through inquiry-based learning activities, incorporating instructional technology into existing and planned certificate courses and providing professional development for high school and college educators.

Of the project, Dr. Hatherill notes, “Collaboration with the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab’s Life Science Division further strengthens the SUCCESS project by providing students with hands-on biotechnical research experience. It’s one more way Del Mar is cultivating a national reputation for academic excellence.”

-DMC-mce


Media can contact Dr. Jonda Halcomb, Chair of the DMC Natural Sciences Department, at 361/698-2139 or Dr. Bobby Eddleman, Resident Director of the Texas A&M University Agricultural Research and Extension Center (Corpus Christi) at 361/265-9201 for more information.




Date of this item added : 2007-12-06