SNR professor emeritus Charles Nilon studies how people experience and access parks, helping cities enhance planning and resources.

Charles Nilon, professor emeritus at the University of Missouri’s School of Natural Resources, has spent over 35 years studying urban wildlife and human interactions with ecological spaces. His latest collaboration, featured in the Nature Cities article A Walk in the Park? Not for Everyone: Addressing Inequality in Access to Social, Environmental, and Health Amenities in US Urban Parks, examines disparities in park access across the United States.

Nilon’s work focuses on understanding how plants and animals use urban spaces and how people connect with those ecosystems. The recent research stems from a 2017 study and was expanded through a four-day workshop at the National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center, funded by the National Science Foundation. The workshop brought together researchers to analyze data from a Trust for Public Land’s public lands database, exploring how park access varies based on socio-economic factors.

“We said, ‘Wow, there’s this database, and what if we brought people together to talk about how you could use some of this data to really answer some of these questions that might be of use to park managers and park planners in cities?’” Nilon explained. “The idea was, what could we do as a research group that would really impact what cities and local governments do to manage these parks?”

University of Missouri researchers Hoa Hoang and Kantha Channaiah offer their expertise on egg prices and safety as Easter nears.

The Digital Agriculture Research and Extension Center (DAREC) hosted its second research symposium on April 11, 2025, at Memorial Union on campus at the University of Missouri. View event photos in CAFNR’s Flickr album!

Biochemistry major Blake Arciga will present his findings in the fight against colorectal cancer at Show Me Research Week.

Caitlyn Sullivan is pursuing a Ph.D. in Animal sciences with a focus on nutrition and stress physiology in pigs and is participating in Show-Me Research Week.

Why is your research important? The foundation of my research emphasizes the evaluation of nutritional and management interventions aimed at mitigating physiological and behavioral stress responses in pigs during weaning and transport. These events represent critical transition periods and often result in reduced feed intake, compromised immune function, and suboptimal growth performance. By developing targeted dietary and management strategies to alleviate these stressors, my work contributes to improved animal health and welfare, while supporting the sustainability and efficiency of modern swine production systems.

How did you choose your Mentor? I chose Dr. Jay Johnson as my mentor because of his extensive multidisciplinary expertise in swine research, spanning areas such as nutrition, physiology, reproduction, genetics and ethology. His comprehensive approach to animal science perfectly aligns with my research interests and provides a broad, integrated perspective that is crucial for understanding complex issues in swine health and welfare. I am deeply grateful to Dr. Johnson for giving me the opportunity to pursue my PhD under his guidance. His mentorship and support are invaluable as I continue to develop both as a researcher and as a scholar.

Why did you choose Mizzou? The University of Missouri provides a dynamic and collaborative research environment that has been instrumental to the success of my PhD program. The institution’s commitment to research excellence, interdisciplinary collaboration and sustainability has created a strong foundation for exploring complex issues in swine health and welfare. Its focus on innovative, multidisciplinary approaches in nutrition, physiology, and genetics has enabled me to address the multifaceted challenges in swine production. This supportive academic setting has made Mizzou the ideal place to advance my studies and contribute to the future of swine research. 

How has participation in Show-Me Research Week been beneficial to you? Participating in Show Me Research Week has been an incredibly valuable experience. It has provided a platform to communicate the goals and impact of my swine research to a broader audience and has strengthened my ability to translate complex scientific concepts. Engaging with students, faculty and stakeholders from diverse fields has given me new perspectives and helped refine the way I present and think about my work. It has been both rewarding and motivating to see how my contributions fit into the larger research community at Mizzou and to be part of a culture that celebrates innovation and discovery.

Due to the nationwide zoom outage April 16, the CAFNR CRC webinars for that date have been rescheduled for Wednesday, April 30. Please note, the link to watch the webinars has been updated so please use the link below to join the webinars on April 30.

CAFNR Research Council Webinar Series features speakers discussing timely topics. The April 30 webinar will feature two speakers.

At 3 p.m., Qian Liu, assistant professor in the School of Natural Resources, will present “Artificial Intelligence and Spatiotemporal Methodologies for Climate Factor Analysis,” and at 3:30 p.m. Mauro Palmero, associate professor in the Division of Applied Social Sciences, will present “Artificial Intelligence Tools That Can Help Your Research Today.”

Watch both webinars at the same Zoom link.

The Annual MU Interdisciplinary Plant Group Symposium is set for May 20-23 at Bond Life Sciences Center, and registration is now open.

The symposium will bring together leading experts in root biology from around the world and provide a forum for interactions among prominent scholars, postdoctoral fellows and graduate and undergraduate students. It will cover a broad range of topics, including root development and growth, root function in water and nutrient uptake, responses to abiotic and biotic stress and root-microbe interactions. Research presented will span spatial and temporal scales and will encompass studies based on model, crop and native species. The symposium will enable close interactions among all participants to foster the generation of new ideas and collaborations that will ultimately contribute to more sustainable crop production and enhance ecosystem services.

For a listing of confirmed speakers or to register, visit the IPG website.

Andrew Scaboo, Discovering and deploying genetic solutions across maturity groups for durable resistance to multiple nematodes, University of Georgia (USB), 10/1/24-8/31/25, $111,082

Heike Buecking, Acquisition of Goods and Services – BCIRL FY25-26, Agricultural Research Service, 4/1/25-3/31/26, $1,650

Heike Buecking, Acquisition of Goods and Services – CSWQ FY25-26, Agricultural Research Service, 4/1/25-3/31/26, $40,425

Feng Lin, Leveraging Photosynthetic Efficiency traits for improving soybean productivity in the Mid-South, Mid-South Soybean Board, 4/1/25-3/31/26, $30,000

Felix Fritschi, DSFAS: Getting to the core of roots: process-based model informed machine learning for phenotyping and mapping, University of Florida (NIFA), 9/1/24-8/31/27, $103,285

Chase Floyd, Insect Management in Mid-South Cotton, Cotton, Inc., 1/1/25-12/31/25, $20,000

Kelly Nelson, 2025 POLY4 Source, Rate and Planting Time Soybean-K Fertility Trial Missouri, Anglo Amer Woodsmith LTD, 4/1/25-1/31/26, $22,982

Tim Reinbott, Investigation of seed origin effects on pollinators and pollinator plantings, Missouri Department of Conservation, 7/1/24-6/30/25, $50,000

Benjamin Knapp, Establishing Oak Woodlands in Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Game Commission (Fish & Wildlife Service), 1/30/25-6/30/31, $982,929

Felix Fritschi, Impact of experimental microbial strains on Nitrogen Acquisition and Yield in Corn Proposed science plan for 2025 collaboration, Ginkgo Bioworks, Inc., 2/6/25-11/15/25, $14,300

Feng Lin, Screening soybean germplasm and breeding soybeans for flood tolerance, Mid-South Soybean Board, 4/1/25-3/31/26, $75,000

Missouri Leverages Partnerships to Boost Soil Moisture Data for Early Drought and Flood Warnings
Farms.com

FAPRI Releases Market Outlook
Red River Farm Network

What Missourians should know about the third-straight day of stock market decline
KOMU

Don’t plant seeds you didn’t order
News-Press Now

MU releases payment plan decision tool for corn, soybean, wheat
High Plains Journal

US-China tariff dispute puts soybean exports at risk, ag economist says
Brownfield Ag News

Controlling Sheep & Goat Parasites Through Forage Management
Morning Ag Clips

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